7-year-old girl with PANDAS and Lyme disease

This case involves a 7-year-old girl who developed multiple physical and neuropsychiatric symptoms six months after vacationing in a tick endemic region of the US. 

I first read about this case by Cross and colleagues in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry.

The patient’s symptoms were extensive, Jones explains, and included “dramatic declines in cognitive functioning, concentration, and ability to focus, a loss of math skills, the onset of dysgraphia and difficulty with social cues, decreased processing speed, word selection problems, anxiety, fatigue, nighttime awakening, chills, joint and muscle pain, moodiness, both general and separation anxiety, and panic attacks.”

She was diagnosed and treated for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal infections (PANDAS) and Lyme disease. The Cunningham panel was positive for three out of four antineuronal antibodies consistent with PANDAS.  

She was treated successfully with a combination of antibiotics and IVIG.   

1.             Cross A, Shimasaki C, Bouboulis D, and Jones CR. Case Report of PANDAS and Persistent Lyme Disease with Neuropsychiatric Symptoms: Treatment, Resolution and Recovery.  Frontiers in Psychiatry. Vol. 12, 2021

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 Dr. Cameron is a Lyme disease expert and the author "Inside Lyme: An expert's guide to the science of Lyme disease." He has been treating adolescents and adults for more than 30 years.

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