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PANDAS in Practice: Untangling the Controversy Around Sudden-Onset OCD and Tics in Kids
Posted by Jenny Huynh, BSN, RN, NCSN
Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections—more commonly known by its acronym, PANDAS—is a term that’s been circulating in pediatric circles for a few decades now, often with a mixture of curiosity, skepticism, and frustration. If you’ve been in practice long enough, chances are you’ve either heard about it from a concerned parent who came in with a printout from Google or you've encountered a kid whose Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms came on like a switch had been flipped. So let’s talk shop—what PANDAS is, what we know, and why it's still a hotly debated diagnosis. What Is PANDAS? Origins, Criteria, and Proposed Mechanisms The idea of PANDAS came into the picture in the late '90s when researchers at the NIMH noticed something odd. Some children, often previously healthy, developed sudden and severe obsessive-compulsive behaviors or motor tics after what seemed to...
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Where in the U.S. Are the Most Kindergartners Not Up to Date on Their Measles Vaccines?
Posted by Dr. Julia Tortorice
According to the World Health Organization, “Measles is a highly contagious viral disease that affects individuals of all ages and remains one of the leading causes of death among young children globally.” Almost one in three children under the age of five who contract the disease will need to be hospitalized, highlighting the seriousness of this public health threat. But in the United States, since the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccination rates among kindergartners for all state-required vaccines, including the measles vaccine, have declined from 95% to 93%. As of the end of April, there have been 12 measles outbreaks in 2025 among children under the age of 5, with 23% of those affected requiring hospitalization. In comparison, 16 outbreaks were reported in all of 2024. Vaccination rates and the rates of exemptions granted vary across the 50 states, with the reasons for these discrepancies depending on many factors, including religion, misinformation, vaccine confidence, and ...
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