The latest publications of scientific medical research, articles and news on Lyme disease from many resources are automatically displayed here.
Thursday 12 December 2019
SUMMARY: Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in Canada and the United States, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, which affects multiple organ systems. Epidemiology, clinical presentation, and neuroimaging findings are reviewed. (Source: American Journal of Neuroradiology)
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Wednesday 11 December 2019
Conclusions: A significant increase (P = .02) in Lyme arthritis cases was observed at Oishei Children's Hospital of Buffalo. Lyme arthritis may clinically present similarly to other forms of arthritis, such as oligoarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, so health care providers should be aware of distinguishing clinical features, which include rapid onset of swelling and patient age. Because the geographic area of endemic Lyme disease is expanding, all health care providers need to be aware of Lyme arthritis as a possible diagnosis. PMID: 31819695 [PubMed] (Source: Clinical Medicine Insights: Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Disorders)
Tuesday 10 December 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Tuesday 10 December 2019
Insurance claim lines related to Lyme disease, a bacterial infection transmitted through the bite of black-legged ticks, increased by 117 percent across the country between 2007 and 2018, according to new research. (Source: Health News - UPI.com)
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Tuesday 10 December 2019
NEW YORK (CBS) – The United States has seen a big rise in the number of Lyme disease cases. A new study finds that the number of Americans diagnosed with the illness more than doubled over the past decade. Researchers at FAIR looked at private health insurance claims from 2007 to 2018. They found the biggest increase was in urban areas where claims for Lyme disease increased by more than 120%. Read The Report (PDF) “Lyme disease is the nation’s predominant tick-borne disease, and it is growing,” FAIR said in its report. Massachusetts was among the Top 10 states with the highest percentages of insurance claims for Lyme. The infection is spread through tick bites and can affect joints, the nervous system and heart if it goes untreated. (Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Spo...
Tuesday 10 December 2019
(FAIR Health) From 2007 to 2018, claim lines with diagnoses of Lyme disease increased nationally 117%. The new FAIR Health Study Uncovers Geographic, Age and Gender Variation, among Other Notable Statistics. Comparing Lyme disease to other tick-borne diseases, the study draws on data from FAIR Health's comprehensive repository of over 29 billion private healthcare claim records -- the largest in the country. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Sunday 8 December 2019
In conclusion, we show in this study that DCs respond to and mount an immune response against B. miyamotoi that is similar to the response to B. burgdorferi and is able to induce T cell proliferation. PMID: 31818980 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Immunology)
Sunday 8 December 2019
Publication date: Available online 6 December 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Amber M. Frye, Thomas M. Hart, Danielle M. Tufts, Sanjay Ram, Maria A. Diuk-Wasser, Peter Kraiczy, Anna M. Blom, Yi-Pin LinAbstractComplement is a key first line innate host defense system in the blood of vertebrates. Upon activation, this powerful defense mechanism can elicit inflammatory responses, lyse non-self-cells, or mark them for opsonophagocytic removal. Blood-feeding arthropods thus require the ability to block host complement activation in the bloodmeal to prevent undesired cell or tissue damage during feeding. The soft tick Ornithodoros moubata produces a complement inhibitory protein, OmCI. This protein binds to a mammalian complement protein C5 and blocks further activation of co...
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Sunday 8 December 2019
Publication date: Available online 6 December 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Hein Sprong, Sander Moonen, Sipke E. van Wieren, Tim R. HofmeesterAbstractCattle grazing has been suggested to reduce the risk for Lyme borreliosis by decreasing the density of questing Ixodes ricinus infected with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. We tested the hypotheses that cattle grazing used in woodland management decreases the density of questing I. ricinus, and that it decreases the nympal infection prevalence of B. burgdorferi sensu lato. We further expected the nympal infection prevalence of tick-borne pathogens that utilize cattle as amplifying hosts, namely Anaplasma phagocytophilum, and Babesia sensu stricto, to increase. To test these hypotheses, we compared the densities of quest...
Friday 6 December 2019
Authors: Perea AE, Hinckley AF, Mead PS PMID: 31800351 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Public Health Reports)
Friday 6 December 2019
(Natural News) A person can just be enjoying a day outdoors before he finds himself face-to-face with the last creature he wants to see crawling around on their body — a tick. An encounter with this particular insect could lead to an infectious disease called Lyme disease. While people have discovered plenty of ways to protect themselves from Lyme... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Thursday 5 December 2019
(CNN/CBS) — The climate crisis is making us more vulnerable to ticks in an unprecedented and growing threat to public health, according to a new report. Bacterial and protozoan tick-borne diseases doubled in the United States between 2004 and 2016, the report notes, and in 2017, more than 90% of the 60,000 vector-borne diseases in the United States were linked to these particular bloodsucking bugs. The warmer temperatures brought by the climate crisis, in addition to ecological changes and reforestation, have extended the bugs’ range into regions that had not seen certain types of ticks for many decades, if ever. And the report published in the New England Journal of Medicine Tuesday warns that we should be “bracing for the worst.” The lone star tick, a tick disting...
Tuesday 3 December 2019
Scientists at Columbia University, New York, are developing test that uses microchips to detect antibodies against Lyme disease. The condition, spread by ticks, can be fatal to humans. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Monday 2 December 2019
Authors: Margos G, Fedorova N, Becker NS, Kleinjan JE, Marosevic D, Krebs S, Hui L, Fingerle V, Lane RS Abstract Borrelia species are vector-borne parasitic bacteria with unusual, highly fragmented genomes that include a linear chromosome and linear as well as circular plasmids that differ numerically between and within various species. Strain CA690T, which was cultivated from a questing Ixodes spinipalpis nymph in the San Francisco Bay area, CA, was determined to be genetically distinct from all other described species belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. The genome, including plasmids, was assembled using a hybrid assembly of short Illumina reads and long reads obtained via Oxford Nanopore Technology. We found that strain CA690T has a main linear chromosome c...
Saturday 30 November 2019
ConclusionThis study of the clinical spectrum of LD in Canadian children underlines the need for preventive measures to protect children in Canada from emerging LD, and the need for health care provider awareness. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Thursday 28 November 2019
I’m always so proud of what our union stands for and what we can achieve when we stand together. But sometimes there are days when that’s particularly true – and earlier this week I had one of those days. It started early on a picket line at Whiston Hospital. The strikers – employed by Compass – have a simple demand, to get the same pay and conditions as those they work alongside in our NHS. Their energy, their passion and their unwillingness to give in are truly inspiring. These are the people who keep our NHS – our nation’s greatest achievement – running each day. They clean, they cook and they make sure patients are where they’re meant to be. They embody the incredible values of the NHS and our union, and it’s time that Compass (a company whic...
Thursday 28 November 2019
In this study, we determined the crystal structures of the key outer surface protein BBE31 from B. burgdorferi and its orthologous protein BSE31 (BSPA14S_RS05060 gene product) from B. spielmanii. BBE31 is known to be important for the transfer of B. burgdorferi from the gut to the hemolymph in the tick after a tick bite. While BBE31 exerts its function by interacting with the Ixodes scapularis tick gut protein TRE31, structural and mass spectrometry data revealed that BBE31 has a glutathione (GSH) covalently attached to Cys142 suggesting that the protein may have acquired some additional functions in contrast to its orthologous protein BSE31, which lacks any interactions with GSH. In the current study, in addition to analyzing the potential reasons for GSH binding, the three-dimensional st...
Tuesday 26 November 2019
Fundamental misunderstandings exist among both patients and practitioners about the nature of tick-borne infections. This review aims to address these issues from the neurologist's perspective.Seminars in Neurology (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Monday 25 November 2019
We report a case of suspected Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) where the patient's sole symptom was chronic, intermittent episodes of unilateral ear pain. This case was unusual because this patient did not show any other neurological or extraneurological symptoms of Lyme disease. LNB is a manifestation of infection by Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes that can manifest in a number of different clinical presentations depending on the nervous system dissemination of the bacteria. Most commonly, these neurological findings present as peripheral nerve radiculopathies, but rarer involvement of the central nervous system (CNS) can occur if a patient goes untreated. Most often, CNS involvement presents as meningitis with increased lymphocytes but can, in rarer cases, involve the spinal cord ...
Monday 25 November 2019
In conclusion, here we describe the molecular mechanism utilized by B. mayonii to resists complement-mediated killing by capturing human immune regulators. (Source: Frontiers in Immunology)
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Monday 25 November 2019
Chronic Lyme disease occurs when a person who has already received treatment for Lyme disease continues to have symptoms in the long term. Learn more about this condition here. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Monday 25 November 2019
Fewer than 40% of those bitten by a tick transmitting Lyme disease will have a bullseye rash, and ticks are incredibly small (about the size of a sesame seed), so are easily missed. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Friday 22 November 2019
We present a case of a man with genital condyloma acuminatum with a positive T. pallidum IHC stain but negative T. pallidum serologies and no syphilitic symptoms. It has been shown that the T. pallidum antibody IHC can cross-react, staining other spirochetes, including Borrelia burgdorferi and the Brachyspira family of intestinal spirochetes. Because of the proximity of our patient's lesions to the anus, and the persistently negative T. pallidum serologies, we believe nontreponemal spirochetes colonized the condyloma, giving a false-positive T. pallidum IHC. This cross-reactivity is a potential diagnostic pitfall and is important for the dermatopathologist to recognize, thereby avoiding false diagnosis of syphilis. (Source: The American Journal of Dermatopathology)
Thursday 21 November 2019
Single multiplexed assays could replace the standard 2-tiered (STT) algorithm recommended for the laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease if they perform with a specificity and a sensitivity superior or equal to those of the STT algorithm. We used human serum rigorously characterized to be sera from patients with acute- and convalescent-phase early Lyme disease, Lyme arthritis, and posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome, as well as the necessary controls (n = 241 samples), to select the best of 12 Borrelia burgdorferi proteins to improve our microfluidic assay (mChip-Ld). We then evaluated its serodiagnostic performance in comparison to that of a first-tier enzyme immunoassay and the STT algorithm. We observed that more antigens became positive as Lyme disease progressed from early to late stage...
Thursday 21 November 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Wednesday 20 November 2019
The Quarterly Review of Biology,Volume 94, Issue 4, Page 448-449, December 2019. (Source: QRB Latest Issue)
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Tuesday 19 November 2019
Conclusions: Because serum serology can be negative at presentation, lumbar puncture is a valuable tool when diagnosing LB among children with facial palsy. Pleocytosis and increased protein and CXCL13 values in the CSF suggest LB as the cause of facial palsy. (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Monday 18 November 2019
. (Source: Acta Clinica Belgica)
Monday 18 November 2019
(Natural News) After going outside, it may be best to do a tick check. Lyme disease is a dangerous condition that causes fever, rashes, face paralysis, and arthritis. Without proper care, it can even lead to death. Interestingly, something so deadly comes from the bite of something so small: ticks. Ticks are tiny arachnids commonly found... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
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Monday 18 November 2019
A novel PET imaging technique has uncovered high levels of ischemia in patients...Read more on AuntMinnie.comRelated Reading: PET/MRI sheds light on cerebral vascular risk factors Flortaucipir-PET shows tau accumulation after one TBI PET, MRI show physical activity aids brain health Carbon-11 PET detects brain inflammation after Lyme disease SNMMI: Cerebrovascular risk tied to Alzheimer's disease (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Sunday 17 November 2019
(Natural News) Lyme disease and rheumatoid arthritis are two different diseases that share many symptoms. A patient will benefit from knowing how to tell them apart. The diseases have different origins. Lyme disease is a bacterial disease caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which infect humans via tick bites. Meanwhile, rheumatoid arthritis stems from a mixture of... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Friday 15 November 2019
CONCLUSION: In patients consulting for presumed LB, patients diagnosed with LB had fewer and shorter functional symptoms than patients without LB. PMID: 31722861 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Thursday 14 November 2019
Authors: Lourdes Lledó Consuelo Giménez-Pardo María Isabel Gegúndez Exposure to Lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV), hantaviruses, Rickettsia spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi among forestry workers from a province in central Spain (Guadalajara) was examined by serological screening. This is the first such study in this rural area, where people often live and work in proximity to domestic and wild animals. Immunofluorescent analyses of the serum of 100 forestry workers detected IgG antibodies to LCMV in 2% (CL 95% 0.55%–7.0%) of this population, to hantaviruses in 4% (CL 95% 1.6%–8.3%) for the serum amyloid A (SAA) serotype, and 2% (CL 95% 0.55%–7.0%) for the Seoul virus (SEO) serotype (samples also positive for SAA), to Rickettsia ...
Wednesday 13 November 2019
Abstract16 ‐year‐old boy with severe obesity presented to the pediatric rheumatology clinic with a 1.5‐year history of right knee swelling. Laboratory findings were unremarkable other than mildly elevated inflammatory markers. Lyme screen was negative. A previous knee MRI reported a large joint effusion with synovitis and few punctate foci of low signal intensity throughout the synovium, concerning for pigmented villondodular synovitis. (Source: Arthritis and Rheumatology)
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Tuesday 12 November 2019
This study is registered with the Netherlands Trial Registry, number NTR5263.FindingsWe screened patients for enrolment between Dec 3, 2015, and May 31, 2018. Patients completed baseline visits and started treatment between Dec 14, 2015, and July 2, 2018, and the last study visit of the last patient was Oct 4, 2018. Of 149 patients assessed for eligibility, 57 (38%) patients were excluded (predominantly because they did not meet one or several inclusion criteria, most often because of an absence of synovial inflammation or of flare-ups after NSAID washout) and 92 (62%) patients were eligible for inclusion. We randomly assigned 46 (50%) patients to receive prednisolone and 46 (50%) patients to receive placebo, all of whom were included in the modified intention-to-treat analysis of the prim...
Tuesday 12 November 2019
Publication date: Available online 10 November 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Yamato Sajiki, Satoru Konnai, Akie Ochi, Tomohiro Okagawa, Naftaly Githaka, Masayoshi Isezaki, Shinji Yamada, Takuya Ito, Shuji Ando, Hiroki Kawabata, Carlos Logullo, Itabajara da Silva Vaz, Naoya Maekawa, Shiro Murata, Kazuhiko OhashiAbstractTick saliva contains immunosuppressants which are important to obtain a blood meal and enhance the infectivity of tick-borne pathogens. In Japan, Ixodes persulcatus is a major vector for Lyme borreliosis pathogens, such as Borrelia garinii, as well as for those causing relapsing fever, such as B. miyamotoi. To date, little information is available on bioactive salivary molecules, produced by this tick. Thus, in this study, we identified two proteins, I. ...
Monday 11 November 2019
Lyme disease is caused by a tick-borne bacterium Borrelia sp. This zoonotic infection is common in the Northern Hemisphere, e.g., Europe. Clinical presentation may involve multisystem symptoms and depends on the stage of the disease. The involvement of nervous system in Lyme disease is commonly referred to as neuroborreliosis. Neuroborreliosis may involve meningitis, mononeuritis multiplex, or cranial neuritis including the inflammation of vestibulocochlear nerve. In the late or chronic stage of Lyme disease, vestibular involvement may be the sole presentation, although such cases are rare. Our study was designed to present our own case and review the available literature reporting cases of neuroborreliosis with vertigo/dizziness and severe balance instability as a main disease symptom. Th...
Monday 11 November 2019
Authors: Johnstone-Robertson SP, Diuk-Wasser MA, Davis SA Abstract Tick-borne pathogens pose a considerable disease burden in Europe and North America, where increasing numbers of human cases and the emergence of new tick-borne pathogens has renewed interest in resolving the mechanisms underpinning their geographical distribution and abundance. For Borrelia burgdorferi and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus, transmission of infection from one generation of ticks to another occurs when older nymphal ticks infect younger larval ticks feeding on the same host, either indirectly via systemic infection of the vertebrate host or directly when feeding in close proximity. Here, expressions for the basic reproduction number, R0, and the related tick type-reproduction number, T, are derived...
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Monday 11 November 2019
The Journal of Physical Chemistry LettersDOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.9b02978 (Source: The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters)
Sunday 10 November 2019
Authors: Federizon J, Frye A, Huang WC, Hart TM, He X, Beltran C, Marcinkiewicz AL, Mainprize IL, Wills MKB, Lin YP, Lovell JF Abstract Outer surface protein A (OspA) is a Borrelia lipoprotein and an established Lyme disease vaccine target. Admixing non-lipidated, recombinant B. burgdorferi OspA with liposomes containing cobalt porphyrin-phospholipid (CoPoP) resulted in rapid, particulate surface display of the conformationally intact antigen. Particleization was serum-stable and led to enhanced antigen uptake in murine macrophages in vitro. Mouse immunization using CoPoP liposomes that also contained a synthetic monophosphoryl lipid A (PHAD) elicited a Th1-biased OspA antibody response with higher IgG production compared to other vaccine adjuvants. Antibodies were reactive with in...
