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Sneezing Girl Diagnosed

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LAUREN JOHNSON, THE 12-YR.-OLD CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA, GIRL who grabbed the world’s heartstrings last month because of her non-stop sneezing, has been successfully diagnosed.  Firegeezer posted a VIDEO REPORT HERE on November 12 about the poor girl who had suddenly started sneezing almost non-stop, about 12,000 times a day, stopping only when exhaustion brought her sleep.

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Lauren Johnson

There is good news now for Lauren.  A pediatric neurologist Dr. Rosaria Trifiletti, whose practice is based in Ramsey, New Jersey, has identified the disorder and begun treatment.  The disorder is known as Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcus, usually referred to as PANDAS.

This video update report from WAVY-TV Norfolk tells more about what’s going on and visibly displays Lauren’s progress:

You can see the remarkable improvement already in her distress.  If you missed the original report, click on our link above and watch the video where she is sneezing almost non-stop constantly and compare it with today’s report.  Dr. Trifiletti says that once the infection is knocked out in a few more weeks, she will need to be put on a constant maintenance drug program to prevent a reoccurence.  For more, read WAVY’s report HERE.

Posted by on December 4, 2009 • Filed under: current events, health & safety, News, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,

Nothing to Sneeze At

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A CHESAPEAKE, VIRGINIA, GIRL HAS GONE INTO A NON-STOP SNEEZING fit and nobody knows why or how to stop it.  Lauren Johnson, 12, started sneezing two weeks ago at the rate of 10 to 16 sneezes-per-minute, about 12,000 sneezes every day, and the only time she stops is when she is sound asleep.

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Lauren Johnson

Her mother, Lynn Johnson has taken her to six specialists so far with no satisfactory explanations or treatments found yet.  The poor girl has had to stay away from her 6th-grade class at school while the episode continues.  A neurologist said Lauren’s condition may be “irretractable psychogenic disorder,” which could have been caused due to stress.  Or maybe not.

The AP filed this video report:

“There’s less than 40 cases ever documented ever in the entire world,” her mother says.  “Nobody really knows how to treat it, what’s going to work, and even in the cases where it might have worked or turned the sneezing off for awhile, a lot of times it comes back again and then you’re right back to where you started.”

While sleeping is her only escape from the attack, that doesn’t come easy.  “It’s pretty hard,” she said. “I have to kind of be physically exhausted before I can, because I just sneeze and sneeze until I eventually can hold off for a couple of seconds before I can go to sleep.  I just wish the sneezing would stop. I mean I feel fine now, but it’s just the sneezing going on, and on, and on, and I can’t really do anything,” said Lauren sneezing 5 times in 15 seconds.

Posted by on November 12, 2009 • Filed under: current events • Tagged: , , , ,