PANS symptoms can develop at any age.
Who Gets PANS/PANDAS?
There is no age requirement for a PANS diagnosis. According to current PANS/PANDAS data, the average age of onset is between the ages of 3 and 13, but onset can happen in children younger than three years old and older than thirteen and into adulthood. A PANDAS diagnosis requires a prepubertal onset, but if a patient is postpubertal at symptom onset due to a GAS exposure, then they would be diagnosed with PANS.
Some PANS specialists have diagnosed and treated patients with adult-onset. As the disorders have become better understood, some parents of affected children have recognized their own neuropsychiatric responses to infection or environmental triggers in their childhood and even in adulthood. Our understanding of how these disorders occur in adults will evolve as science begins to better comprehend the interplay between infectious triggers, the immune system, the gut/microbiome, and the brain.
- How Many Have PANS? Estimated at 1 in 200
- Average Age of Diagnosis: 3-13 years old
- Peak Age of Onset: 4-9yrs (69%)
- Below Age 8: 4.67 Boys: 1 Girl
- Above Age 8: 2.6 Boys: 1 Girl
- No Age Requirement: Symptoms can continue into adulthood & adult-onset can happen
- Family History: 70% of PANDAS families a have a history of autoimmune or strep related illness
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