ASPIRE and other PANS/PANDAS organizations are joining the PANDAS Physician Network in their efforts to call to the Academy of Pediatrics to update the Red Book’s® recently published guidelines for Group A Strep to include testing when a child presents with the abrupt and dramatic onset of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
We are urging the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to update its guidelines to include testing for Group A Strep when a child suddenly develops OCD, Restricted Eating, and other neuropsychiatric symptoms even with no signs of strep throat. This change is crucial to prevent severe complications like rheumatic fever and neuroinflammatory disorders such as PANS/PANDAS. Ignoring strep testing in these cases can lead to misdiagnosis and significant harm. The evidence supporting PANDAS and PANS is robust, with over 300 published papers; it’s time the AAP acknowledged these conditions with clear guidelines. Addressing the underlying medical causes of neuropsychiatric symptoms in children is critical, especially amidst the current mental health crisis in which rates of depression, OCD, anxiety, autism, ADHD, etc, are increasing at alarming rates. AAP, you have embargoed your literature review for five years. Children and their pediatricians can’t wait until the AAP publishes a new Red Book® in 2027. Please work with us to find a solution so we do not lose a generation of children to this devastating but treatable disorder. Read the PPN press release: www.pandasppn.org/aap-redbook-2024
Gabriella True
