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Jacky Sullivan could only watch through the window in a locked door as her teenaged daughter, Becky, was led away until she disappeared down a long corridor. It was a point that had been reached after much hardship and pain, but before anyone realized that Becky’s violent attacks against herself and against her mother were cries that needed medical attention, not psychiatric treatment.

Similar to hearing a song that triggers reflections on events long past in one’s life, reading this month’s review article on Group A Streptococcus(GAS) by Drs. Dietrich and Steele prompted memories of my own episodes with this determined bacterium.

Dear Doctor,

I’m sure you’re aware that back in 2012, PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome) was formally proposed and described in a white paper by a small handful of physicians who had extensive expertise in PANDAS. While this was welcome news to those who recognized that the neuropsychiatric features seen in PANDAS were also seen in the absence of strep, the decision to focus on acute onset in children over the age of two was not based upon any biomarker or science that would lend credibility to the theory that the pathogenesis of the described syndrome was unique solely to children meeting the diagnostic criteria set forth in the paper.

‘She won’t let me touch her clothes, she says we are contaminated’: Mother of girl who developed psychosis from a strep infection describes agony of living with the mystery condition.”

A new study, led by Dr. Lorenza Putignani from the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital in Rome (Italy), has found that gut microbiota may promote gut inflammation and activation of an immune response in PANS/PANDAS patients.

The researchers collected three fecal samples over consecutive days and, using 16S ribosomal ribonucleic acid (rRNA)-based metagenomics, they analyzed the gut microbiota composition of a cohort of 30 PANS/PANDAS patients aged 4-16 years (20 males and 10 females), comparing them with 70 healthy controls.

A far-reaching study conducted by scientists at Cincinnati Children’s reports that the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)—best known for causing mononucleosis—also increases the risks for some people of developing seven other major diseases.

A major finding from researchers at Houston Methodist reveals a significant number of people diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder may actually have a treatable immune system disorder. The condition causes NMDA receptors to stop functioning properly and can result in symptoms commonly associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.

BALTIMORE — The shower served as a litmus test of sorts, a daily struggle instead of the footnote it should be. Thirteen-year-old Connor Odom had always been a little slow to get out of the house in the morning, but this was something else. He’d be in the shower for hours, as mornings stretched into afternoons. His mother buried herself in research, trying to understand as much as she could about OCD. She ended up coming across a book that she believes changed their lives: “Saving Sammy: A Mother’s Fight to Cure Her Son’s OCD” by Beth Alison Maloney.

And it may have nothing to do with you. One person infected with strep bacteria might get a painful sore throat; another might face a life-threatening blood infection. Now, scientists are trying to pin down why.

I almost didn’t take my 7-year-old son, Luke, to the doctor right away when he experienced a sudden onset of excessive blinking. He had just started a new school and was having trouble adjusting so I figured the stress of trying to fit in was producing this psychological habit.

I had no idea at the time his tics were the result of a strep infection I never even knew he had. Thankfully, our pediatrician made the correct diagnosis and treatment began immediately. My son was one of the lucky ones.