Thursday 7 November 2019
No abstract available (Source: Neurology Today)
Tuesday 5 November 2019
CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the potential danger from the inadvertent introduction of novel disease pathogens and vectors. Awareness of co-infections and Dermacentor reticulatus-related pathogens needs to be increased. PMID: 31694625 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Biomed Res)
Friday 1 November 2019
To evaluate occurrence and extent of CSF CXCL13 elevations beyond Lyme neuroborreliosis, we investigated CXCL13 in an unselected patient cohort with neuroinflammatory disease. From March 2016 to March 2017, 180 in-patients with CSF pleocytosis were categorized into following groups: pyogenic CNS infections, aseptic meningoencephalitis, neuroimmunological diseases, and reactive pleocytosis. We provide evidence that CXCL13 elevation occurs at variable extent in the majority of neuroinflammatory diseases. (Source: Journal of Neuroimmunology)
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Friday 1 November 2019
Rationale: Both Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and spotted fever group Rickettsiae (SFGR) are pathogens carried by ticks. There is a possibility of co-infection with these tick-borne diseases. Patient concerns: Male patient, 63 years-of-age, admitted to hospital with skin rash presenting for 1 week and fever with cough and expectoration for 3 days before admission. Diagnoses: We diagnosed that the patient was co-infected by B burgdorferi sl and SFGR using laboratory test results and the patient's clinical manifestations. Interventions: The patient started therapy with oral minocycline, then levofloxacin by intravenous injection for SFGR. Meanwhile, he was treated with penicillin G sodium, cefoperazone sulbactam sodium and ceftriaxone by intravenous injection for B burgdorferi s...
Friday 1 November 2019
Journal of Proteome ResearchDOI: 10.1021/acs.jproteome.9b00569 (Source: Journal of Proteome Research)
Thursday 31 October 2019
ConclusionB. burgdorferi is unusual in that it expresses three distinct MTNs (cytoplasmic, membrane bound, and secreted) that are effectively inactivated by nucleoside analogs.General significanceThe Borrelia MTNs appear to be promising targets for developing new antibiotics to treat Lyme disease. (Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) General Subjects)
Thursday 31 October 2019
LYME disease is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium named Borrelia, spread by ticks found in the woods. It can easily be caught and if a person experiences this one particular sign it could be a major warning that you may be at risk of having the disease. What is it? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Monday 28 October 2019
First ever cases in Britain, says Public Health England Related items fromOnMedica Vaccine linked to earlier onset of seizures in Dravet syndrome Scans show severe brain damage in Zika-affected babies Lyme disease may be three times more common in UK than previously thought Single-dose malaria drug eliminates parasite from liver Common anti-parasitic could be new tool for malaria control (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Monday 28 October 2019
Authors: Sabrina H, Volker F, Gerhard DG, Gerit F, Durdica M, Ethan RR, Mercy O, Andreas S, Gabriele M Abstract Borrelia turcica, a member of the reptile-associated Borrelia clade, is vectored by Hyalomma aegyptium. The only suggested reservoir hosts of B. turcica are tortoises of the genus Testudo. Borrelia turcica has been described to occur in several Southeastern European countries including Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece but so far nothing is known about the relationship of these populations and whether or how they are structured. Using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) on eight chromosomally located housekeeping loci (clpA, clpX, nifS, pepX, pyrG, recG, rplB and uvrA) we analyzed 43 B. turcica isolates from Serres, Greece (n = 15) collected in 2017 and Izmir, Turkey...
Monday 28 October 2019
As vectors for Lyme disease, black-legged ticks present a public health crisis in North America. Are current prevention recommendations appropriate? Where should prevention efforts be focused?American Journal of Epidemiology (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
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Saturday 26 October 2019
Two newly reported cases of fatal Lyme carditis serve as a reminder of the importance of prompt identification and treatment of this potentially life-threatening infection.Reuters Health Information (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Monday 21 October 2019
Authors: Marx GE, Leikauskas J, Lindstrom K, Mann E, Reagan-Steiner S, Matkovic E, Read JS, Kelso P, Kwit NA, Hinckley AF, Levine MA, Brown C PMID: 31634915 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Annals of Internal Medicine)
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Monday 21 October 2019
Waiting for test results before initiating therapy for patients suspected of having Lyme carditis may result in death, data from two recent cases show.Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Internal Medicine Headlines)
Saturday 19 October 2019
Publication date: 19 October 2019Source: New Scientist, Volume 244, Issue 3252Author(s): Clare Wilson (Source: New Scientist)
Saturday 19 October 2019
The frequency of permanent staining of teeth of young children from doxycycline is thought to be lower than from older tetracyclines, but the precise risk is uncertain. Until more definitive data become available, doxycycline should not be used routinely to treat young children with erythema migrans, a manifestation of Lyme disease for which other antimicrobials are highly effective. (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Saturday 19 October 2019
Conclusions: In Slovenia, LNB in children is more often caused by B. garinii, followed by B. afzelii. The clinical picture of LNB in children caused by B. garinii is not more often suggestive of CNS involvement, but CNS inflammation is more pronounced in children infected with B. garinii, compared with children infected with B. afzelii. (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Saturday 19 October 2019
This study documents a high prevalence in ticks of Rickettsia spp. thought to be endosymbionts, a low prevalence of relapsing fever group Borrelia in ticks, and a lack of detection of Lyme disease-group Borrelia in both ticks and mammals in an east Texas forested recreation area. Additionally, we observed low questing tick density in areas with a history of controlled burns. These results expand knowledge of tick-borne disease ecology in east Texas which can aid in directing future investigative, modeling, and management efforts. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Thursday 17 October 2019
Authors: Knödlseder JM, Fell SF, Straubinger RK Abstract A total of 143 horses were included in a study to test a commercial vaccine against Lyme borreliosis. The vaccine contained three different antigens (outer surface protein A, OspA) to prevent the infection with spirochetes - B.burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. afzelii and B. garinii. Horses in Group A (49 animals) received two vaccinations on days 0 and 14 and a booster on day 365, whereas 50 horses in Group B received an additional booster vaccination on day 180. Group C (44 animals) was not immunized. Total antibody levels and specific OspA antibody responses were assessed quantitatively and qualitatively in two-month intervals over 13-month period. Vaccinees in Groups A and B developed high OspA antibodies levels, whereas hor...
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Thursday 17 October 2019
Publication date: Available online 16 October 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Nicole E. Breuner, Shelby L. Ford, Andrias Hojgaard, Lynn M. Osikowicz, Christina M. Parise, Maria F. Rosales Rizzo, Ying Bai, Michael L. Levin, Rebecca J. Eisen, Lars EisenAbstractThe invasive, human-biting Asian longhorned tick, Haemaphysalis longicornis, was detected in New Jersey in the eastern United States in August of 2017 and by November of 2018 this tick had been recorded from 45 counties across 9 states, primarily along the Eastern Seaboard. The establishment of H. longicornis in the United States has raised the questions of how commonly it will bite humans and which native pathogens may naturally infect this tick. There also is a need for experimental vector competence studies with ...
Thursday 17 October 2019
LYME disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks. Ticks are tiny spider-like creatures found in woodland and heath areas. They feed on the blood of birds, mammals and humans. Feeling this sensation in your head could mean you have Lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 16 October 2019
Rapid assay for Lyme disease could lead to a practical test for use by healthcare providers. (Source: National Institutes of Health (NIH) News Releases)
Tuesday 15 October 2019
DR MARTIN SCURR: Pat Toovey from Norfolk found a tick on his wife's back two years ago and she is constantly in pain and struggles to get out of bed. He fears she has Lyme disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Monday 14 October 2019
CONCLUSION: Different specific molecules of the vector, pathogen and host result in LNB establishment. After B. burgdorferi species penetrate host skin through a tick bite, they are confronted by the immune defenses of the host. However, they are helped by specific proteins in different interactions, and the disease is established. The interactions between the vector, pathogen and host are shown in Table 1 and Figure 1. Knowledge of these molecular interactions can aid development of therapeutics against LNB and LD. Others: We systematically describe the different molecular tick-pathogen-host interactions. PMID: 31613726 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Protein and Peptide Science)
Monday 14 October 2019
Authors: Norte AC, Lopes de Carvalho I, Núncio MS, Araújo PM, Matthysen E, Albino Ramos J, Sprong H, Heylen D Abstract Wild birds are frequently exposed to the zoonotic tick-borne bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), and some bird species act as reservoirs for some Borrelia genospecies. Studying the tropism of Borrelia in the host, how it is sequestered in different organs, and whether it is maintained in circulation and/or in the host's skin is important to understand pathogenicity, infectivity to vector ticks and reservoir competency.We evaluated tissue dissemination of Borrelia in blackbirds (Turdus merula) and great tits (Parus major), naturally and experimentally infected with Borrelia genospecies from enzootic foci. We collected both minimally invasive biologica...
Monday 14 October 2019
Discussion Lyme disease (LD) is caused by several genospecies of Borrelia burgdorferi senu lato that are transmitted by ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. In the U.S. and Europe it is the most common vector-borne disease. It is named for Lyme, Connecticut in the 1970s when it was “discovered,” but there are reports of LD-type disease in Europe since 1883. There are 18 distinct genospecies with B. afzelii, B. garinii and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto being the 3 most common ones causing human infection. There are many species of Ixodes ticks but only 4 commonly bite humans. Ixodes ricinus mainly in Europe, I, persultcatus in Asia, I. scapularis in the eastern and central US, and I. pacificus in the western US and Canada. However I. pacificus is rarely infected and accounts for ...
Monday 14 October 2019
Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum are tick-borne infections transmitted by Ixodes scapularis in the eastern USA; both agents cause disease in dogs and people. To characterize changes in seropreva... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Friday 11 October 2019
With an increase of nearly 10,000 cases of tickborne disease from 2016 to 2017 -- mostly lyme disease -- the National Institutes of Health announced a five-year plan to expand research and reduce infections. (Source: Health News - UPI.com)
Friday 11 October 2019
(Source: BMJ News)
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Thursday 10 October 2019
Most people who think they have chronic Lyme disease are more likely to have chronic fatigue syndrome, say experts. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)
Thursday 10 October 2019
LYME disease is a bacterial infection which is spread to humans via tick bites. The most notable symptom is the rash that develops, but not all symptoms associated with the condition necessarily point to Lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Thursday 10 October 2019
Combatting Lyme disease myths and the "chronic Lyme industry". CMAJ. 2019 Oct 07;191(40):E1111-E1112 Authors: Glauser W PMID: 31591102 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal)
Wednesday 9 October 2019
People who think they have a long-lasting form of Lyme disease are taking antibiotics for many months and may be treating the wrong disease (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Monday 7 October 2019
The first human Lyme vaccine was pulled off the market nearly 20 years ago. A new effort faces lingering suspicions.Undark (Source: Medscape Allergy Headlines)
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Monday 7 October 2019
Persistent symptoms attributed to Lyme borreliosis often include self-reported cognitive impairment. However, it remains unclear whether these symptoms can be substantiated by objective cognitive testing. (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
Friday 4 October 2019
CONCLUSIONS: Lyme disease is a serious health risk in Bulgaria especially in its northern part - regions on the north are the most vulnerable to a higher incidence of the disease. PMID: 31580560 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Central European Journal of Public Health)
Friday 4 October 2019
Authors: Rifkin LM, Vadboncoeur J, Minkus CC, Dunn EN, Moorthy RS, Bhatt N, Sen HN, Taggart MG, Vitale AT, Goldstein DA PMID: 31577476 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Ocular Immunology and Inflammation)
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Thursday 3 October 2019
CONCLUSIONS: This report provides an important complementary source of data to best understand trends in and spread of NLTBI. PMID: 31584611 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: American Journal of Clinical Pathology)
Wednesday 2 October 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Wednesday 2 October 2019
This article provides an update on changes in case definitions that have been made since the case definitions were last published in 2009, and describes updates that have been made to the interactive website since 2013. Changes were made to the case definitions of five diseases. For hepatitis C, the new case definition now distinguishes between acute and chronic infection. For cyclosporiasis, the probable case definition requires an epidemiologic link, with the clarification that this would likely be due to exposure to a common food source. For rabies, the probable case definition now refers to detection of rabies-neutralizing antibody instead of specific antibody titres. For Lyme disease, the revised confirmed and probable case definitions now identify five options for Lyme disease risk a...
Tuesday 1 October 2019
Publication date: Available online 30 September 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): P. Letertre-Gibert, G. Vourc’h, I. Lebert, M. Rene-Martellet, V. Corbin-Valdenaire, D. Portal-Martineau, J. Beytout, O. LesensAbstractThe incidence of Lyme borreliosis remains a matter of debate, but it can be estimated using the incidence of erythema migrans (EM), which is pathognomonic of the first phase. The aim of this prospective pilot study was to assess the feasibility of the on-line declaration of EM in rural areas where the incidence of Lyme borreliosis was previously estimated at 85 per 100,000 inhabitants per year.The study was limited to a rural area (Les Combrailles, Auvergne) of approximately 52,800 inhabitants and was preceded by an information campaign for the inhabitants a...
Monday 30 September 2019
. (Source: Infectious Diseases)
Monday 30 September 2019
Conclusions: S. pneumoniae remains the most frequently observed causative bacterial pathogen associated with community-acquired CNS infections. Incidence of tick-borne encephalitis in our county is higher than the national average (2.3 versus 0.35/100 000 person/year). Orv Hetil. 2019; 160(40): 1574-1583. PMID: 31565975 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Orvosi Hetilap)
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Monday 30 September 2019
. (Source: Infectious Diseases)
Sunday 29 September 2019
Authors: Nakayama S, Kobayashi T, Nakamura A, Yoshitomi H, Song Y, Ashizuka Y Abstract We surveyed the presence of Borrelia spp. in ticks collected from vegetation by flagging and from wild animals from May 2017 to November 2018 in Fukuoka, located in the northern Kyushu area of Japan. A total of 1,601 ticks were collected and morphologically separated into 9 species: Ixodes turdus, I. ovatus, Amblyomma testudinarium, Haemaphysalis flava, H. formosensis, H. kitaokai, H. longicornis, H. hystricis, and H. megaspinosa. The ticks were segregated into 561 pools and nested PCR was used to detect borrelial DNA. Borrelia turdi and Borrelia sp. HM were identified in two of the 561 pools. This is the first report on the presence of Lyme diseases group of Borrelia and Relapsing fever group of...
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Saturday 28 September 2019
ConclusionsAlthough peripheral facial palsy was predominantly idiopathic (75.3%) in our cohort, the disease was caused in approximately 25% of the patients by factors which require specific treatment. In the present study, CSF analysis proved to be the leading method for the diagnosis of Ramsay-Hunt-Syndrome, Lyme Neuroborreliosis, and other CNS infections. These subgroups made up approximately 15% of our cohort. To detect these subgroups reliably, routine use of CSF analysis in peripheral facial palsy may be advisable, whereas MRI proved to be useful for exclusion of otogenic and neoplastic processes with a sensitivity of 83% and 88%. We found that the use of MRI with contrast-enhancing compounds does not provide additional diagnostic information on the day of hospital admission. Hence, t...
Friday 27 September 2019
This prospective cohort study examines the association between seropositivity to Borrelia burgdorferi and incidental neuropsychiatric disorders and functional decline in rural southwestern France. (Source: JAMA Neurology)
Tuesday 24 September 2019
Abstract: Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative organism of Lyme disease, has been linked to the development of scleroatrophic skin conditions including morphea, although this association remains controversial. The possibility that tick bite with or without concurrent Borrelia infection instigates that morphea development is important to recognize because this could prompt further workup for Lyme disease, or other tick-borne illness, which, when untreated, can have devastating consequences. Here, we report a case of a woman with a history of previous tick bite in the location of morphea. This prompted further workup, including serologies that were negative for borrelia. The patient declined empiric treatment with doxycycline. It is important to be aware that morphea may represent a consequ...
Tuesday 24 September 2019
[Erratum to "Lyme borreliosis and other tick-borne diseases. Guidelines from the French scientific societies" [Med. Mal. Infect. 49 (2019) 296-317]]. Med Mal Infect. 2019 Oct;49(7):558-559 Authors: Gocko X, Lenormand C, Lemogne C, Bouiller K, Gehanno JF, Rabaud C, Perrot S, Eldin C, de Broucker T, Roblot F, Toubiana J, Sellal F, Vuillemet F, Sordet C, Fantin B, Lina G, Sobas C, Jaulhac B, Figoni J, Chirouze C, Hansmann Y, Hentgen V, Caumes E, Dieudonné M, Picone O, Bodaghi B, Gangneux JP, Degeilh B, Partouche H, Saunier A, Sotto A, Raffetin A, Monsuez JJ, Michel C, Boulanger N, Cathebras P, Tattevin P, endorsed by the following scientific societies PMID: 31542149 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Monday 23 September 2019
Conventional two-tiered testing (CTTT) for Lyme disease includes a first-tier enzyme immunoassay (EIA) followed by a supplemental immunoblot, and modified two-tiered testing (MTTT) relies on two different sequential EIAs without the inclusion of an immunoblot. MTTT has shown promising results as an alternative strategy for the diagnosis of Lyme disease in adults but has not yet been evaluated in children. We performed a cross-sectional study of children and adolescents ≤21 years of age undergoing clinical investigation for suspected Lyme disease. Serum specimens were analyzed with both a whole-cell sonicate (WCS) and a C6 EIA, with a supplemental immunoblot if either EIA was positive or equivocal. We compared CTTT (WCS EIA followed by supplemental immunoblot) to MTTT (WCS EIA followed b...
