Today Show Girl Who Kept Sneezing (Pandas are to blame)

March 11, 2010

, Was dx with PANDAS in 2008. He became OCD about spills on clothing. Tic or

OCD behaviors were once thought to be part of autism but really get started by a

Strep infection. Cyndi B

Two weeks ago, it stopped gradually over a two-day period, " she said.

No more `achoo'

For that, has Dr. Denis Bouboulis to thank. An allergist and

immunologist, Bouboulis realized that had a rare and only recently

identified condition called PANDAS. That's not a reference to the cute Chinese

bears; instead it's a complicated acronym for pediatric autoimmune

neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections.

What it means in layman's terms is that in the process of fighting a strep

throat infection, 's immune system went haywire, producing antibodies that

ended up migrating to her brain and attacking her own tissue. The disorder can

cause tics and obsessive-compulsive behavior — or, in 's case, nonstop

sneezing

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