More PANDAS evidence

Dr. Robert L. Davis from Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, Washington, and his colleagues wanted to examine the relationship between group A beta-hemolytic streptococcal infection and the onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome, and tic disorder, an autoimmune syndrome known as PANDAS. They matched 144 children between the ages of 4 and 13 who received a first diagnosis of one of the PANDAS disorders over an 8-year period with healthy children. According to the results published in the July, 2005, issue of Pediatrics, streptococcal infection seemed to double the risk for a first diagnosis of OCD, Tourette's, or tic disorder within the first 3 months after infection. Multiple infections seemd to triple the risk for a first diagnosis within 12 months. The researchers suggest that more needs to be discovered about which children are at greatest risk for developing PANDAS.