Monday 23 September 2019
Just over 20 years ago, a Lyme disease vaccine called LYMErix was approved for sale in the United States. Researchers designed the vaccine to prevent the transmission of the tick-borne pathogen Borellia burgdorferi, which spurs a bacterial infection that can cause fever, headaches, and joint pain if left untreated. The... (Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
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Monday 23 September 2019
Publication date: Available online 23 September 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Goudarz Molaei, Eliza AH Little, Kirby C. Stafford, Holly GaffAbstractCases of morphological anomalies in the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae), have recently been reported from the Northeastern and upper Midwestern United States, potentially complicating identification of this important vector of human disease-causing pathogens. We hereby report a case of a morphological anomaly in I. scapularis, biting a human host residing in Norwich, Connecticut. Using a dichotomous morphological key, high-resolution and scanning electron microscopy images, as well as DNA sequencing, the tick was identified as an adult female I. scapularis with three legs on the left side of the abdom...
Sunday 22 September 2019
Authors: Collins C, Lui Y, Santos AM, Ballif BA, Gogerly-Moragoda AM, Brouwer H, Ross R, Balagurunathan K, Sharma S, Wright GJ, Davis S, Budd RC Abstract Lack of understanding of the nature and physiological regulation of γδ T cell ligands has considerably hampered full understanding of the function of these cells. We developed an unbiased approach to identify human γδ T cells ligands by the production of a soluble TCR-γδ (sTCR-γδ) tetramer from a synovial Vδ1 γδ T cell clone from a Lyme arthritis patient. The sTCR-γδ was used in flow cytometry to initially define the spectrum of ligand expression by both human tumor cell lines and certain human primary cells. Analysis of diverse tumor cell lines revealed high ligand expression on several of epithelial or fibroblast or...
Friday 20 September 2019
No abstract available (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Friday 20 September 2019
In this study, we used PCR-based methods to provide the first evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) infections in the three bat-associated tick species collected from ten bat species sampled in Poland and Romania. B. burgdorferi s.l. was detected in 24% (64/266) of tick samples, and 40.3% (60/149) of the bats carried infected chiropterophilic ticks.In Poland, the B. burgdorferi s.l. infection prevelance of I. ariadnae ticks parasitizing Myotis species was four times higher compared to the I. vespertilionis ticks derived from Rhinolophus hipposideros bats (44.4% vs.10%, respectively). The observed differences in infection prevalence could be explained by differences in reservoir potential between bat species. Bats from the genus Myotis and Miniopterus schreibersii carried more ...
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Thursday 19 September 2019
Authors: Gomez-Chamorro A, Heinrich V, Sarr A, Roethlisberger O, Genné D, Bregnard C, Jacquet M, Voordouw MJ Abstract Multiple-strain microbial pathogens often induce strain-specific antibody responses in their vertebrate hosts. Mothers can transmit antibodies to their offspring, which can provide short-term, strain-specific protection against infection. Few experimental studies have investigated this phenomenon for multiple-strain zoonotic pathogens occurring in wildlife reservoir hosts. The tick-borne bacterium Borrelia afzelii causes Lyme disease in Europe and consists of multiple strains that cycle between the tick vector (Ixodes ricinus) and vertebrate hosts such as the bank vole (Myodes glareolus). We used a controlled experiment to show that female bank voles infected with ...
Wednesday 18 September 2019
A basic feature of infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme borreliosis, is that persistent infection is the rule in its many hosts. The ability to persist and evade host immune clearance poses a challenge to effective antimicrobial treatment. A link between therapy failure and the presence of persister cells has started to emerge. There is growing experimental evidence that viable but noncultivable spirochetes persist following treatment with several different antimicrobial agents. The current study utilized the mouse model to evaluate if persistence occurs following antimicrobial treatment in disease-susceptible (C3H/HeJ [C3H]) and disease-resistant (C57BL/6 [B6]) mouse strains infected with B. burgdorferi strains N40 and B31 and to confirm the generality o...
Tuesday 17 September 2019
Semin Neurol 2019; 39: 440-447 DOI: 10.1055/s-0039-1692143Tick-borne infections—including tick-borne encephalitis viruses, represented in the United States by rare infections with Powassan and deer tick viruses, and more often Lyme disease—are of increasing importance to neurologists. Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) causes all or part of a triad including meningitis, radiculoneuritis, and cranial neuritis. Rarely, parenchymal brain and spinal cord involvement occur, with focal findings on examination and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). LNB diagnosis requires plausible exposure, objective evidence of nervous system involvement, and, generally, positive two-tier serology. Central nervous system (CNS) LNB is almost always accompanied by abnormal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) (cells, protein), o...
Tuesday 17 September 2019
Authors: Brodziński S, Nasierowski T Abstract In the second part of the article case reports of three patients were presented. All patientswere treated for Borrelia infection and all of them developed psychotic disorders. History of each patient was different, as well as the probability of causal relationship between neuroborreliosis and psychosis. The first case concerns a female patient with no former psychiatric history, who developed psychotic episode secondary to neuroborreliosis. Psychotic disorders resolved after antibiotic treatment. In the second case, a male patient was previously twice hospitalized in psychiatric ward due to psychosis. During the third psychiatric hospitalization suspicion of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) was propounded. Patient's health state improved af...
Tuesday 17 September 2019
Authors: Brodziński S, Nasierowski T Abstract Borreliosis is a multisystem, bacterial, zoonotic infectious disease with diversified spectrumof symptoms, which may also include psychotic disorders. Clinical picture of the disease is often unspecific, which makes the diagnosis relatively difficult. Uncharacteristic process of borreliosis is a result of complex molecular strategies used by spirochetes to infect, disseminate and survive in host organism. Part I of the article is focused on the current knowledge about pathogenesis of Lyme Borreliosis (LB), especially neuroborreliosis. Additionally, epidemic situation in Poland and in Europe was presented. Also, typical clinical manifestations of LB were described. In the article, the crucial pathogenic cell mechanisms were depicted. Th...
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Tuesday 17 September 2019
Four existing laboratory tests used to confirm a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease recently received FDA market clearance for new testing indications that may help streamline the diagnostic process. (Source: JAMA)
Sunday 15 September 2019
Publication date: Available online 14 September 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Howard S. Ginsberg, Eric L. Rulison, Jasmine L. Miller, Genevieve Pang, Isis M. Arsnoe, Graham J. Hickling, Nicholas H. Ogden, Roger A. LeBrun, Jean I. TsaoAbstractIxodes scapularis is the primary vector of Lyme disease spirochetes in eastern and central North America, and local densities of this tick can affect human disease risk. We sampled larvae and nymphs from sites in Massachusetts and Wisconsin, USA, using flag/drag devices and by collecting ticks from hosts, and measured environmental variables to evaluate the environmental factors that affect local distribution and abundance of I. scapularis. Our sites were all forested areas with known I. scapularis populations. Environmental varia...
Saturday 14 September 2019
Three medical stories that we didn't cover, explained.Medscape (Source: Medscape Allergy Headlines)
Friday 13 September 2019
ConclusionsC. burnetii is rarely transmitted by ticks, but we proved that it is present in the environment, so it may be a danger to humans. The most common co-occurrence after tick bite concernsC. burnetii andB. burgdorferi. (Source: Infection)
Friday 13 September 2019
Dr Paul Auwaerter comments on the newly approved, modified two-tier approach for diagnosing Lyme disease.Medscape Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Infectious Diseases Headlines)
Thursday 12 September 2019
The periplasmic lipoprotein BB0365 of the Lyme disease agentBorrelia burgdorferi is expressed throughout mammalian infection and is essential for all phases of Lyme disease infection; its function, however, remains unknown. In the current study, our structural analysis of BB0365 revealed the same structural fold as that found in the NqrC and RnfG subunits of the NADH:quinone and ferredoxin:NAD+ sodium ‐translocating oxidoreductase complexes, which points to a potential role for BB0365 as a component of the sodium pump. Additionally, BB0365 coordinated Zn2+ by the His51, His55, His140 residues, and the Zn2+‐binding site indicates that BB0365 could act as a potential metalloenzyme; therefore, this structure narrows down the potential functions of BB0365, an essential protein forB. bur...
Tuesday 10 September 2019
Authors: Ahmed S, Okon L, Keller M Abstract A 68-year-old Indian man presented with a pruritic eruption on his neck, back, elbows, knees, and the dorsum of his hands. He was initially treated for possible Lyme's disease by his primary care physician, but without improvement. Then he developed daily chills and fevers up to 101 °F, as well as shortness of breath. A chest radiograph showed patchy airspace opacities suggestive of atypical pneumonia, and the patient was treated with levofloxacin and prednisone. Although prednisone diminished the eruption, the patient continued to experience fever, malaise, and generalized weakness, at which point he was hospitalized. Blood cultures and an antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were negative and extensive lab workup was only notable for an elevat...
Monday 9 September 2019
Publication date: Available online 9 September 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Alaa M. Al-Khafaji, Stuart D. Armstrong, Ilaria Varotto Boccazzi, Stefano Gaiarsa, Amit Sinha, Zhiru Li, Davide Sassera, Clotilde K.S. Carlow, Sara Epis, Benjamin L. MakepeaceAbstractVertically-transmitted bacterial symbionts are widespread in ticks and have manifold impacts on the epidemiology of tick-borne diseases. For instance, they may provide essential nutrients to ticks, affect vector competence, induce immune responses in vertebrate hosts, or even evolve to become vertebrate pathogens. The deer or blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis harbours the symbiont Rickettsia buchneri in its ovarian tissues. Here we show by molecular, proteomic and imaging methods that R. buchneri is also capable...
Friday 6 September 2019
Recently, the FDA cleared several Lyme disease serologic assays with new indications for use, allowing for an EIA rather than western immunoblot assay as a confirmatory test.Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Wednesday 4 September 2019
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. (Source: FEBS Letters)
Wednesday 4 September 2019
Analysis (n=2361) noted significant increase (p (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Tuesday 3 September 2019
John St Julien, now 34, moved to east Africa in 2014 to launch a charity helping local children be educated. He soon started to feel run down but dismissed it as the pressure of his job. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Sunday 1 September 2019
The spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is internalized by macrophages and processed in phagolysosomes. Phagosomal compaction, a crucial step in phagolysosome maturation, is driven by contact of Rab5a-positive vesicles with the phagosomal coat. We show that the sorting nexin SNX3 is transported with Rab5a vesicles and that its PX domain enables vesicle–phagosome contact by binding to PI(3)P in the phagosomal coat. Moreover, the C-terminal region of SNX3 recruits galectin-9, a lectin implicated in protein and membrane recycling, which we identify as a further regulator of phagosome compaction. SNX3 thus forms a hub for two distinct vesicle populations, constituting a convergence point for the endosomal recycling machinery, to contribute to phagosome m...
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Sunday 1 September 2019
A 60-year-old woman with a history of Lyme disease presents with polydipsia and polyuria and a thickening and enhancement of the pituitary gland, stalk, and hypothalamus. What would you do next? (Source: JAMA Ophthalmology)
Friday 30 August 2019
Dr. Derek Monette: Today's case is that of a 46-year-old male with recent diagnoses of Lyme disease and babesiosis who presented to our emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain, nausea, and diarrhea. The patient was previously healthy and had been well until approximately 2 weeks before the day of ED presentation, when he developed headache, fatigue, and myalgias. He also noticed that his right calf “looks sunburned,” and was warm to the touch. He was evaluated by his primary care physician (PCP) after 1 week of symptoms. (Source: The Journal of Emergency Medicine)
Wednesday 28 August 2019
This study was aimed to know epidemiological aspects of Borrelia spp. in a protected urban area of Buenos Aires city, Argentina, where thousands of people visit this area for recreational purposes. Ticks were collected from vegetation, birds and dogs. Three hundred and forty birds belonging to 43 species, 41 genera, 18 families and six orders were captured (90.3% corresponded to the order Passeriformes). One hundred and twenty ticks were collected from 47 birds (13.8%) belonging to 10 species (23.2%), all of them from to the order Passeriformes (Emberizidae, Furnariidae, Parulidae, Thraupidae, Troglodytidae, Turdidae). Ticks were identified as Ixodes auritulus (56 larvae, 44 nymphs and 8 females) and Amblyomma aureolatum (1 larva and 11 nymphs).One thousand and ninety-one ticks collected f...
Monday 26 August 2019
Finding an effective way to prevent the spread of tick-borne illness such as Lyme disease has been quite challenging over the past several decades. Researchers have now developed a new approach that goes right to the place where a tick transmits disease: its salivary glands. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Sunday 25 August 2019
In this study, B. burgdorferi-negative dogs were inoculated with B. turicatae, and seroconversion was confirmed by the rBipA (recombinant Borrelia immunogenic protein A) Western blot. Seropositive samples were tested with commercial and veterinary diagnostic laboratory B. burgdorferi-based tests. Borrelia turicatae-seroreactive samples cross-reacted with a whole-cell indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) test and two multiantigen tests, but not with single-antigen tests using C6. Cross-reactivity with TBRF can confound epidemiology and surveillance efforts and confuse recommendations made by veterinarians for prevention and control. These findings demonstrate the need to critically evaluate results from B. burgdorferi diagnostic tests in the context of the assay type and the animal’s g...
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Sunday 25 August 2019
AbstractPurpose of ReviewElectronic health records (EHRs) are an excellent source of data for disease symptoms, laboratory results, and medical treatments. Thus, EHR data may improve the completeness of notifiable disease case reporting and enable longitudinal collection of disease data. The purpose of this review is to examine the current state of EHR use in public health infectious disease surveillance in the USA.Recent FindingsA wide variety of EHR data is used in infectious disease surveillance. EHR data were used to assess the incidence of Lyme disease and identify newly diagnosed HIV infections. EHR disease detection algorithms combined laboratory reports, diagnosis codes, and medication orders to identify cases and, in the case of Lyme disease, found incidence rates 4 –7 times hig...
Saturday 24 August 2019
LYME disease may have an innocent sounding name, but it ’s a nasty condition transmitted by ticks which, left untreated, can lead to severe health problems. Here are three parts of body you should always check after visiting grassy and woodland areas, as well as other symptoms you should look out for. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 21 August 2019
Lyme disease is an infection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi after it is transmitted to a mammalian organism during a tick blood meal. B. burgdorferi encodes at least 140 lipoproteins located on the outer or inner membrane, thus facing the surroundings or the periplasmic space, respectively. However, most of the predicted lipoproteins are of unknown function, and only a few proteins are known to be essential for the persistence and virulence of the pathogen. One such protein is the periplasmic BB0323, which is indispensable for B. burgdorferi to cause Lyme disease and the function of which is associated with cell fission and outer membrane integrity. After expression and transport to the periplasm, BB0323 is cleaved into C-terminal and N-terminal domains by the periplasmic...
Wednesday 21 August 2019
Introduction: Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) is a late cutaneous manifestation of Lyme disease characterized by inflammatory lesions that slowly progress to atrophic plaques. The vast majority of ACA cases have been described in Europe and are associated to the genospecies Borrelia afzelii (B. afzelii). We hereby report the first case in Northern Mexico of ACA caused by locally acquired B. afzelii. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
Wednesday 21 August 2019
Malaria, Zika virus, West Nile virus, Dengue fever, and Lyme disease are common causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. While arthropod bites may cause local inflammation and discomfort, a greater concern is the potential to develop deadly systemic infection. Prevention of systemic infections by use of insect repellent (IR) constitutes one of the most critical aspects of public health efforts. Cost-effectiveness, availability, and high-efficacy against arthropod vectors are the key characteristics of an ideal IR. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
Tuesday 20 August 2019
Maintenance of Borrelia burgdorferi within its enzootic cycle requires a complex regulatory pathway involving the alternative factors RpoN and RpoS and two ancillary trans-acting factors, BosR and Rrp2. Activation of this pathway occurs within ticks during the nymphal blood meal when RpoS, the effector factor, transcribes genes required for tick transmission and mammalian infection. RpoS also exerts a ‘gatekeeper’ function by repressing 70-dependent tick phase genes (e.g., ospA, lp6.6). Herein, we undertook a broad examination of RpoS functionality throughout the enzootic cycle, beginning with modeling to confirm that this alternative factor is a ‘genuine’ RpoS homolog. Using a novel dual color reporter system, we established at the single spirochete level that ospA ...
