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When Joan McCullough’s daughter was 8 years old, she developed a motor tic involving her fingers.

The Wilton mom noticed the involuntary movement was similar to that of her friend’s son, who had been diagnosed two years earlier with PANDAS — pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections.

Though McCullough had been a registered nurse for more than 20 years, this was her first time hearing about the disorder that describes children and adolescents who have obsessive compulsive disorder and/or tic disorders with severe accompanying symptoms — like anxiety, concentration problems and severely restricted food intake — that worsen as a result of untreated strep infections such as strep throat.

Isle of Wight medical volunteers and parents are hoping to raise funds and awareness for two very rare conditions that can devastate families if diagnoses or treatment is not forthcoming. Little is known about PANDAS and PANS in the UK, but this campaign hopes to change that.

A panel of leading clinicians and researchers across various general and specialty pediatric fields developed comprehensive treatment recommendations to help guide the management of youngsters with a broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric conditions defined by the terms Pediatric Acute Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and PAN Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS).

Families with sick children eagerly await Governor Bruce Rauner to sign House Bill 2721 into law, making Illinois the first state in the nation requiring insurers to provide coverage for the treatment of a newly recognized set of childhood post-infectious disorders resulting from brain inflammation. The approved bill has been sent to the governor’s desk. It now awaits his signature. What is our governor waiting for?

A recent hypothesis postulates that obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses may result from throat infections by streptococcal bacteria (strep throat); however, data in the literature has been controversial. A new study published in JAMA Psychiatry investigate the risk of mental disorders following strep throat infections and found that individuals with streptococcal infections had an increased risk for mental disorders and OCD.

Anna Berg, a mother of three, sat exhausted on the couch as she described the strange behavior her daughter started to display earlier this year.

“On March 19 she came inside and sat on my lap. Her right side was shaking. I asked her what was wrong and she didn’t respond,” Berg said.

Zelenah Berg was an active and social second-grader in Taber, Alberta, until mysterious symptoms took over her body and personality.

When middle school student Connor Odom road-tripped with his family from their home in Charlotte, North Carolina to Atlanta to play in the U.S. Basketball Association National, he missed the first game. As the start time for the big game approached, the 13-year-old athlete was in the hotel room shower—where he’d been for four hours—alternating between weeping and calling out for help from his parents, who stood just outside the curtain. His mother and father felt helpless, begging him to come out. “You’re all clean, Connor,” his mother said over the sounds of rushing water and her son’s furious scrubbing. “You’re going to miss your basketball game. Please come out. We love you and want to see you.”

Four years ago, Caleb Fournel had strep throat and was treated with antibiotics for 10 days. His parents, Susie Wiggins-Fournel and Martin Fournel, thought that was the end of it.

But a common childhood infection was the beginning of a nightmare that lasted more than two years.