Prospective longitudinal study of children with tic disorders and/or obsessive-compulsive disorder: relationship of symptom exacerbations to newly acquired streptococcal infections

• Published in: Pediatrics (Evanston) Vol. 113; no. 6; p. e578
• Main Authors: Luo, Feng, Leckman, James F, Katsovich, Liliya, Findley, Diane, Grantz, Heidi, Tucker, Daniel M, Lombroso, Paul J, King, Robert A, Bessen, Debra E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.06.2004
• Subjects: Acute Disease; Adolescent; Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System - complications; Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System - microbiology; C-Reactive Protein - analysis; Child; Female; HLA-DR Antigens - blood; Humans; Longitudinal Studies; Male; Mental Disorders - microbiology; Neopterin - blood; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - complications; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - microbiology; Streptococcal Infections - complications; Streptococcus pyogenes - isolation & purification; Tic Disorders - complications; Tic Disorders - microbiology

It has been proposed that infection by group A beta-hemolytic streptococci (GABHS) can trigger acute symptom exacerbations among patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS) or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), via autoimmune mechanisms. To examine the temporal relationship between newly acquired...