For some Vermont families, treating the immune system can be life-changing to help a psychological condition possibly triggered by strep. For others, the cost is too high a barrier.
Just days before Christmas in 2023, Elizabeth Bechard’s 7-year-old son woke in the middle of the night, screaming. He and his twin sister had been battling winter strep infections, Bechard said, but this was different from the discomfort of a scratchy throat and fever.
In the weeks that followed, he became wracked with obsessive compulsive disorder, anxiety and rage. He refused to go to school. He shouted at his parents. He kicked walls and broke glasses.
Gabriella True
