PANS and PANDAS are conditions where a subset of children and adolescents experience an encephalitic-like onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms following exposure to a trigger such as Strep, Pneumonia, Influenza, Mononucleosis, Environmental Factors and other.

In simple terms, antibodies created to fight the infection become misdirected and attack a small area of the brain known as the basal ganglia. This autoimmune reaction results in an acute onset of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Both PANS and PANDAS are clinical diagnoses. PANDAS is a subset of PANS. The initial trigger of PANDAS is Strep however secondary triggers are not relegated to only strep. The initial triggers for PANS can include Influenza, Pneumonia, Mononucleosis, other pathogens, Environmental Factors and other factors.

Awareness of PANS/PANADS does not yet translate into readily available medical or community support resulting in significant difficulties for families of children with PANDAS or PANS.