Tuesday 20 August 2019
Lyme borreliosis (LB) is a tick-borne disease caused by spirochetes belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species. Due to a variety of clinical manifestations, diagnosing LB can be challenging, and lab... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
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Monday 19 August 2019
(Natural News) Patients who have Lyme disease might have an alternative to the ineffective antibiotic-based approach. Ozone therapy offers a more natural and effective way of alleviating the effects of the illness. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by the microbe Borrelia burgdorferi. It spreads to humans through the bites of blood-sucking tick species, such as the black-legged tick and... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Monday 19 August 2019
Public comments are still being accepted, but antibiotic treatment options for children are likely to be expanded to include the use of doxycycline. (Source: NYT Health)
Friday 16 August 2019
Publication date: Available online 16 August 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Ilaria Pascucci, Marco Di Domenico, Giulia Capobianco Dondona, Annapia Di Gennaro, Andrea Polci, Andrea Capobianco Dondona, Elisa Mancuso, Cesare Cammà, Giovanni Savini, Jacopo G. Cecere, Fernando Spina, Federica MonacoAbstractThe continuous flow of billions of birds between Africa and Europe creates an “ecological bridge” between physically remote areas. Migratory birds fly south from their breeding grounds during late summer/fall and fly back in spring. These movements regulate the spread of internal and external parasites, as well as pathogens of potential public health concern. The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible introduction of exotic tick species and tick-bor...
Friday 16 August 2019
FRIDAY, Aug. 16, 2019 -- The Infectious Diseases Society of America, the American Academy of Neurology, and the American College of Rheumatology have released a draft of their joint clinical practice guidelines for the management of Lyme... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
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Thursday 15 August 2019
Disease most common in women aged 61 to 65 Related items fromOnMedica Not tackling infections in homeless could spark epidemics Concerns over UK young adults ’ readiness for first sex Malaria cases rise sharply Texting can improve flu jab uptake HPV programme linked to dramatic fall in cervical disease (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Thursday 15 August 2019
Authors: Mead P, Petersen J, Hinckley A Abstract Lyme disease is a tickborne zoonosis for which serologic testing is the principal means of laboratory diagnosis. In 1994, the Association of State and Territorial Public Health Laboratory Directors, CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, and the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards convened the Second National Conference on Serologic Diagnosis of Lyme Disease (1). PMID: 31415492 [PubMed - in process] (Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkl...)
Thursday 15 August 2019
Lyme disease is a tickborne zoonosis for which serologic testing is the principal means of laboratory diagnosis. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Thursday 15 August 2019
White older women in south-west England appear most likely to contract the disease, a study suggests. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)
Thursday 15 August 2019
Scientists from the National Institute for Health Research in London analysed 2,361 patients who were admitted to hospital with the bacterial infection between 1998 and 2015. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Thursday 15 August 2019
Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease of increasing global importance. There is scant information on Lyme disease patient demographics in England and Wales, and how they interact with the National Health Servic... (Source: BMC Public Health)
Wednesday 14 August 2019
An analysis of hospital records has found that people with Lyme disease in hospitals in England and Wales tend to be white, female and relatively affluent (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Monday 12 August 2019
Horm Metab Res 2019; 51: 554-554 DOI: 10.1055/a-0976-7010 © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New YorkArticle in Thieme eJournals: Table of contents | Full text (Source: Hormone and Metabolic Research)
Monday 12 August 2019
AbstractPurpose of reviewThis review describes mosquito- and tick-borne diseases found in the Western Hemisphere. It focuses on emerging diseases and recent geographic shifts in the presence of disease vectors.Recent FindingsMosquito and tick vectors have become more widespread as environmental conditions have become more favorable. Zika recently has emerged as a concern for fetal anomalies. West Nile Virus has become widespread. Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases are more prevalent in areas previously inhospitable to these ticks.SummaryHealthcare providers must consider the possibility of mosquito- and tick-borne diseases in broader geographic areas and council patients traveling to endemic areas on precautions against these diseases. Treatment for suspected cases of serious tick-...
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Monday 12 August 2019
Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF), characterized by recurring febrile episodes, is globally distributed and among the most common bacterial infections in some African countries. Despite the public health concern that this disease represents, little is known regarding the virulence determinants required by TBRF Borrelia during infection. Because the chromosomes of TBRF Borrelia show extensive colinearity with those of Lyme disease (LD) Borrelia, the exceptions represent unique genes encoding proteins that are potentially essential to the disparate enzootic cycles of these two groups of spirochetes. One such exception is a gene encoding an HtrA family protease, BtpA, that is present in TBRF Borrelia, but not in LD spirochetes. Previous work suggested that btpA orthologs may be important for ...
Monday 12 August 2019
LYME disease is a bacterial infection spread to humans by infected ticks. The condition can be treated effectively if detected early, but a delay in recognising it can increase the risk of developing long-lasting symptoms. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
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Sunday 11 August 2019
Listen: Mayo Clinic Radio 8/10/19 On the Mayo Clinic Radio podcast, Dr. Gregory Poland, a Mayo Clinic infectious diseases and vaccine expert, gives an update on infectious disease hot topics, including Lyme disease, the ongoing concern about measles, the hope for a universal flu vaccine and new age guidelines for the HPV vaccine. Also on the podcast, Dr. John Lieske explains how kidney stones form and how [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Sunday 11 August 2019
Some tick-spread bacteria could be weaponized — but this would be a pretty useless choice. (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Sunday 11 August 2019
Authors: Serra V, Krey V, Daschkin C, Cafiso A, Sassera D, Maxeiner HG, Modeo L, Nicolaus C, Bandi C, Bazzocchi C Abstract Ixodes ricinus is the most common tick species parasitizing humans in Europe, and the main vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme disease in the continent. This tick species also harbors the endosymbiont Midichloria mitochondrii, and there is strong evidence that this bacterium is inoculated into the vertebrate host during the blood meal. A high proportion of tick bites remains unnoticed due to rarity of immediate symptoms, implying the risk of occult tick-borne infections in turn a potential risk factor for the onset of chronic-degenerative diseases. Since suitable tools to determine the previous exposure to I. ricinus bites are...
Saturday 10 August 2019
Publication date: 10 August 2019Source: New Scientist, Volume 243, Issue 3242Author(s): (Source: New Scientist)
Thursday 8 August 2019
The objective of the study was to evaluate and compare the diagnostic accuracy (sensitivities and specificities) of serological tests that are currently in use for diagnosis of LB in clinical laboratories in Northern Europe, by use of a large serum panel. The panel consisted of 195 serum samples from well-characterized and classified patients under investigation for clinically suspected LB (n = 59) including patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis, Lyme arthritis, acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, erythema migrans or other diseases (n = 112). A total of 201 serum samples from healthy blood donors were also included. The panel (396 serum samples altogether) was sent to 12 clinical laboratories (using five different ELISA methods) as blinded for group affiliation and the laboratories ...
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Wednesday 7 August 2019
LYME DISEASE is a tick-borne infectious disease. Initial symptoms are usually mild, but if left untreated, more serious symptoms may reveal themselves. Have you spotted these serious signs? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 7 August 2019
Steph Todd, from Thornbury in Gloucestershire, said people say her seizures make it look like she is 'possessed' and that she desperately wants treatment in the US. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 7 August 2019
An Ontario health advocacy group is calling for more action to protect children from the harmful impacts of climate change. The group says cases of asthma, heat stroke and Lyme disease could all be on the rise in the coming decades. (Source: CBC | Health)
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Tuesday 6 August 2019
Authors: Summer G, Rupprecht TA Abstract In the first part of this review, a summarized description of the typical clinical manifestation as well as less frequent symptoms of early (acute) Lyme Neuroborreliosis (LNB) are presented. In the second part, insights into the controversial topic of "Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome" are given and the quite rare, but clearly defined picture of late (chronic) LNB is described. PMID: 31376993 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Revue Neurologique)
Saturday 3 August 2019
We know far too little about Lyme and how to diagnose it, let alone have agreement between major advisory groups as to how to treat the disease. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Friday 2 August 2019
Several groups have differing guidelines for diagnosing and treating Lyme. Too much is in dispute, since our knowledge is so limited. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Friday 2 August 2019
As tick populations take hold permanently in large swaths of Canada, more people will be exposed and contract Lyme disease. (Source: CBC | Health)
Thursday 1 August 2019
UK cohort study (n=8.4 million) found that the number of cases of Lyme disease has increased rapidly since 2001, resulting in an incidence of 12.1 per 100,000 per year in 2012. Authors state that this should lead to increased awareness and the need for preventative measures. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Thursday 1 August 2019
LYME DISEASE is on the rise according to Doctor Hilary on Lorraine with new cases of the disease everyday. What is it and how to know if you might have it? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
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Thursday 1 August 2019
Cases of a nasty infection passed on through tick bites may be much higher in the UK than previously thought, according to new research. (Source: Nursing Times)
Wednesday 31 July 2019
Authors: Steere AC PMID: 31371661 [PubMed - in process] (Source: J Rheumatol)
Wednesday 31 July 2019
LYME DISEASE is currently on the rise, as scientists have found there could be far more cases of the disease than previously estimated. What are the symptoms of Lyme disease? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 31 July 2019
Researchers say tick-borne disease ‘is everywhere’ with 8,000 diagnoses likely in 2019Cases of Lyme disease in the UK may be three times higher than previous estimates, according to new research.After analysing the anonymous medical records of 8.4 million people from across the UK, scientists forecast that the total number of Lyme disease diagnoses in the UK could top 8,000 in 2019, compared withpreviousestimates of between 2,000 and 3,000 annual diagnoses.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Wednesday 31 July 2019
Lexington sepsis and lyme disease diagnostics maker T2 Biosystems will need a new CEO to lead it through its ongoing financial struggles. T2 Biosystems (Nasdaq: TTOO) reported after markets closed Tuesday that CEO John McDonough will be stepping down from his role to become executive chairman of the company's board of directors. He will stay in the CEO role until the company hires his successor, according to a press release. McDon ough has been in the top job at T2 since 2007, leading T2 Biosystems… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)
Wednesday 31 July 2019
WEDNESDAY, July 31, 2019 -- The incidence of Lyme disease (LD) increased from 2001 to 2012 in the United Kingdom, with an estimated incidence rate of 12.1 per 100,000 individuals per year, according to a study published online July 30 in BMJ... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
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Tuesday 30 July 2019
New cases of tick-borne Lyme disease might top 8000 in 2019, researchers estimate Related items fromOnMedica Well over half of people have never had an STI test HPV programme linked to dramatic fall in cervical disease Should we have compulsory measles vaccination at school entry? Promise to end new HIV transmissions in England by 2030 Decision to give boys HPV jab will save thousands of lives (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Tuesday 30 July 2019
The modified approach for detecting exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi uses two enzyme immunoassays, with no need for Western blot.FDA Approvals (Source: Medscape Emergency Medicine Headlines)
Tuesday 30 July 2019
Publication date: Available online 29 July 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Sara Niesobecki, AmberJean Hansen, Heather Rutz, Shaylee Mehta, Katherine Feldman, James Meek, Linda Niccolai, Sarah Hook, Alison HinckleyAbstractAs part of a TickNET collaboration we evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to tick-borne disease (TBD) prevention among persons living in endemic areas of Connecticut (CT) and Maryland (MD). Up-to-date information on the use of various prevention methods, as well as attitudes toward available and potential prevention options, is critical for effective promotion of recommended behaviors.During 2016-2017, printed invitations were mailed via the post office to 27,029 households requesting participation in an online survey regarding kno...
Tuesday 30 July 2019
Kate Allen, 28, from Leicester, spotted raised bumps on her skin after walking her dog through long grass in the park in 30°C. Lyme disease is spread by tick bites. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 29 July 2019
Research has found strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae resistant to the carbapenems spreading through hospitals Related items fromOnMedica GPs given help to spot Lyme disease Single-dose malaria drug eliminates parasite from liver Antibiotic research programme launched Measles cases triple in Europe but immunisation rates grow Chief medical officer launches push for flu jab drive (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Monday 29 July 2019
An analysis of Lyme disease cases in the UK suggests that the infection may be three times more common than the current estimates (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Monday 29 July 2019
The biggest problem is that there is no way to test, unequivocally, for the presence of the bacteria that cause the disease. (Source: NYT Health)
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Monday 29 July 2019
Discussion Dengue is an important arboviral infection that affects about 40% of the world population. It is found mainly in topical and subtropical areas of the world mainly in developing countries but it range is spreading including the United States. A review of common arboviruses can be found here. It is a flaviavirus with 4 distinct serotypes named DENV-1 through DENV-4 and is spread by A. aegypti a day biting mosquito. Infection with one serotype confers immunity to that serotype but not the others. It does offer some protection for cross-infection but this only lasts a few months. Incubation period is 3-14 days with an average of 7 after exposure. A primary infection is usually benign. A second infection with another serotype or multiple infections with different serotypes can caus...
Friday 26 July 2019
LYME DISEASE is known as a form of arthritis caused by bacteria that is transmitted by ticks. If detected early it can often be treated effectively. What are the three signs you may have Lyme disease? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Friday 26 July 2019
Carly Ellis, from Gloucester, was diagnosed with the infection in 2011, with doctors saying a two-week course of antibiotics would 'clear' her. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Thursday 25 July 2019
(CNN) — Health officials in Maine are warning about the potential for more cases of Powassan virus disease after one person was confirmed to be sick with the rare tick-borne illness, the first reported case in the state since 2017. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday that a person in the southern part of the state had Powassan encephalitis, a severe disease that causes inflammation in the brain. The agency said the patient showed symptoms in late June and was hospitalized. The Maine CDC issued an advisory to physicians that more cases could be possible and suggested that doctors consider testing for the disease in patients with unexplained encephalitis, meningitis or high fever during the summer and early fall. Powassan virus disease is spread by three ...
Thursday 25 July 2019
Health officials have confirmed that an individual in Maine is sick with Powassan virus disease, marking the first time since 2017 that a person in the state has come down with the rare and serious tick-borne illness. The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that a southern Maine resident was hospitalized for Powassan encephalitis—brain inflammation associated with the virus—after showing symptoms in late June. The announcement did not specify the individual’s current condition, but health officils doctors to stay vigilant about the potential spread of Powassan throughout the summer and early fall. Here’s what to know about the tick-borne Powassan virus disease. What is Powassan virus disease? Like Lyme disease, Powassan is spread by ...
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Wednesday 24 July 2019
Date: August 26, 2019 Issue #: 1579Summary: Use of insect repellents is strongly recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to prevent infections transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks. Insect repellents applied to exposed skin should be used in conjunction with other preventive measures such as wearing pants and long-sleeved shirts, and avoiding outdoor activities during peak mosquito-biting times. Mosquitoes can transmit Zika, chikungunya, dengue, West Nile, eastern equine encephalitis, and yellow fever viruses, as well as malaria. Ticks can transmit Lyme disease, rickettsial diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and viruses such as Powassan virus. (Source: The Medical Letter)
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Wednesday 24 July 2019
(University of California - Irvine) As Lyme disease increases, researchers have taken a significant step toward finding new ways to prevent its transmission. The experts, who include a pioneer in Lyme disease discovery, have sequenced the genome of the animal carrying the bacteria that causes the illness. The advance by researchers at the University of California, Irvine and colleagues provides a launching pad for fresh approaches to stopping Lyme disease from infecting people. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Tuesday 23 July 2019
The ideal test for Lyme disease needs to be direct and highly sensitive in specific areas of detection. A new review highlights the 5 key criteria. (Source: ConsultantLive)
Monday 22 July 2019
This study is significant because it now allows us to systematically test the putative epitopes for their protective efficacy with an ultimate goal of selecting the most efficacious targets for development of a long-awaited LD vaccine. (Source: Infection and Immunity)
Monday 22 July 2019
(Natural News) Lyme disease is one of the many epidemics that has plagued the United States in recent years. Residents of areas infested by ticks are at considerable risk of contracting the illness. Fortunately, homeopathy offers natural and effective ways. First identified in 1883, Lyme disease originated from pathogenic bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. Ticks serve... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Sunday 21 July 2019
The tick-borne illness, which is on the rise, can have chronic side-effects. So why hasn ’t more effort been put into a cure?As a former martial arts world champion, who trained daily and enjoyed camping and hiking at weekends, Stephen Bullough had always prided himself on leading a healthy life.Like most people, he thought very little when he was bitten by a tick on a camping holiday close to home in Wigan in 2014, never suspecting that this tiny bite would unleash an infection in his body that would one day leave him permanently incapacitated.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Saturday 20 July 2019
Ottawa Public Health has stopped collecting ticks after it found a high number of the arachnids within the city carry Lyme disease. (Source: CBC | Health)
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Saturday 20 July 2019
(Source: BMJ News)
Friday 19 July 2019
After my tick bite I realised that the climate crisis was a more likely culprit than any conspiracy theory about weaponisationThe first indication I ’d picked up a tick-borne disease three years ago was the excruciating arthritic pain in my feet as I hobbled to a dinner party at a neighbour’s house in Jerusalem.Later that night I experienced flu-like symptoms, including a raging fever that, even with antibiotics, would last for more than a week.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Thursday 18 July 2019
Clare Haworth, from North Lanarkshire, first became ill six years ago but doesn't remember ever being bitten by a tick, which is how people catch Lyme disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Thursday 18 July 2019
Politicians in the US have ordered the military to reveal details of a programme believed to have tried to 'weaponise' ticks, which may have led to them escaping and spreading Lyme disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 17 July 2019
The bacterial flagellar motor is a molecular machine that can rotate the flagellar filament at high speed. The rotation is generated by the stator-rotor interaction, coupled with an ion flux through the torque-generating stator. Here we employed cryo-electron tomography to visualize the intact flagellar motor in the Lyme disease spirochete,Borrelia burgdorferi. By analyzing the motor structures of wild-type and stator-deletion mutants, we not only localized the stator complexin situ, but also revealed the stator-rotor interaction at an unprecedented detail. Importantly, the stator-rotor interaction induces a conformational change in the flagella C-ring. Given our observation that a non-motile mutant, in which proton flux is blocked, cannot generate the similar conformational change, we pro...
