Can strep throat make you crazy?
But for a few children, strep can trigger bizarre behavioral disorders such as severe tantrums, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and even tics. It’s a rare complication caused by an immune system that attacks the strep bacteria and the child’s brain.
What does a really bad case of strep look like?
Pain when swallowing. Fever. Red and swollen tonsils, sometimes with white patches or streaks of pus. Tiny, red spots (petechiae — pronounced pi-TEE-kee-eye) on the roof of the mouth (the soft or hard palate)
Can strep throat become something worse?
If untreated, strep throat can cause complications, such as kidney inflammation or rheumatic fever. Rheumatic fever can lead to painful and inflamed joints, a specific type of rash, or heart valve damage.
Was strep throat a death sentence?
In the United States and other rich countries, children with sore throats are routinely tested for strep and quickly cured with penicillin or other cheap antibiotics. But in poor countries, strep throat often goes undiagnosed and can become a long, slow death sentence.
Can strep cause mental illness?
In most cases, it can be effectively treated with antibiotics. But strep can also lead to serious psychological and neurological complications known as pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections, or PANDAS.
Can strep throat spread to your brain?
If strep throat is left unchecked, it can worsen into meningitis. Meningitis occurs when the fluid surrounding the membranes of the brain and spinal cord become infected. In some rare cases, meningitis can be fatal.
Can strep turn into meningitis?
Several strains of bacteria can cause acute bacterial meningitis, most commonly: Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus). This bacterium is the most common cause of bacterial meningitis in infants, young children and adults in the United States. It more commonly causes pneumonia or ear or sinus infections.
Can throat infection lead to death?
The types of infections vary widely from pharyngitis to myositis, but all can advance to severe life threatening invasive disease. Of those infected, approximately 1100 to 1600 people die each year due to invasive disease.
Can you get strep in your brain?
NEW YORK, NY (December 14, 2015)—Researchers have discovered how immune cells triggered by recurrent Strep A infections enter the brain, causing inflammation that may lead to autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders in children.