Big Study: Strep Infection Doesn't Bring Out Tourette Syndrome

By Ben Brown

Not infrequently, listeners will write in asking about a connection they read about online between strep infection and Tourette Syndrome. The claim usually is that strep infection causes or makes for worsened tic disorder activity.

But the consensus science hasn't supported that. Now, the release of a big Tourette study has some scientists saying firmly that strep indeed doesn't play a part in tics as claimed.

"This large, multinational Tourette study led by Davide Martino settles the debate for me. Strep infection does NOT make tics worse," Dr. Christine Conelea, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, tweeted on Feb. 17. (She also helps Tourette's Podcast answer science questions from listeners.)

Dr. Conelea added of the study: "GAS (Group A Streptococcus) work-ups and infection management aren't likely to improve tics and are 'not recommended.'"

The study was published in Neurology, the foremost journal in the field.

Martino, the primary author, is the director of the Movement Disorders Program at the University of Calgary's Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

We also addressed this in part of Episode 10 of Season 6 based on earlier information from various scientific resources.