Saturday 13 July 2019
The “Christmas tree” orientation of scaling lesions along the skin tension (Langer) lines in pityriasis rosea is well known. This pattern is best appreciated on complete examination of the trunk, in which the eruption follows the long axis of the V-shaped lines of the upper chest and back, emanating around the axillae, and running transversely along the abdominal wall and lower back. Secondary syphilis has a similar presentation. When patients present with asymptomatic, larger, nonscaling patches along Langer lines, another condition deserves diagnostic consideration. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
Friday 12 July 2019
This quality standard covers diagnosing and managing Lyme disease in people of all ages. It also includes raising public awareness about prevention. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement. It was published in July 2019. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Thursday 11 July 2019
People presenting erythema migrans, the characteristic skin rash associated with Lyme disease, can be diagnosed and treated without the need for blood tests, NICE has said in a final quality standard published this week. (Source: NHS Networks)
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Wednesday 10 July 2019
The American Lyme Disease Foundation is dedicated to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease which, in the United States, has been defined historically as a tick-borne bacterial infection caused by the spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. Through its website, the Foundation plays a major role in providing reliable and scientifically accurate information to the public, medical community and various public health agencies about Lyme disease and its impact on human health. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Wednesday 10 July 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
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Tuesday 9 July 2019
This study demonstrates the effect of only simultaneous infection by B. burgdorferi and B. microti on each pathogen, immune response and on disease manifestations with respect to infection by the spirochete and the parasite. In our future studies, we will examine the overall effects of sequential infection by these pathogens on host immune responses and disease outcomes. (Source: Frontiers in Microbiology)
Tuesday 9 July 2019
Lab tests not needed if rash is present, says NICE Related items fromOnMedica TB could be cured by four months ’ treatment in many patients Antibiotics courses often longer than guidelines Doctors call for StrepB screening in late pregnancy JCVI recommends universal HPV vaccination New ‘treadmill test’ can predict mortality (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Monday 8 July 2019
AbstractExogenous anabolic androgen steroid use is associated with adverse cardiovascular outcomes. A 53 ‐year‐old bodybuilder presented with 3 months of exertional dyspnoea. Physical examination showed tachycardia and pan‐systolic murmur; an echocardiogram showed a left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) of 15%. Evaluations included normal coronary angiogram, iron panel and thyroid studies, a n egative viral panel (human immunodeficiency virus, Lyme disease, and hepatitis), and urine toxicology. He admitted to intramuscular anabolic steroid use; his testosterone level was 30 160.0 ng/dL (normal 280–1100 ng/dL). In addition to discontinuation of anabolic steroid use, he was treated wit h guideline‐directed heart failure medical therapy. Repeat echocardiogram at 6 months show...
Sunday 7 July 2019
Publication date: Available online 3 July 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Sergio A. Zanzani, Sara G. Rimoldi, MariaTeresa Manfredi, Romualdo Grande, Alessia L. Gazzonis, Stefania Merli, Emanuela Olivieri, Vania Giacomet, Spinello Antinori, Giuliana Cislaghi, Giovanna Bestetti, Katiuscia Nan, Vittorio Sala, Maria R. Gismondo, Chiara Atzori, Eleonora De FaveriAbstractLyme borreliosis cases have been reported from Lombardy in northern Italy, where Ixodes ricinus is the main vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. However, spatial and temporal variation in the incidence of Lyme borreliosis is not well understood. In the present study, based on new notified cases of Lyme borreliosis from 2000 to 2015, an average of 1.24 new cases per million residents per year was documen...
Friday 5 July 2019
LYME DISEASE is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium named Borrelia, spread by ticks. It can easily be caught and having a feeling in your head could mean you have the disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Friday 5 July 2019
Find out how park connectivity and landscape composition may contribute to Lyme disease risk in urban areas.Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Thursday 4 July 2019
AbstractPurpose of reviewTo explore and critically appraise the published data on the current and emerging treatment modalities for neuroretinitis.Recent findingsThe optimum treatment strategy for neuroretinitis due toBartonella henselae in immunocompetent individuals is not clear and a matter of debate. The role of systemic corticosteroids in infectious neuroretinitis and the optimum immunosuppressive regimen for use in recurrent idiopathic neuroretinitis also remains ill defined.SummaryThere is no class 1 evidence to support a specific treatment strategy for neuroretinitis. For uncomplicatedB. henselae–associated neuroretinitis in immunocompetent patients, initiation of antibiotic and corticosteroid therapy remains controversial. In patients with severe vision loss and/or moderate to s...
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Thursday 4 July 2019
Publication date: Available online 3 July 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Sergio A. Zanzani, Sara G. Rimoldi, MariaTeresa Manfredi, Romualdo Grande, Alessia L. Gazzonis, Stefania Merli, Emanuela Olivieri, Vania Giacomet, Spinello Antinori, Giuliana Cislaghi, Giovanna Bestetti, Katiuscia Nan, Vittorio Sala, Maria R. Gismondo, Chiara Atzori, Eleonora De FaveriAbstractLyme borreliosis cases have been reported from Lombardy in northern Italy, where Ixodes ricinus is the main vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. However, spatial and temporal variation in the incidence of Lyme borreliosis is not well understood. In the present study, based on new notified cases of Lyme borreliosis from 2000 to 2015, an average of 1.24 new cases per million residents per year was documen...
Wednesday 3 July 2019
With the start of peak tick season, check here to spot some of the latest developments in diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. (Source: ConsultantLive)
Wednesday 3 July 2019
(Source: Neurological Sciences)
Wednesday 3 July 2019
Authors: Gocko X, Lenormand C, Lemogne C, Bouiller K, Gehanno JF, Rabaud C, Perrot S, Eldin C, de Broucker T, Roblot F, Toubiana J, Sellal F, Vuillemet F, Sordet C, Fantin B, Lina G, Sobas C, Jaulhac B, Figoni J, Chirouze C, Hansmann Y, Hentgen V, Caumes E, Dieudonné M, Bodaghi B, Gangneux JP, Degeilh B, Partouche H, Saunier A, Sotto A, Raffetin A, Monsuez JJ, Michel C, Boulanger N, Cathebras P, Tattevin P, endorsed by the following scientific societies PMID: 31257066 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Wednesday 3 July 2019
Publication date: Available online 1 July 2019Source: Protein Expression and PurificationAuthor(s): G. Brown, A.H. Broxham, S.E. Cherrington, D.C. Thomas, A. Dyer, L. Stejskal, R.J. BinghamAbstractBorrelia are microaerophilic spirochetes capable of causing multisystemic diseases such as Lyme disease and Relapsing Fever. The ubiquitous Fe/Mn-dependent superoxide dismutase (SOD) provides essential protection from oxidative damage by the superoxide anion. Borrelia possess a single SOD enzyme - SodA that is essential for virulence, providing protection against host-derived reactive oxygen species (ROS). Here we present a method for recombinant expression and purification of Borrelia burgdorferi SodA in E. coli. Metal exchange or insertion into the Fe/Mn-SOD is inhibited in the folded state. We...
Tuesday 2 July 2019
This week's NYTimes did a disservice to readers by minimizing the severity of Lyme disease. Here's why. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
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Monday 1 July 2019
Lyme disease is a multisystem disorder caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. A common late-stage complication of this disease is oligoarticular arthritis, often involving the knee. In ∼10% of cases, arthritis persists after appropriate antibiotic treatment, leading to a proliferative synovitis typical of chronic inflammatory arthritides. Here, we provide evidence... (Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
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Sunday 30 June 2019
Authors: Miller R PMID: 31259503 [PubMed - in process] (Source: American Family Physician)
Friday 28 June 2019
We report a case series of seven children admitted to a tertiary level pediatric ward for long-lasting physical symptoms with a previous diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease. In these children, medical history and clinical features were strongly suggestive of a psychopathological disorder, mainly a somatic symptom disorder.What is Known:• There is an increasing number of diagnoses of chronic Lyme disease both in North America and in Europe. Adults receive this diagnosis to explain chronic physical complaints often with negative history and serology.What is New:• Somatic symptom disorder should be suspected in children and adolescents with non-specific symptoms diagnosed with chronic Lyme disease. (Source: European Journal of Pediatrics)
Friday 28 June 2019
CONCLUSIONS: While this study was unable to capture the military specific occupational exposure to I. scapularis, it does show a difference in period prevalence between service members and family members with the family members being at higher risk to contract Lyme instead of service members as is commonly suggested in the literature. Additional studies may be conducted to see if this holds true across service member Military Occupational Specialties as a proxy for occupational exposure. Similar studies should be conducted at military installations situated in Lyme endemic areas to determine if these results are comparable across the military or specific to West Point. Future research should attempt to identify all the service member protective factors against Lyme with attribution to perm...
Friday 28 June 2019
We report the identification and successful treatment of an adolescent male with Lyme arthritis who recently relocated with his family from a US Military base in Japan to Virginia. This case highlights the importance of obtaining a travel history from military members and their families who frequently relocate due to military orders. Military medical providers must be aware of tropical and travel-related illnesses and infections that may have been acquired at a prior duty station. PMID: 31247111 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Military Medicine)
Friday 28 June 2019
Lyme disease is emerging in Canada due to expansion of the range of the tick vector Ixodes scapularis from the United States. National surveillance for human Lyme disease cases began in Canada in 2009. Reported n... (Source: BMC Public Health)
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Thursday 27 June 2019
BOSTON (CBS) – After more than a decade, experts are issuing new guidelines for the prevention and treatment of Lyme disease. Even though many of the recommendations are geared toward medical professionals, there are some key takeaways for the general public. Namely, the best way to protect yourself is to wear protective clothing and insect repellent with DEET and do frequent tick checks if you’ve been outdoors. Bathing within two hours of an outdoor activity can reduce the risk of Lyme disease. And if you have pets, you should check them regularly for ticks to prevent the ticks from falling off and reattaching to humans. If you are bitten by a deer tick, it’s engorged, and it has been attached for 36 hours or more, you should call your doctor or get to an urgent care fac...
Thursday 27 June 2019
Horror stories about lingering Lyme disease proliferate, but the illness is easily treated. (Source: NYT Health)
Wednesday 26 June 2019
We describe a 20-year-old woman with left seventh nerve palsy secondary to latent syphilis of unknown duration, with complete recovery after penicillin G benzathine. In addition to reactive rapid plasma reagin and positive T. pallidum particle agglutination testing, Lyme enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was equivocal, and Lyme Western blot was positive for immunoglobulin M. In syphilis, Lyme enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay may be falsely positive, but Western blot is known to remain negative. Similarly, in LD, fluorescent treponemal antibody absorption testing may be falsely positive, but rapid plasma reagin remains nonreactive. Careful interpretation of these serologic tests is of utmost importance in differentiating between the 2, especially in areas with low prevalence of LD. (Source...
Tuesday 25 June 2019
CONCLUSION: Lyme-associated uveitis appears varied. Hyalitis and involvement of the posterior segment and retinal vasculitis seem to be rather frequent. Its prognosis is mainly good, even if inflammation can be resistant or recurring. PMID: 31238716 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: European Journal of Ophthalmology)
Tuesday 25 June 2019
Joseph Leone seemed to have a mild cold in the summer of 2013. A month later, he collapsed on the front lawn of his home in Poughkeepsie, New York. He died of Lyme disease that attacked his heart. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Sunday 23 June 2019
A 6-year-old girl was presented with a rash on the left side of her face (Fig. 1a). Her primary care pediatrician assumed this to be allergic dermatitis and treated it with topical steroids, but there was no improvement. Over the next 1.5 months, the rash spread to the back of the head (Fig. 1b). The patient also had systemic manifestations, including low-grade fever (up to 37.7 °C) and malaise. Because the patient lived in an endemic area, the rash was deemed suspicious for erythema migrans associated with Lyme disease. (Source: Pediatrics and Neonatology)
Friday 21 June 2019
New Yale research offers insight into why some Lyme disease patients continue to suffer from debilitating arthritis even after antibiotic treatment. (Source: Yale Science and Health News)
Friday 21 June 2019
Katherine Wood, 37, of Stow, Massachusetts, was bitten on a tick while on a nature walk in November 2016. Doctors dismissed her symptoms, until she was diagnosed with Lyme disease in July 2017. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Thursday 20 June 2019
Authors: Conforti C, Vezzoni R, Retrosi C, Longone M, Corneli P, Magaton-Rizzi G, Nan K, Di Meo N, Zalaudek I Abstract Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness, which is tipically caused by Borrelia Burgdoferi. Over time, a typical Borreliosis skin reaction takes shape, i.e. the formation of an annular erythema that tends to expand centrifugally with erythematous edges whose diameter can reach up to 20 cm. The symptoms of Lyme disease are not only cutaneous but there may be a systemic involvement. Obviously, this disease can also affect pregnant women and for this reason this review aims to summarize the main ways of treatment to avoid worsening of the clinical condition in the mother and an eventual, albeit rare, involvement of the fetus. PMID: 31210468 [PubMed - as supplied by pu...
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Wednesday 19 June 2019
Borrelia burgdorferi is a tick-borne bacterium responsible for approximately 300,000 annual cases of Lyme disease (LD) in the United States, with increasing incidences in other parts of the world. The debilitating nature of LD is mainly attributed to the ability of B. burgdorferi to persist in patients for many years despite strong anti-Borrelia antibody responses. Antimicrobial treatment of persistent infection is challenging. Similar to infection of humans, B. burgdorferi establishes long-term infection in various experimental animal models except for New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits, which clear the spirochete within 4 to 12 weeks. LD spirochetes have a highly evolved antigenic variation vls system, on the lp28-1 plasmid, where gene conversion results in surface expression of the antigen...
Wednesday 19 June 2019
Lyme disease can cause long-term joint inflammation that lasts long after the body has cleared the infection. A new study uncovers how this might happen. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Monday 17 June 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Monday 17 June 2019
(Virginia Tech) Virginia Tech biochemist Brandon Jutras has discovered the cellular component that contributes to Lyme arthritis, a debilitating and extremely painful condition that is the most common late stage symptom of Lyme disease. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Monday 17 June 2019
Authors: Campbell AW Abstract No Abstract Available. PMID: 31202204 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine)
Monday 17 June 2019
Morven-May MacCallum speaks out as GPs are urged to be vigilant about the infection spread by ticks. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)
Sunday 16 June 2019
CONCLUSIONS: Considering the fact that the surveyed people were the students of medical fields of studies, and in the future became qualified medical personnel, the frequency of using the analyzed methods of prophylaxis of LB appears to be too small. The results obtained can help in the education of students of medical fields. PMID: 31232048 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine : AAEM)
Saturday 15 June 2019
It got its start in developing a urine test for human growth hormones. But it hopes to go well beyond that now. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Physician Practices headlines)
Friday 14 June 2019
Journal Name: Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (CCLM) Issue: Ahead of print (Source: Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine)
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Friday 14 June 2019
This study assessed the prevalence of B. burgdorferi s. l. among four non-Peromyscus rodents in a prairie ecosystem in the Midwestern United States over a four-year period. We found high prevalences of the bacteria in all four species studied. Our results help to support the roles of Microtus species as reservoirs of B. burgdorferi and add to the literature that suggests Zapus hudsonius may also be a reservoir. Additionally, we identified a previously unknown possible reservoir, Ictidomys tridecemlineatus. Our study also identifies the need to study the dynamics of Lyme borreliosis in habitats and areas outside of the typical range of P. leucopus. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Thursday 13 June 2019
Authors: Bulteel NS, Russell CD, Perry MR, Koch O Abstract The importance of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in the human immune response to Borrelia burgdorferi is uncertain. Murine models suggest a critical role, including spirochaete reactivation following TNF-α inhibition. Our case, combined with a review of the clinical and scientific literature, provides reassurance that TNF-α inhibition can be safely reinstituted after treatment of disseminated borreliosis with standard duration antimicrobial chemotherapy. PMID: 31188340 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh)
Wednesday 12 June 2019
AbstractPurpose of ReviewTicks are the most important vectors of human diseases after mosquitoes. Emergency physicians throughout the USA can be expected to encounter Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and other disorders based upon geographic location.Recent FindingsThe number of identifiable disorders transmitted by these arthropods has increased in recent years. Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome has only been described within the past decade, and the new millennium has seen over 10 new species of rickettsial disease discovered.SummaryTicks transmit more pathogenic species than any other group of blood-feeding arthropods. This review provides an update on the diagnosis and management of the diseases most likely to be encountered in clinical practice. (Sou...
