ASO Normal, Anti BNase Elevated

[cobygurl]

Hi,

 

I am a little confused and am hoping someone might be ably to clarify this for me...

 

My 4 year old son who suffers from tics and OCD had some bloodwork done. Came back high in coxsackie which we are treating with Acyclovir and possible myco which we need to do another blood draw for for conclusive results.

 

Now the Dr. didn't mention anything other than saying some children may have strep and dont create antibodies which I think he was implying was maybe our situation because my child's ASO was completely normal but his Anti BNase was flagged as high. The reference range for the Anti BNase was 0-77 and he was 127.

 

Does that mean he had strep in the past? Is that number significant without the ASO? Does this need to be treated?

 

I'm pretty confused .

 

Thank you for your help!

[EAMom]

His elevated anti-dnase b means he likely had strep in the past (or possibly, currently).

 

Has he had a recent throat culture? Has he had any known strep infections? Also, is this the only time he's had strep titers drawn? You might want to recheck titers in 8 weeks to see if they are falling.

[cobygurl]

Hi, thanks for the response.

 

He has had a couple of throat swabs before and all were negative. 2 ASO tests too were within normal range. This is the first time we've taken the anti bnase and it was elevated.

 

The day before all his tics exploded last fall he did tell me something very bad was happening in his mouth/throat. At that point I knew nothing about Pandas:Pans. I just thought he had a sore throat and the next day it all started. His tics have not stopped since.

 

It all makes me so sad and I remember thinking back in October when this all started, hopefully by his birthday I will have this all figured out but his 5th birthday is in a couple of weeks and I am just feeling so sad about it all.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will ask to have his titres retested.

[cobygurl]

Hi, thanks for the response.

 

He has had a couple of throat swabs before and all were negative. 2 ASO tests too were within normal range. This is the first time we've taken the anti bnase and it was elevated.

 

The day before all his tics exploded last fall he did tell me something very bad was happening in his mouth/throat. At that point I knew nothing about Pandas:Pans. I just thought he had a sore throat and the next day it all started. His tics have not stopped since.

 

It all makes me so sad and I remember thinking back in October when this all started, hopefully by his birthday I will have this all figured out but his 5th birthday is in a couple of weeks and I am just feeling so sad about it all.

 

Thanks for the advice, I will ask to have his titres retested.

[EAMom]

Are you going to do the Cunningham Test and/or an antibiotic trial?

 

I would also recommend getting current throat cultures on everyone in the family (checking for carriers.)

[cobygurl]

Unfortunately we can't do the Cunningham Test in Canada. After our second round of antiviral, I am going to talk with the doctor.

 

My husband and I had the throat swab but they were rapid - within 24 hours. Does that count to determine if you are carriers?

 

I am wondering, do you take any supplements that have helped your child?

[Suzan]

My daughters never had high ASO or DNASE results even with documented strep and PANDAS symptoms. I think they said it was due to low immune function and they were not producing antibodies?? One dd just came back with her first ever elevated DNASE result but ASO still normal and she does show low immune function. She has lyme and pandas and 2 mthfr gene mutations.

[JoyBop]

The DNase test shows if there was an infection in the past whereas the ASO is more current and within several weeks if an infection. If the DNase was elevated it is proof that there has been a strep infection but if the aso was normal it was most likely a past infection.

[seekingrelief]

I have wondered about this myself as well.

 

DS10 has had 3 titers drawn since November. All show normal ASO but elevated DNASE (599+). He has been on short courses of antibiotics twice and is now on a month long course of Augmentin. He is definately in a PANDAS flare....And I am wondering how we can get those darn DNASE antibodies down!!! Whenever his DNASE is elevated, his PANDAS behaviors return. Does anyone have any thoughts on what will get the DNASE levels to go down?

 

Sorry if I hijacked your thread....hopefully we can keep this conversation going and both get some answers

[cobygurl]

Hi, I am wondering do your kids tics (if they have any, go away) when not in a PANDAS flare? My little guy has them whether in a flare or not. In a flare his tics are worse and OCD definitely worse but he still tics otherwise. I am hoping we finally get to the root cause of this because quite frankly some days I feel like its killing me. Sorry to be so dramatic but it makes me feel so sad, so helpless and so overwhelmed! I just want him to get better.

[kthomas]

Ds9 has had tics for 3 years - his are much better now that he has been on an antibiotic. He takes 250 mg of azithromycin daily - since June of 2012 (weighs 63lbs.) Finding the right combination of abx makes a huge difference. Ds9 will flare and resume some tics that had stopped when he is in the middle of an infection. It could be viral or allergy related - any type of inflammation will cause his tics to increase. My experience has been to find a doctor that will work with you and look for the right combination of abx that works for your child. Don't stop until you find the right doctor and keep looking for the underlying source of infection that is causing the tics. Hope this helps.

[Guest]

I'm not sure what's going on with me either but I have the elevated DNase (224) but normal ASO.

 

I also had high titers to coxsackie A and B (valtrex did nothing to improve that) and I have high titers to Myco. Pneumonia (doctor never addressed this).

[cobygurl]

Hi Ophelia22,

 

My son too has that exact issue. I am going to be talking to Dt. T this Thursday and going to ask this specific questions. My son just finished his second round of Acyclovir (20 days total) and though it helped, not enough to knock it out. I am thinking it might be the other issues. Did the Valtrex give you any improvement? How long were you on it for?

[JoyBop]

How funny. I am having the opposite situation. High ASO and low DNASE.

[Guest]

Hi Ophelia22,

 

My son too has that exact issue. I am going to be talking to Dt. T this Thursday and going to ask this specific questions. My son just finished his second round of Acyclovir (20 days total) and though it helped, not enough to knock it out. I am thinking it might be the other issues. Did the Valtrex give you any improvement? How long were you on it for?

 

Let me know what Dr. T says. I didn't see any improvement on valtrex but I have a ton of issues and it took 10 years to get diagnosed, so could be I'm just too sick. I was on it for 3 months and was hit suddenly with every side effect. Best of luck for your son, I feel for all of us even though I'm a young adult.