Pediatric OCD May Respond to Timely IG Therapy

Specialty Pharmacy Continuum. By Bruce Buckley

“Timely treatment with IV immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapy can help children who develop obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other severe psychiatric or neurologic symptoms in the aftermath of streptococcal or other infections, according to new data presented at the IgNS 2021 Conference in Las Vegas. However, less expensive therapies are typically used before introducing IVIG.”

However, “the important issue is that you need to treat quickly,” Dr. Rice said. “The sooner you do, the more likely that there will be a cure for your child. But if that doesn’t go well and symptoms persist, we move on to prednisone,” and finally, she said, to IVIG. … “We suppress everything in the immune system,” Michael Daines, MD said, and while that will prevent symptoms related to PANDAS and PANS, “it will also suppress response to the parainfluenza virus and everything else out there. So, we use them, but they have to be temporary solutions.