Wednesday 12 June 2019
Publication date: Available online 11 June 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Kalvis Brangulis, Inara Akopjana, Ivars Petrovskis, Andris Kazaks, Kaspars TarsAbstractThe spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis – the most common tick-borne disease in Europe and the United States. Spirochetes are transmitted from infected Ixodes ticks to the mammalian host when the ticks feed. In general, the transfer process of the borreliae is quite complicated, as the environments in the tick and the new mammalian host differs significantly. Therefore, Borrelia changes the expression profile of dozens of proteins, mainly outer surface proteins, to adapt to the new tasks and needs in the new organism. In the transfer process from the tick to t...
Tuesday 11 June 2019
ConclusionsThis Top-5 list provides an opportunity to discuss appropriate use of health care practices in internal medicine. (Source: Journal of General Internal Medicine)
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Monday 10 June 2019
The identification of microbial biomarkers is critical for the diagnosis of a disease early during infection. However, the identification of reliable biomarkers is often hampered by a low concentration of microbes or biomarkers within host fluids or tissues. We have outlined a multi-platform strategy to assess microbial biomarkers that can be consistently detected in host samples, using Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, as an example. Key aspects of the strategy include the selection of a macaque model of human disease, In vivo Microbial Antigen Discovery (InMAD), and proteomic methods that include microbial biomarker enrichment within samples to identify secreted proteins circulating during infection. Using the described strategy, we have identified 6 biomarkers f...
Monday 10 June 2019
The tick that carries Lyme can also transmit the rare but serious powassan virus believed to have killed one man and sickened another in New Jersey (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Monday 10 June 2019
Being outdoors during the warm weather season carries with it the risk of bites of all kinds – insects, animals, ticks and others. Here is some helpful advice for treating bites and itching. Check the symptoms. Most insect bites and stings are mild, causing minor symptoms like itching, redness, stinging or a small degree of swelling around the bite. In some rare cases, stings from hornets, bees, wasps, scorpions or fire ants may lead to more serious reactions, including mosquito-borne West Nile virus. The Mayo Clinic advises moving away from the area where you were stung or bitten to prevent further injury. Then, try to remove the stinger if needed, and wash the wound with soap and water. For tick bites, remove the tick immediately. The Cleveland Clinic says the longer a tick...
Monday 10 June 2019
There are new concerns about previously-rare types of tick-borne diseases being seen more frequently in the United States. The blacklegged tick not only spreads Lyme disease, it can also transmit a serious virus that may have killed one man and made another sick in New Jersey. In Kentucky, a two-year-old boy is reportedly recovering from another tick-borne disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Dr. David Agus joins "CBS This Morning" from Los Angeles to discuss how to protect yourself from ticks, how to remove them and the consequences of some tick-borne diseases. (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Monday 10 June 2019
(Natural News) Lyme disease is far more common than many of us realize. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that around 300,000 people are diagnosed with this bacterial infection each year. That’s over 1.5 times more people than the total number of women diagnosed with breast cancer, and about six times... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Sunday 9 June 2019
Publication date: Available online 8 June 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Amira Nebbak, Handi Dahmana, Lionel Almeras, Didier Raoult, Nathalie Boulanger, Benoit Jaulhac, Oleg Mediannikov, Philippe ParolaAbstractFifty nymphal Ixodes ricinus ticks collected in Alsace, France, identified by morphological criteria and using MALDI-TOF MS, were tested by PCR to detect tick-associated bacteria and protozoan parasites. Seventy percent (35/50) of ticks contained at least one microorganism; 26% (9/35) contained two or more species. Several human pathogens were identified including Borrelia burgdorferi s.s. (4%), Borrelia afzelii (2%), Borrelia garinii (2%), Borrelia valaisiana (4%), Borrelia miyamotoi (2%), Rickettsia helvetica (6%) and “Babesia venatorum” (2%). Bartonella sp...
Sunday 9 June 2019
In this study, we identify an Ixodes scapularis salivary gland protein, Salp12, that is a chemoattractant for the spirochete. We demonstrate that Salp12 is expressed in the I. scapularis salivary glands and midgut and expression is not impacted by B. burgdorferi s.s. infection. Knockdown of Salp12 in the salivary glands or passive immunization against Salp12 reduces acquisition of the spirochete by ticks but acquisition is not completely prevented. Knockdown does not impact transmission of B. burgdorferi s.s. This work suggests a new role for chemotaxis in acquisition of the spirochete and suggests that recognition of Salp12 contributes to this phenomenon.Graphical abstract (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Friday 7 June 2019
BOSTON (CBS) — Looking back at baby pictures reminds Brandi Dean of a terrifying scare during her second pregnancy. It turns out the Wellesley mom had Lyme disease. “All of a sudden, the right side of my body was completely numb. My heart was racing. I was disoriented and I said, ‘I think you need to take me to the hospital,’” she remembered. After the standard antibiotic treatment, Dean still didn’t feel right. “I’d gone to 12 different specialists and they all had diagnosed me with anxiety.” She had what the Centers for Disease Control calls Post-Treatment Lyme Syndrome. She eventually found a doctor who understood her condition and recovered. Brandi Dean (WBZ-TV) Doctors don’t always know what causes the lingering symptoms, making the diagnosis controversial ...
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Friday 7 June 2019
-- Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium that may be acquired from the bite of an infected tick. Left untreated, the infection can spread throughout the body and cause serious complications, says the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Friday 7 June 2019
Tick selenoproteins are involved in regulating oxidative and endoplasmic reticulum stress during prolonged tick feeding on mammalian hosts. How selenoproteins are activated upon tick-borne pathogen infection i... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Thursday 6 June 2019
AbstractPrimary Sj ögren’s syndrome (pSS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder associated with a variety of systemic presentations. Varied neurological dysfunctions of newly diagnosed adult patients with pSS have been observed in recent years. We aimed to describe a rare case of acute bilateral facial paralysis diagnos ed with pSS for the first time and review the previous studies including similar cases. A 69-year-old female, who had experienced ocular and oral dryness for more than 10 years, presented with bilateral facial palsy. Her laboratory test results showed positive anti-Ro (SSA) and anti-Ro-52 antibodie s. Ophthalmic examination and test of saliva secretion verified xerophthalmia and xerostomia, respectively. Other possibilities of Lyme disease, Möbius syndrome, tumor, bilateral...
Thursday 6 June 2019
Authors: Kurt J. Vandegrift Amit Kapoor Ticks are vectors of several pathogens that can be transmitted to humans and their geographic ranges are expanding. The exposure of ticks to new hosts in a rapidly changing environment is likely to further increase the prevalence and diversity of tick-borne diseases. Although ticks are known to transmit bacteria and viruses, most studies of tick-borne disease have focused upon Lyme disease, which is caused by infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Until recently, ticks were considered as the vectors of a few viruses that can infect humans and animals, such as Powassan, Tick-Borne Encephalitis and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses. Interestingly, however, several new studies undertaken to reveal the etiology of unknown human ...
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Thursday 6 June 2019
Publication date: Available online 5 June 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Benjamin A. Tonelli, Donald C. DearbornAbstractIxodes scapularis is responsible for the transmission of a variety of pathogens in North America, including Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Babesia microti. Songbirds have previously been described as agents of tick dispersal, and a combination of empirical data and modeling efforts have implicated songbirds in the range expansion of I. scapularis northward into Canada during spring bird migration. The role of fall bird migration has received comparatively less attention, particularly at a continental scale. The aim of the current research was to use a novel individual-based modeling approach (IBM) to investigate the ...
Thursday 6 June 2019
CONCLUSION: We identified a majority of panuveitis, which is explained by our inclusion criteria. Fifty-two percent of our series remained idiopathic, with an improvement in the diagnostic yield over time. This could be related to both repeated etiological assessments and better diagnostic performance. The study of this large cohort of patients improved our knowledge of the characteristics of uveitis in our center. PMID: 31164299 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal Francais d Ophtalmologie)
Wednesday 5 June 2019
We would like to thank Crinionet al.1 at Queen ’s university for their interest in our case report2 and for taking the time to contribute to the discussion. Crinionet al.1 discusses the role of permanent pacing in Lyme carditis and puts forth a systematic approach in such cases. (Source: Europace)
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Wednesday 5 June 2019
We read with great interest the recently published case report by Isathet al.1 entitled; ‘Leadless pacemaker used as long-term temporary therapy in Lyme carditis with high-grade atrioventricular block’. They report a novel pacing strategy to manage the unpredictable recovery of the cardiac conduction system in Lyme disease. Increased detection and climate factors have resulted in a marked increase in the global incidence of Lyme disease.2 However, pacing guidelines have yet to adequately address these challenging cases. Our device clinic is located in South Eastern Ontario, the region which reports the highest incidence of Lyme disease in Canada.2 We commend Isathet al. for promoting discussion on this topic and wish to contribute to additional aspects of the case. (Source: Europace)
Wednesday 5 June 2019
Authors: Jaulhac B, Saunier A, Caumes E, Ouiller K, Gehanno JF, Rabaud C, Perrot S, Eldin C, de Broucker T, Roblot F, Toubiana J, Sellal F, Vuillemet F, Sordet C, Fantin B, Lina G, Sobas C, Gocko X, Figoni J, Chirouze C, Hansmann Y, Hentgen V, Cathebras P, Dieudonné M, Bodaghi B, Gangneux JP, Degeilh B, Partouche H, Lenormand C, Sotto A, Raffetin A, Monsuez JJ, Michel C, Boulanger N, Lemogne C, Tattevin P, société française de dermatologie (SFD), société française de rhumatologie (SFR), fédération française de neurologie (FFN), société française de neurologie (SFN), collège national des généralistes enseignants (CNGE), collège de la médecine générale (CMG), société nationale française de médecine interne (SNFMI), société française de microbiologie (SFM), collège...
Tuesday 4 June 2019
We present the case of an atypical papillitis, probably caused by this bacterium. We suspected this because of the results on the indirect test bloods and the improvement of the symptoms after treatment. This entity should be considered as a possible diagnosis of atypical optical neuropathies, particularly if it occurs in an endemic area. PMID: 31167569 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: European Journal of Ophthalmology)
Tuesday 4 June 2019
Christine Jennings, 57, of Leicester, was bitten by an infected tick 25 years ago and her life has never been the same. The disease affected every part of her health leaving her barely holding on to life. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 4 June 2019
We describe the process which led us to make the diagnosis of Psychotic Disorder due to Medical Condition (Multiple Sclerosis). Because her criminal charges brought significant attention to her case, we also address the difficulty in treating a neurological condition with psychiatric features within the forensic context. Moreover, one of the main concerns of the patient was that Lyme Disease was the correct diagnosis as opposed to MS. We also report the difficulty of treating and initiating successful follow-up for a patient whose paranoia is enabled by the opinions of certain health advocacy groups. (Source: Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders)
Monday 3 June 2019
Publication date: Available online 2 June 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Andrés M. López-Pérez, Sokani Sánchez-Montes, Janet Foley, Carmen Guzmán-Cornejo, Pablo Colunga-Salas, Emily Pascoe, Ingeborg Becker, Jesús Delgado-de la Mora, Jesús D. Licona-Enriquez, Gerardo SuzanABSTRACTSixty-five wild carnivores and twenty free-roaming dogs from the Janos Biosphere Reserve (JBR), northwestern Chihuahua, Mexico, were inspected for ticks which were tested by molecular assays to identify Borrelia and Rickettsia infections. Overall, 45 ticks belonging to five taxa, including Dermacentor parumapertus, Ixodes hearlei, Ixodes kingi, Rhipicephalus sanguineus s.l., and Ornithodoros sp. were collected from 9.2 % of the wild carnivores and 60% of the free-roaming dogs. Borrelia b...
Monday 3 June 2019
Discussion Facial nerve palsy has been known for centuries, but in 1821 unilateral facial nerve paralysis was described by Sir Charles Bell. Bell’s palsy (BP) is a unilateral, acute facial paralysis that is clinically diagnosed after other etiologies have been excluded by appropriate history, physical examination and/or laboratory testing or imaging. Symptoms include abnormal movement of facial nerve. It can be associated with changes in facial sensation, hearing, taste or excessive tearing. The right and left sides are equally affected but bilateral BP is rare (0.3%). Paralysis can be complete or incomplete at presentation. All ages can be affected but there are increased risks in the 15-45 year age group and those with diabetes, immunodeficiency or are pregnant. Etiology is specif...
Sunday 2 June 2019
Authors: Kluger N, Keinonen A, Jeskanen L, Lappalainen K PMID: 31171389 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Annales de Dermatologie et de Cenereologie)
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Saturday 1 June 2019
Publication date: 1 June 2019Source: New Scientist, Volume 242, Issue 3232Author(s): Chelsea Whyte (Source: New Scientist)
Saturday 1 June 2019
ConclusionThe application of C. creticus preparations by Lyme disease self-help groups may be considered as a reasonable therapy approach. For the first time, isolated epi-manoyloxide and carvacrol could be evaluated as most promising candidates for drug development and labdanum based phytomedicine development, respectively. They should serve as vital active markers for quality assessments of C. creticus preparations.Graphical abstract (Source: Phytomedicine)
Friday 31 May 2019
Authors: Tsachev I, Baymakova M, Pantchev N Abstract Lyme borreliosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis and monocytic ehrlichiosis are well studied in humans and dogs. In horses, these diseases are not widely investigated and limited information is available about their occurrence. The purpose of this study was to present the first ELISA-based report on the seroprevalence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia spp. and Borrelia burgdorferi in horses from Northern Bulgaria. A total of 192 horses were investigated from three regions in Northern Bulgaria (Northwestern, North-Central and Northeastern Bulgaria). All equine sera were tested for A. phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia spp. and B. burgdorferi antibodies by a commercial rapid ELISA test. Antibodies against A. phagocytophilum were found in ...
Friday 31 May 2019
Conclusion: Results of the present study support earlier findings thatB. burgdorferiinfection among Malaysians is currently under-recognized. Further studies will be needed at these locations to confirm the presence of Lyme disease among these populations. (Source: The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries)
Thursday 30 May 2019
Publication date: Available online 30 May 2019Source: Meta GeneAuthor(s): Joanna Lyon, Hyunuk SeungAbstractPost Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) poses a difficult to understand health issue. This multi-centered, randomized control trial studied the possible correlation between ABCB1 (MDR1) gene variants and the incidence of PTLDS in affected patients. Genomic DNA was isolated and analyzed for four ABCB1 gene SNPs (rs1128503, rs1045642, rs2235067, and rs4148740). Significant findings include the association of rs1128503 TC variant with PTLDS status. Additionally, the rs1128503+ rs1045642+ rs2235067 SNP combination increased rs1128503 genotype TC significance to 3.83 times the rs1128503 genotype CC. The TT variant of rs4148740 in conjunction with rs1128503 reduced the odds ratio and a...
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Wednesday 29 May 2019
With climate change, we are seeing more tick-borne diseases. Where is the funding to address this urgent crisis? (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Tuesday 28 May 2019
Authors: Guillén Martín S, Núñez Cuadros E, Tagarro García A, Calvo Rey C, en representación de la Sociedad Española de Reumatología Pediátrica (SERPE) y la Sociedad Española de Infectología Pediátrica (SEIP) PMID: 31153796 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Anales de Pediatria)
Monday 27 May 2019
UK researchers discover new compound which kills antibiotic-resistant superbugs Related items fromOnMedica GPs given help to spot Lyme disease Single-dose malaria drug eliminates parasite from liver TB could be cured by four months ’ treatment in many patients Antibiotics courses often longer than guidelines 'Keep Antibiotics Working' campaign resurfaces (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
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Saturday 25 May 2019
LYME disease is a relatively unknown condition with an estimated 2,000 to 3,000 new cases each year in England and Wales. For an unknown disease however, anyone can develop the condition as its caught by a tick. This major symptom could mean you might have Lyme disease. Do you have it? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Thursday 23 May 2019
Tick bites: First aid Most tick bites are painless and cause only minor symptoms, such as redness, swelling or a sore on the skin. But some ticks transmit bacteria that cause illnesses, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Learn the correct way to remove and handle a tick, and when you need to [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Wednesday 22 May 2019
Journal of Vector Ecology, Volume 44, Issue 1, Page 201-204, June 2019. (Source: Journal of Vector Ecology)
Wednesday 22 May 2019
Lyme disease is spreading as the climate warms. An analysis of veterinary records suggests our dogs ’ annual health checks can track infection’s across the US (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Tuesday 21 May 2019
Authors: Thurston R PMID: 31104048 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Work)
Monday 20 May 2019
Insulin-like peptides (ILPs) have been identified in several invertebrates, particularly insects, and work on these ILPs has revealed many roles including regulators of energy homeostasis, growth, development and lifespan to name a few. However, information on arthropod ILPs outside of insects is sparse. Studies of Ixodid tick ILPs are particularly scarce, despite their importance as vectors of infectious agents, most notably Lyme disease. The recent publication of the genome of the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, has advanced opportunities to study this organism from a molecular standpoint, a resource sorely needed for an organism with challenging life history requirements for study in the laboratory, such as a long life cycle and obligate, prolonged, blood-feeding at each life stag...
