My eight year old son was fine. one month ago, he gotsevere ocd. one doctor said "pandas" and gave something called an ivig. other doctor said, "no such thing." what should i do?

Debateable: This is a hotly debated topic. Pandas is a group of disorders (ocd, tourettes, etc) that develop rapidly and seem to be related to a recent streptococcal infection (such as strep throat). Treatment with IV IG is used sometimes...But is not proven. In fact, others debate that the infection has nothing to do with the symptoms and it is purely coincidental. The research continues...

Not decided yet.: In our medical community, there is a lot of controversy. I've seen patients with neurologic symptoms who tested positive for strep and whose symptoms resolved with antibiotics, and others whose neurologic symptoms got better after finishing antibiotics. But symptoms came back a year or two later. It's worth doing a full course of anti-strep antibiotics, but it's not a 100% guarantee.

It does happen.: Paediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcus infection does happen in a small number of children following strep infection. Exact mechanism still not known.Ivig is an experimental medication.

Controversy: PANDAS is still a debatable diagnosis, but there is reasonable evidence that such a disorder exists. IVIG has been one alternative for treatment. Has the OCD improved? If so, continue with the treatment.