LymeTV Reaches Washington Policymakers with Geo-Targeted TV Ads on PANS and PANDAS During National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week

LymeTV (LymeTV.org) has launched a multi-channel awareness campaign timed to National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week, directing parents, educators, healthcare providers, and federal policymakers to a message that has long been overlooked: for thousands of children, a bacterial or viral infection can trigger a sudden and devastating psychiatric crisis.

The campaign focuses on two closely related conditions — Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). In both conditions, infections including Lyme disease, strep throat, and other pathogens can trigger sudden and dramatic psychiatric and behavioral changes in children, including symptoms that mimic obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe anxiety, tics, and behavioral regression that can appear literally overnight. Despite their devastating impact on children and families, PANS and PANDAS remain widely underrecognized, underdiagnosed, and chronically underfunded.

“Children with PANS and PANDAS and their families have been waiting far too long for answers,” said Adina Bercowicz of LymeTV. “These are real, biologically-driven conditions. Every day we delay research is another day a child loses their childhood to an illness that could be treated — if only we understood it better. This campaign is our way of making sure that parents, doctors, and the people who set research priorities can no longer say they haven’t heard of these conditions.”

The effort spans multiple channels. Television ads are geo-targeted to the Washington, D.C. market — a deliberate choice to reach the lawmakers, congressional staff, agency officials, and research institution leaders concentrated in the Nation’s Capital. The TV component is paired with social media outreach, published articles, and direct engagement with researchers who are positioned to advance the science on PANS, PANDAS, and related tick-borne conditions. A dedicated landing page bringing together key research and resources is available at https://lymetv.org/ianc-project/#KEY-RESEARCH.

The campaign builds on LymeTV’s record of using targeted media to accelerate awareness of tick-borne and infection-triggered illness. In September 2025, LymeTV ran a similar D.C.-focused campaign to promote reauthorization of the Kay Hagan Tick Act.

“Washington is exactly the right market for the television component of this campaign,” said Bruce Fries, a patient advocate and co-organizer of the LymeTV initiative. “The people who watch news programming here — lawmakers, staff, agency officials — are the ones who can actually move the needle on federal funding and research priorities. But the TV ads are just one piece. The social media outreach, the articles, and the direct conversations with researchers all work together to build sustained pressure for a federal response that matches the scale of the problem.”

The Spring 2026 television campaign runs May 4 through May 18 across Washington, D.C. via the Comcast Advertising platform, delivering 1,397 television commercials and 23,533 streaming impressions. The campaign is projected to generate more than 142,000 impressions among adults aged 35–64, reaching an estimated 68 percent of that audience at an average frequency of three exposures. At the household level, the campaign is projected to reach 92 percent of households in the zone — approximately 181,000 household impressions — at an average frequency of four.

Ads air across a broad slate of news and general interest networks including CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, CNBC, Fox Business, Headline News, Newsmax, and The Weather Channel, as well as ESPN, TNT, HGTV, the Golf Channel, and other outlets. The target audience profile — News Enthusiasts and the Power Elite — reflects the campaign’s focus on engaged civic and professional audiences in the capital.

Bercowicz stressed that the multi-channel approach is essential to translating awareness into action. “Television gets the message in front of decision-makers in a high-credibility environment,” she said. “Social media and direct researcher outreach keep the conversation going and build the community of advocates and scientists who will ultimately drive change. These conditions affect real children in every congressional district in this country, and federal investment in research is long overdue.”

Fries noted that the campaign timing also coincides with ongoing congressional activity around tick-borne disease funding. “We want legislators to connect the dots,” he said. “When they’re considering appropriations for the CDC, NIH, and related agencies, we want PANS, PANDAS, and Lyme disease to be part of that conversation. The landing page gives anyone who sees the ads — or the social posts, or the articles — a single place to go to understand the research gap and what needs to happen next.”

The LymeTV campaign is sponsored in part by the National Capital Lyme Disease Association, the Pathobiome Research Center at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM), and the Patient Centered Care Advocacy Group.

More information about LymeTV and its public awareness campaigns is available at LymeTV.org. Key research resources are available at https://lymetv.org/ianc-project/#KEY-RESEARCH.

ABOUT LYMETV
LymeTV (LymeTV.org) is a volunteer-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by public health strategist Adina Bercowicz, MPH, a late-stage Lyme disease survivor. Its mission is to reduce tick-borne disease through prevention, education, and outreach. Programs include the Tick JEDI™ school curriculum (active in 12 states), a PSA commercial series, the Tick Talk filmed interview series, and direct community health outreach. LymeTV also advocates on Capitol Hill for increased federal funding of tick-borne disease research.

ABOUT NATIONAL CAPITAL LYME DISEASE ASSOCIATION
The National Capital Lyme Disease Association is an all-volunteer nonprofit dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Through education, advocacy, research support, and patient services, it works to advance earlier diagnosis, better treatment, and public awareness while providing resources and community support to patients and families across the Mid-Atlantic region.

ABOUT PATHOBIOME RESEARCH CENTER AT PCOM
The Pathobiome Research Center at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) is dedicated to studying connections between infectious processes and chronic disorders. Founded through a collaboration between Director Nikki Schultek and PCOM neuroscientist Brian J. Balin, PhD, the Center investigates the role of the microbial pathobiome — pathogens that can persist in the body and drive inflammation, immune dysfunction, and chronic illness — across conditions including Alzheimer’s disease, neuropsychiatric disorders, PANS, and PANDAS.

ABOUT PATIENT CENTERED CARE ADVOCACY GROUP
Patient Centered Care Advocacy Group (facebook.com/PCCGroup) is a Washington, D.C.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Bruce Fries. It advocates for improved care for chronically ill patients underserved by the medical establishment, and operates as a nonprofit advertising agency — providing pro bono TV advertising services and pass-through pricing to healthcare-focused nonprofits. The organization has a long record of Capitol Hill engagement on Lyme disease funding and federal policy.

Contact Information

Bruce Fries

President

Paitent Centered Care Advocacy Group

Contact via E-mail