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Monday 20 May 2019
Quantitative and microscopic tracking of Borrelia afzelii transmission from infected Ixodes ricinus nymphs has shown a transmission cycle different from that of Borrelia burgdorferi and Ixodes scapularis. Borrelia afzelii organisms are abundant in the guts of unfed I. ricinus nymphs, and their numbers continuously decrease during feeding. Borrelia afzelii spirochetes are present in murine skin within 1 day of tick attachment. In contrast, spirochetes were not detectable in salivary glands at any stage of tick feeding. Further experiments demonstrated that tick saliva is not essential for B. afzelii infectivity, the most important requirement for successful host colonization being a change in expression of outer surface proteins that occurs in the tick gut during feeding. Spirochetes in ver...
Monday 20 May 2019
Lyme disease and rheumatoid arthritis are both conditions that can affect the nervous system and cause joint pain and swelling. Learn about their similarities and differences here. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Monday 20 May 2019
(Natural News) If you go out in the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise. That line from a favorite children’s nursery rhyme is certainly true when it comes to ticks. Those creepy little critters carry some seriously nasty diseases, including Lyme disease, and they’re most active between April and September. In other words,... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Sunday 19 May 2019
This study presented examples of base-calling DNA sequencing electropherograms routinely generated in a clinical diagnostic laboratory on DNA extracts of human blood specimens and ticks collected from human skin bites and from the environment. Since some of the tick samples tested were collected in Ireland, borrelial species or strains not known to exist in the United States were also detected by analysis of this 16S rRNA “core genome”. We recommend that hospital laboratories located in Lyme disease endemic areas begin to use a “core genome” sequencing test to routinely diagnose spirochetemia caused by various species of borreliae for timely management of patients at the early stage of infection. (Source: International Journal of Envi...
Saturday 18 May 2019
Authors: Figoni J, Chirouze C, Hansmann Y, Lemogne C, Hentgen V, Saunier A, Bouiller K, Gehanno JF, Rabaud C, Perrot S, Caumes E, Eldin C, de Broucker T, Jaulhac B, Roblot F, Toubiana J, Sellal F, Vuillemet F, Sordet C, Fantin B, Lina G, Gocko X, Dieudonné M, Bodaghi B, Gangneux JP, Degeilh B, Partouche H, Lenormand C, Sotto A, Raffetin A, Monsuez JJ, Michel C, Boulanger N, Cathebras P, Tattevin P, endorsed by scientific societies Abstract Lyme borreliosis is transmitted en France by the tick Ixodes ricinus, endemic in metropolitan France. In the absence of vaccine licensed for use in humans, primary prevention mostly relies on mechanical protection (clothes covering most parts of the body) that may be completed by chemical protection (repulsives). Secondary prevention relies on e...
Friday 17 May 2019
Serological surveillance, based on the measurement of the presence of specific antibodies in a given population, can be used in addition to traditional and routine disease surveillance methods. The added value... (Source: BMC Public Health)
Thursday 16 May 2019
We report the case of a 67-year-old man with a consumptive syndrome with two subpleural pulmonary opacities. A transthoracic lung biopsy revealed a Dirofilaria worm. Myocardial nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) demonstrated dilated cardiomyopathy after myocarditis related to dirofilariasis. Human infection is rare and occurs accidentally. The most common radiological alteration is a mainly subpleural coin lesion. Dirofilariasis is a neglected emergent disease and knowledge about it is important for differential diagnoses from neoplastic pulmonary nodules. (Source: Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical)
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Thursday 16 May 2019
Lyme disease (LD), is the most common vector-borne illness in the US and Europe, with predominantly cutaneous, articular, cardiac and neuro-psychiatric manifestations. LD affects all layers of the heart and ev... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
Wednesday 15 May 2019
The diagnosis of acute Lyme disease is not straightforward. Therefore it is important to develop new strategies to improve diagnostic processes. Detailed analysis of patients’ B cell repertoires by High Throughput Sequencing (HTS) revealed antigen-associated “signatures” which have a huge potential to support diagnosis of acute infections. The human B cell immune response to Borrelia burgdorferi – the causative agent of Lyme disease – has mainly been studied at the antibody level, while less attention has been given to the cellular part of the humoral immune response. There are indications that Borrelia actively influence the B cell immune response and that it is therefore not directly comparable to responses induced by other infections. The main goal of this study was to identif...
Wednesday 15 May 2019
Infected ticks were mostly found in forested parks with vegetation around the edges and connected to each other. (Source: WebMD Health)
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Wednesday 15 May 2019
Clive Stafford Smithsays Sats are irrelevant to his son ’s life andMary Bousteddefends Labour ’s proposed assessment reforms, whileAnn MooreandRichard Wetherellhighlight the negative effects of testsAmanda Spielman may be warning the wrong people about exam anxiety, certainly as far as younger kids are concerned (Ofsted chief says teachers can cause ‘subliminal’ exam anxiety, May 14). My 10-year-old is not worried because I have told him Sats are irrelevant to his life. His secondary school will determine how best he will fit in, based on its own testing, when he gets there in September. I did ask him to do his best in sympathy with the people who are sweating it out this week: his excellent teachers, whose lives – and the rating of the school – depend on how he does at rote no...
Wednesday 15 May 2019
WEDNESDAY, May 15, 2019 -- As deer populations have exploded across America, moving from forests to suburbs to urban parks, they have brought the threat of Lyme disease to millions of city dwellers, a new study finds. In fact, the deer tick that... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Wednesday 15 May 2019
M. C. VanAcker et al. (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal)
Sunday 12 May 2019
Rajni Farmania, Prashant Jauhari, Biswaroop Chakrabarty, Sheffali GulatiNeurology India 2019 67(2):563-565 (Source: Neurology India)
Friday 10 May 2019
LYME disease is still a relatively unknown disease with a myriad of symptoms which makes it difficult to detect. One such unusual symptom is that of losing your voice which left untreated could lead to vocal chord paralysis. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Thursday 9 May 2019
ConclusionA significant reduction in NAA/Cr ratio in comparison with the controls suggests the presence of diffuse neuronal loss in patients with early LNB. (Source: Journal of Neurology)
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Thursday 9 May 2019
Authors: Wormser GP, Barbour AG Abstract Vancomycin is active in vitro and in vivo in mouse systems against Lyme disease borrelia; however, there are no published data on the efficacy of vancomycin in patients with Lyme disease and no convincing theoretical advantages of vancomycin over the currently used and highly effective orally administered antimicrobial agents, including doxycycline, amoxicillin and cefuroxime axetil. In addition, vancomycin may cause a wide variety of potentially serious adverse effects and requires the placement of an intravenous catheter. It is concluded that vancomycin is a much less attractive option for the treatment of patients with early Lyme disease (or any other manifestation of Lyme disease), compared with the antimicrobials currently being used....
Thursday 9 May 2019
In this study, we compared factors that may have an influence on DNA extraction namely commercially available DNA extraction kits vs alkaline hydrolysis for DNA extraction. The methods were applied to questing Ixodes (I.) ricinus ticks and Borrelia cultures of defined cell concentrations. A total of 69 questing I. ricinus ticks were collected. From 34 ticks, total DNA was extracted using a commercial DNA extraction kit. Thirty-five ticks were treated with 1.25 % ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH). Six ticks from each batch were placed in 70 % ethanol (EtOH) for one week prior to DNA extraction to see the effect of EtOH preservation on total DNA yield. DNA yield was estimated in field-collected ticks using conventional PCR targeting the Ixodes Cytochrome C oxidase (coi) gene and in cultured Borreli...
Wednesday 8 May 2019
ConclusionsOur results show that Tp0136 facilitates differential level of binding to cell lines representing various host tissues, which highlights the importance of this protein in colonization of human organs byT.pallidum and resulting syphilis pathogenesis. (Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases)
Wednesday 8 May 2019
Horm Metab Res 2019; 51: 326-329 DOI: 10.1055/a-0885-7169Dyslipidemia and dyslipoproteinemia are common causes of metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. On the other hand, intracellular bacteria, such as Borrelia burgdorferi, utilize host lipids to survive and disseminate within the host. Recent data suggest that elevated lipids are a contributing factor to the maintenance and severity of Lyme disease and its complications. Here we review and discuss the role of lipids in Borreliosis and report on a pilot trial to examine the potential roles of circulating lipids and lipoproteins in patients with Borrelia infection. In this analysis we assessed the clinical and lipid profiles of 519 patients (319 women, 200 men) with a proven history of Lyme disease, before and after an extracorporeal doub...
Wednesday 8 May 2019
Dr Tillmann Jacobi considers red flag symptoms in erythema and details three of the most common causes; Lyme disease, erythema infectiosum and erythema multiforme. (Source: GP Online Education)
Tuesday 7 May 2019
Researchers from across Europe, including the University of East London, mapped reports of the Lyme disease-causing Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria in ticks from 2010 to 2017. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Sunday 5 May 2019
Authors: Nuttall PA Abstract Tick saliva is a complex mixture of peptidic and non-peptidic molecules that aid engorgement. The composition of tick saliva changes as feeding progresses and the tick counters the dynamic host response. Ixodid ticks such as Ixodes ricinus, the most important tick species in Europe, transmit numerous pathogens that cause debilitating diseases, e.g. Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis. Tick-borne pathogens are transmitted in tick saliva during blood feeding; however, saliva is not simply a medium enabling pathogen transfer. Instead, tick-borne pathogens exploit saliva-induced modulation of host responses to promote their transmission and infection, so-called saliva-assisted transmission (SAT). Characterization of the saliva factors that facili...
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Sunday 5 May 2019
We report the case of a 62-year-old woman presenting with asymmetrical tetraparesis and hyporeflexia. Initially the presumed diagnosis of Guillain-Barré syndrome with a possible functional component was suspected and treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin was initiated. Due to partial response to therapy and further test results including positive serologies and cerebrospinal fluid antibodies for Borrelia, the diagnosis of neuroborreliosis was considered. Furthe r exploring revealed the possibility of exposure to ticks although there was no report of typical skin lesions. Daily physical therapy and appropriate antibiotic treatment with parenteral ceftriaxone resulted in significant improvement of motor symptoms and functional status. The patient was dischar ged with marked functional i...
Friday 3 May 2019
Might some patients with early Lyme disease show evidence of co-infection with other tickborne pathogens?Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Thursday 2 May 2019
Conclusion In conclusion, our data show that R. rickettsii exerts a modulatory effect on the transcriptional profile the SG of A. aureolatum. Moreover, RNAi experiments demonstrated that the knockdown of one microplusin increases the susceptibility of ticks to infection, suggesting that this is one important factor for the control of R. rickettsii. The functional characterization of the additional CDSs modulated by infection is warranted and might reveal other factors that interfere with the acquisition and/or transmission of this tick-borne pathogen. Ethics Statement All procedures involving vertebrate animals were carried out according to the Brazilian National Law number 11794 and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and...
Thursday 2 May 2019
Authors: PMID: 31038163 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Military Medicine)
Thursday 2 May 2019
LYME DISEASE is a bacterial infection that affects up to 3,000 people in the UK every year. ITV This Morning ’s Dr Ranj has revealed the lyme disease signs and symptoms to watch out for, including a characteristic rash. Watch out for these symptoms are a tick bite. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 1 May 2019
This article describes what the Observatory is, what it does and outlines its plans for the future. PMID: 31285705 [PubMed] (Source: Can Commun Dis Rep)
Wednesday 1 May 2019
An 8-year-old boy presented to the emergency department with swelling and pain of his left knee and calf for approximately 1 week. His examination was significant for moderate knee effusion and swelling of the posterior calf with erythema and warmth of the affected areas. An ultrasound obtained at an outside hospital showed a large heterogeneous mass in the gastrocnemius, and a magnetic resonance imaging revealed a large, heterogeneous, rim-enhancing collection in the medial head of the left gastrocnemius muscle with surrounding myositis involving the gastrocnemius muscle. The child was taken to the operating room by the orthopedic team for drainage and irrigation of the knee effusion and of the collection in the gastrocnemius. The diagnosis of Lyme pseudothrombophlebitis was made through ...
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Tuesday 30 April 2019
ConclusionsWith co-infection of tick-borne pathogens being commonplace, diagnostic improvements remain important. Developing in vivo models might allow more insight into human pathogenesis. Continued ecological and human case studies are key to better epidemiological understanding, guiding intervention strategies. PMID: 31064634 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Euro Surveill)
Tuesday 30 April 2019
Authors: Johann Jacob Pierre Valois Cécile Aenishaenslin Catherine Bouchard Sandie Briand Denis Talbot Maxime Tessier The aim of this study is to document climate change adaptation interventions targeting Lyme disease at the municipal level in the province of Quebec (Canada). This exploratory study relies on the theory of planned behavior and certain constructs from the health belief model to identify the factors leading municipal authorities to implement preventive interventions for Lyme disease (PILD). Data were obtained from an online survey sent, during the summer of 2018, to municipal officers in 820 municipalities in Quebec, in all health regions where the population is at risk of contracting Lyme disease (response rate = 36%). The questionnaire was used to measure...
Tuesday 30 April 2019
ConclusionThe hospital discharge register was unsuitable for surveillance of neuroborreliosis, whereas laboratory-based reporting was a feasible alternative. In 2018, the European Commission included Lyme neuroborreliosis on the list of diseases under epidemiological surveillance. PMID: 31115310 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Euro Surveill)
Tuesday 30 April 2019
(Natural News) Although you’ve almost certainly heard of Lyme disease, there’s a good chance that you don’t know anyone personally who has been diagnosed with it. Most doctors are very hesitant to diagnose it, and evidence is pointing to the disease being originally developed as a biological weapon. The illness, which causes loss of memory,... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Monday 29 April 2019
This study examines potential challenges facing Lyme disease patients in Canada’s Maritime provinces—New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island—and considers how issues could be addressed. Reviews of both the academic and grey literature are complemented by surveys targeting both medical professionals and decision makers in government. Combined, the literature reviews and surveys demonstrate that there is considerable debate surrounding the effectiveness of testing, treatment options, and the existence of chronic Lyme disease. As the focus on the Maritimes demonstrates, these debates often pit the medical community against patients and patient advocates and, thus far, governments have been unable to produce policy that entirely pleases either...
Sunday 28 April 2019
(Natural News) There is a reason why patients with Lyme disease do not recover properly despite taking tons of pharmaceutical medicines. The best way to treat the insect-borne ailment is a biocentric approach that uses your body’s natural healing processes instead of antibiotics. Lyme disease is most common along the eastern seaboard and throughout Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Friday 26 April 2019
Purpose of review To review the recent evidence clarifying the symptomatology and diagnosis of nervous system Lyme disease. Recent findings Two-tier testing combining pairs of ELISAs, using C6 or VlsE assays to replace second tier Western blots, may eliminate confusion about test interpretation. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can be informative in diagnosing central nervous system (CNS) Lyme disease, not peripheral nervous system (PNS) disorders. CSF CXCL13 may provide useful adjunctive information in CNS infection; its specificity remains to be defined. Lyme encephalopathy is not indicative of CNS infection. Post treatment Lyme disease symptoms do not occur in patients who have had definite CNS Lyme infection. Whether post treatment Lyme disease symptom (PTLDS) is an actual entity, or ref...
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Thursday 25 April 2019
In this study, the proteomic profile of the surface-associated proteins from M. bovis BCG Moreau was compared to the BCG Pasteur reference strain. The methodology used was 2DE gel electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry techniques (MALDI-TOF/TOF), leading to the identification of 115 proteins. Of these, 24 proteins showed differential expression between the two BCG strains. Furthermore, 27 proteins previously described as displaying moonlighting function were identified, 8 of these proteins showed variation in abundance comparing BCG Moreau to Pasteur and 2 of them presented two different domain hits. Moonlighting proteins are multifunctional proteins in which two or more biological functions are fulfilled by a single polypeptide chain. Therefore, the identification of such protein...
Wednesday 24 April 2019
There is much confusion and misinformation about the diagnosis of Lyme disease, as well as its treatment. This review explains why one cannot make a correct diagnosis of Lyme disease based on diagnosis of Lyme disease. The public health consequences of failing to consider these issues is discussed. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Wednesday 24 April 2019
Bioconjugate ChemistryDOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.9b00167 (Source: Bioconjugate Chemistry)
Wednesday 24 April 2019
Lyme disease (LD) is an infectious multi-system illness caused by the bacterial genus Borrelia and spread by bites of infected ticks. Although most patients are successfully treated by timely antibiotic therapy, ... (Source: BMC Public Health)
Wednesday 24 April 2019
Publication date: Available online 22 April 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Pavel Švec, Václav Hönig, Dana Zubriková, Maria Wittmann, Kurt Pfister, Libor GrubhofferAbstractResearch projects in the field of eco-epidemiology of tick-borne diseases often require extensive sampling of arthropod vectors in the field. The aim of our study was to use geographical information systems (GIS) to select appropriate sampling sites of Ixodes ricinus ticks in central European habitat for further ecological studies of vector-borne pathogens (tick-borne encephalitis virus and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato). The model area was the Czech-German borderland (the region of South Bohemia and two regions in Germany: the Upper Palatinate and Lower Bavaria) where numerous human tick-borne ...
