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Obsessive-compulsive disorder in post-streptococcal infection
E Monasterio1, R T Mulder, T D Marshall
1Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand.
The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry
|August 26, 1998
Abstract
Objective:
We describe the sudden onset of obsessive-compulsive symptoms following a peritoneal infection with alpha-haemolytic streptococci.
Clinical Picture:
A 35-year-old woman with no past history or family history of obsessions or compulsions developed these symptoms 2 weeks after a peritoneal infection.
Treatment:
The patient received 80 mg fluoxetine daily.
Outcome:
She responded to treatment with a progressive reduction in symptoms.
Conclusions:
It is suggested that these obsessions and compulsions may be related to an autoimmune response to the streptococcal infection.