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Serious Side-Effects of Strep Throat
July 8, 2010 Updated Jul 8, 2010 at 4:03 PM EDT

Imagine your child gets a simple case of strep throat. A few months later, he's acting like someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to the National Institutes of Health, some kids with strep infections may develop tic-like movements or symptoms similar to obsessive compulsive disorder. Doctors say the immune system produces antibodies to fight the strep infection, but in rare cases, those antibodies may interfere with the brain.


For many kids, the odd behavior will gradually go away. If not, medication and therapy can help. So, the advice to parents? The sooner you treat strep, the better. Disruptive behavior that's triggered by strep is called pandas. The symptoms typically appear out of the blue. the disorder only affects children.


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