40 - Overnight Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, Tics, Strep Infections and Children

Dr. Susan Swedo, Chief Pediatrics & Developmental Neuroscience Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health, discusses a pediatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections( think strep throat) that causes abrupt changes in behaviour , sleep patterns ,and even causes bedwetting in older children. The disorder, Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus (P.A.N.D.A.S) was first identified in the 1980's ,however awareness of the disorder among some pediatricians, parents , teachers and school administrators continues to lag; some children were seen by more than ten different pediatricians before the correct diagnosis and therapy were provided. Listen in as we discuss the diagnosis, risk factors, and treatment of P.A.N.D.A.S., and other childhood infections with neurological complications