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Tuesday 23 April 2019
In conclusion, we unraveled the secretome of G. adiacens, an oral bacterium well-documented in infective endocarditis, but also recently shown to be involved in oral infections. Importantly, the secretome of G. adiacens comprised of a large number of putative virulence factors. Of particular importance is the finding that the G. adiacens secretome comprised of a number of “moonlighting” proteins, which in other species are shown to enhance bacterial colonization and virulence through their multifunctional roles (Pavkova et al., 2017; Graf et al., 2019). Thus, our results provide a basis for investigating the role of secreted proteins of G. adiacens in oral infections as well as in infective endocarditis. Data Availability Mass spectrometry data has been submitted to ...
Tuesday 23 April 2019
Authors: Önal U, Aytaç Erdem H, Uyan Önal A, Reşat Sipahi O Abstract A systematic review was conducted with the aim of describing the demographical data, features and outcomes of patients with Lyme disease (LD), reported from Turkey. Three international database (electronic PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus) and two national database (Ulakbim and Turkmedline) searches were performed using the following keywords (['Lyme' or 'Borrelia burgdorferi' or 'Borrelia' or 'Borreliosis'] and 'Turkey [and/country]'). National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNNDS) of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria were used for classification. A PRISMA-based algorithm was used for systematic review. There were a total of 75 LD cases in 36 different reports. Studies relat...
Tuesday 23 April 2019
TUESDAY, April 23, 2019 -- With growing concern about mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika, it's easy to let down your guard when it comes to ticks. But Lyme disease is still a danger, especially in the Northeast and upper Midwest. In fact, it has... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
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Tuesday 23 April 2019
(Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) A new study from researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that a slow-growing variant form of Lyme bacteria caused severe symptoms in a mouse model. The slow-growing variant form of Lyme bacteria, according to the researchers, may account for the persistent symptoms seen in ten to twenty percent of Lyme patients that are not cured by the current Lyme antibiotic treatment. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Monday 22 April 2019
Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted via the bite of an infected tick. B. burgdorferi enters the skin, disseminates via the bloodstream, and infects various distal tissues, leading to inflammatory sequelae, such as Lyme arthritis and Lyme carditis. B. burgdorferi linear plasmid 36 (lp36) is critical for mammalian infectivity; however, the full complement of genes on lp36 that contribute to this process remains unknown. Through a targeted mutagenesis screen of the genes on lp36, we identified a novel infectivity gene of unknown function, bbk13, which encodes an immunogenic, non-surface-exposed membrane protein that is important for efficient mammalian infection. Loss of bbk13 resulted in reduced spirochete loads in distal tissues in a mouse model ...
Monday 22 April 2019
CONCLUSIONS: The EIDAR Research Area is responsive to military-relevant infectious disease threats that are also frequently global public health concerns. Several new EIDAR efforts are underway that will provide Combatant Command Surgeons, Infectious Diseases Service Chiefs, and other Force Health Protection stakeholders with epidemiological information to mitigate the impact of EIDs and antimicrobial resistance on the health of U.S. military service members and their dependents. PMID: 31004432 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Military Medicine)
Saturday 20 April 2019
Authors: Fukushima K, Yanagisawa N, Kawabata H, Yajima K PMID: 30996189 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Internal Medicine)
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Friday 19 April 2019
Publication date: Available online 18 April 2019Source: Veterinary MicrobiologyAuthor(s): Min-Goo Seo, Oh-Deog Kwon, Dongmi KwakAbstractA 23-year-old male Thoroughbred horse at the Korean Military Academy appeared thin with visible rib bones and presented clinical signs of fever, anorexia, lethargy, and severe dehydration. To determine the presence of various febrile disease-causing agents, the 23 cohabiting horses at the academy, including this horse, were subjected to hematology, blood chemistry, and molecular analysis using whole blood samples collected during regular medical check-ups. On the basis of clinical history, physical examination, hematology, blood chemistry, and fecal examination, differential diagnosis using molecular analyses was performed for various febrile disease-causi...
Thursday 18 April 2019
Publication date: Available online 18 April 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Eliza A.H. Little, John F. Anderson, Kirby C. Stafford, Lars Eisen, Rebecca J. Eisen, Goudarz MolaeiAbstractLyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the United States. Ixodes scapularis, commonly referred to as the blacklegged tick, is the primary vector of Lyme disease spirochetes, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.), in the eastern United States. Connecticut has pervasive populations of I. scapularis and remains a hotspot for Lyme disease. A primary aim of this study was to determine if passively collected data on human-biting I. scapularis ticks in Connecticut could serve as a useful proxy for Lyme disease incidence based on the cases reported by the Connecticut Departmen...
Wednesday 17 April 2019
In this study, we aimed to identify gene expression patterns associated with the survival and re-growth of B. burgdorferi in the antibiotic environment. While a similar study in which RNASeq was applied to antibiotic treatment of B. burgdorferi was conducted (Feng et al., 2015), several important distinctions between that study and ours should be made. In that report by Feng et al, in vitro-cultured Bb were treated with either doxycycline or amoxicillin (50 μg/mL) for 6 days and then subjected to RNASeq, with comparison to the untreated control. Genes that were up-regulated by 2-fold or more were ascribed significant and the pathways affected were elucidated. In our study, we treated a slightly denser culture (5 × 107 versus 1 × 107) with doxycycline at the same dose (...
Wednesday 17 April 2019
Conclusion Our modeling of the modulation of the tick regulome in response to A. phagocytophilum infection provided new insights into the mechanisms that target specific functions in different tick tissues. These results supported the use of network analysis for the study of regulome response to infection. Although general mechanisms affected by A. phagocytophilum infection may be conserved even between tick and human cells (de la Fuente et al., 2016b), the effect of vector-pathogen co-evolution on pathogen isolates adaptation to grow in tick cells (Alberdi et al., 2015) may result in differences between isolates in the modulation of the tick cell regulome. Future research should be directed at validating the results of the network analysis for regulomics studies and the characterization ...
Wednesday 17 April 2019
Publication date: July 2019Source: Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, Volume 115Author(s): Hua Zhao, Xiting Dai, Xinlin Han, Aihua Liu, Fukai Bao, Ruolan Bai, Zhenhua Ji, Miaomiao Jian, Zhe Ding, Manzama-Esso Abi, Taigui Chen, Lisha Luo, Mingbiao Ma, Lvyan TaoAbstractLyme disease, reffered to as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne zoonotic disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes. Lyme arthritis, the most common, serious and harmful manifestation during the late stages of Lyme disease, is closely associated with the Borrelia burgdorferi basic membrane protein A (BmpA). Chemokines are also reported to have an important role in Lyme arthritis. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize and bind to pathogen-associated molecules which are structurally conserved among microbes, to activate transc...
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Tuesday 16 April 2019
This study provides insight into the microbial diversity of I. scapularis in New York State and Connecticut. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Tuesday 16 April 2019
Knowing the frequency of positive Lyme disease serology in children without signs of infection facilitates test interpretation. Of 315 asymptomatic children from Lyme disease endemic regions, 32 had positive or equivocal C6 enzyme-linked immunoassays, but only 5 had positive IgG or IgM supplemental immunoblots (1.6%; 95% confidence interval: 0.7%–3.7%). (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Monday 15 April 2019
Authors: Zhao H, Dai X, Han X, Liu A, Bao F, Bai R, Ji Z, Jian M, Ding Z, Abi ME, Chen T, Luo L, Ma M, Tao L Abstract Lyme disease, reffered to as Lyme borreliosis, is a tick-borne zoonotic disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes. Lyme arthritis, the most common, serious and harmful manifestation during the late stages of Lyme disease, is closely associated with the Borrelia burgdorferi basic membrane protein A (BmpA). Chemokines are also reported to have an important role in Lyme arthritis. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) recognize and bind to pathogen-associated molecules which are structurally conserved among microbes, to activate transcriptional events, including cytokine production, inflammation, and tissue damage. We speculated that BmpA could induce a storm of proinfla...
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Monday 15 April 2019
Conclusion: The fHIT seems to be a feasible test to quantify oscillopsia in BV since, unlike DVAtreadmill, it correlates with the experienced oscillopsia measured by the OSQ, and more BV patients are able to complete the fHIT than DVAtreadmill. Introduction Gaze stabilization is one of the many functions of the vestibular system. The vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR) enables gaze stabilization during high-frequency head movements by moving the eyes directly in opposite direction of the head movement. A decreased VOR therefore impairs gaze stabilization, which leads to head or body movement-induced blurred vision (oscillopsia). Oscillopsia is one of the main symptoms of bilateral vestibulopathy (BV) (1). BV is a heterogeneous chronic condition in which vestibular function is severely imp...
Monday 15 April 2019
Discussion Structure-function analyses of numerous Fur proteins have revealed that Fur binds its target DNA as a dimer. Protein dimerization requires Zn, which is coordinated via the structural S1 site in the dimerization domain of Fur proteins. To date, it has been clearly demonstrated that different geometry and amino acid residues are used by Fur protein for coordinating Zn in the S1 site (Pohl et al., 2003; Lee and Helmann, 2006; Pecqueur et al., 2006; Traoré et al., 2006, 2009; Lucarelli et al., 2007; Ahmad et al., 2009; An et al., 2009; Carpenter et al., 2009; Jacquamet et al., 2009; Sheikh and Taylor, 2009; Davies et al., 2011; Dian et al., 2011; Shin et al., 2011; Butcher et al., 2012; Makthal et al., 2013; Troxell and Hassan, 2013; Fillat, 2014; Gilston et al., 2014; Lin ...
Monday 15 April 2019
Publication date: Available online 14 April 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Xiuqin Zhong, Mehrnaz Nouri, Lars RåbergAbstractStudies of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in laboratory mice and humans have shown that spirochaetes disseminate from the site of infection (skin) to internal tissues, and cause various pathological effects. However, less is known about colonization and pathology of Lyme borreliosis spirochaetes in their natural hosts. In the present study, we assessed the colonization and manifestations during B. afzelii infection in reservoir hosts (yellow-necked mouse, Apodemus flavicollis; bank vole, Myodes glareolus; common shrew, Sorex araneus) infected in the wild. The infection prevalence and bacterial load was measured in skin (ear), joints and heart by ...
Monday 15 April 2019
Publication date: Available online 14 April 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Elisa Martello, Alessandro Mannelli, Elena Grego, Leonardo Adrian Ceballos, Charlotte Ragagli, Maria Cristina Stella, Laura TomassoneAbstractTicks and ear biopsies were collected from wild small rodents in 2011 and 2012 in the northern Apennines (Italy), up to 1650 m above sea level. Apodemus spp. (n = 83) and Myodes glareolus (n = 22) were infested by Ixodes ricinus (192 larvae and two nymphs), Dermacentor marginatus (179 larvae and 29 nymphs), and Ixodes trianguliceps (three larvae and two nymphs). We detected several Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) genospecies (B. afzelii, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, B. garinii, B. lusitaniae, B. valaisiana) in I. ricinus and skin biopsies....
Monday 15 April 2019
After antibiotic treatment of Lyme borreliosis, a subset of patients report persistent symptoms, also referred to as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. The reported prevalence of persistent symptoms varies ... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
Sunday 14 April 2019
CONCLUSIONS: LD testing and positivity have increased in recent years, including in states not historically associated with the disease. PMID: 30985892 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: American Journal of Clinical Pathology)
Friday 12 April 2019
ConclusionA high prevalence of TMD symptoms was found in patients with Lyme disease. The results suggest that using palpation tests alone could overestimate primary TMDs when comorbid conditions are present.Clinical relevance: Dynamic/static tests should be used as part of the routine TMD assessment. In case of Lyme disease as the actual cause of the facial pain, while the dentist might be suspecting TMD when dynamic/static TMD tests are negative, referral to an appropriate specialist for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease needs to be made. (Source: Clinical Oral Investigations)
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Thursday 11 April 2019
Conclusions OCB are important biomarkers that can support MRI diagnostics and help to avoid false-positive MS diagnoses. Therefore, the revised McDonalds criteria have increased the importance of the OCB. New biomarkers such as AQP4 have now established themselves in clinical practice, and others such as Anti-MOG and NfL are about to enter clinical routine. An important focus in the search for new biomarkers is the monitoring of therapy efficacy and the prediction of severe side effects. Many other CSF molecules such as CHI3L1, IL-6, or CXCL13 show potential as markers for clinical practice, but further research is needed to prove their importance. Author Contributions All authors listed have made a substantial, direct and intellectual contribution to the work, and approved it for pu...
Wednesday 10 April 2019
Conclusion and Future Directions Above we reviewed a limited set of network medicine philosophies that seek to integrate biomedical big data to uncover meaningful biology. Network medicine approaches provide customized and optimized ways to leverage biomedical data. The choice of the appropriate network method is largely dictated by the underlying biological inquiry, hypotheses, study design, and available data. Although this review is not meant to be exhaustive, our intent was to give a essence of how biomedical data requires a nuanced approach when selecting network analyses and provide a resource for both network scientists and biologists to better understand the lexicon of network modeling of biomedical data. We believe that network medicine approaches will be vital in the future wit...
Monday 8 April 2019
In conclusion, our data indicates that pDC have a protective role in limiting bacterial load in the gut and helping to maintain the intestinal barrier. As C. rodentium is closely related to the attaching and effacing human pathogens EPEC/EHEC, our work suggests that pDC may also play a role in protection from these organisms. More generally, a role for pDC in maintenance of the gut mucosal barrier and perhaps gut homeostasis would mean these cells may be important in protection from many human gut pathogens. pDC also appeared to regulate the systemic inflammatory response to pathogens released from the gut. Although pDC-depletion was found to ameliorate DSS-induced colitis, our results and those of Mizuno et al. showed that a deficit in pDC led to exacerbation of disease in infection and T...
Sunday 7 April 2019
AbstractThis Forum article synthesizes the current evidence on the links between predator-prey interactions, protected areas and spatial variations in Lyme disease risk in Fennoscandia. I suggest key research directions to better understand the role of protected areas in promoting the persistence of diverse predator guilds. Conserving predators could help reducing host populations and Lyme disease risk in northern Europe. There is an urgent need to find possible win-win solutions for biodiversity conservation and human health in ecosystems facing rapid global environmental change. (Source: EcoHealth)
Saturday 6 April 2019
Authors: Feng J, Li T, Yee R, Yuan Y, Bai C, Cai M, Shi W, Embers M, Brayton C, Saeki H, Gabrielson K, Zhang Y Abstract Although most patients with Lyme disease can be cured with a 2-4 week antibiotic therapy, about 10-20% of patients continue to suffer prolonged persistent symptoms, a condition called post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). The cause for PTLDS is unclear and hotly debated. Borrelia burgdorferi develops morphological variants under stress conditions but their significance is not clear. Here we isolated the biofilm-like microcolony (MC) and planktonic (spirochetal form and round body) (SP) variant forms from the stationary phase culture of B. burgdorferi and showed that the MC and SP variant forms were not only more tolerant to the current Lyme antibiotics but...
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Friday 5 April 2019
The Lyme disease spirochetes are a highly diverse group of bacteria with unique biological properties. Their ability to cycle between ticks and mammals requires that they adapt to variable and constantly changing environmental conditions. Outer surface protein C is an essential virulence determinant that has received considerable attention in vaccine and diagnostic assay development. Knowledge of OspC diversity, its antigenic determinants, and its production patterns throughout the enzootic cycle, as well as in the laboratory setting, is essential for understanding immune responses induced by infection or vaccination. (Source: Veterinary Clinics of North America: Small Animal Practice)
Friday 5 April 2019
Vector-borne diseases (VBDs) are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. In the United States, VBDs continue to increase, with 9 new VBDs identified since 2004 and most recently in 2017 a new vector, Haemaphysalis longicornis. Vectors such as ticks, mosquitoes, and fleas are capable of transmitting bacteria, viruses, and parasites. This updated review of the current recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, ehrlichiosis, and West Nile virus will help prepare nurse practitioners to provide safe, competent care for their patients and communities at large. (Source: The Journal for Nurse Practitioners)
Thursday 4 April 2019
Discussion. We discussed clinical implications and reviewed the relevant literature. (Source: Journal of Clinical Neuroscience)
Wednesday 3 April 2019
Authors: Ogden NH, Gachon P Abstract Global climate change, driven by anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, is being particularly felt in Canada, with warming generally greater than in the rest of the world. Continued warming will be accompanied by changes in precipitation, which will vary across the country and seasons, and by increasing climate variability and extreme weather events. Climate change will likely drive the emergence of infectious diseases in Canada by northward spread from the United States and introduction from elsewhere in the world via air and sea transport. Diseases endemic to Canada are also likely to re-emerge. This special issue describes key infectious disease risks associated with climate change. These include emergence of tick-borne diseases in addition ...
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Wednesday 3 April 2019
Authors: Bouchard C, Dibernardo A, Koffi J, Wood H, Leighton PA, Lindsay LR Abstract Climate warming and other environmental changes have contributed to the expansion of the range of several tick species into higher latitudes in North America. As temperatures increase in Canada, the environment becomes more suitable for ticks and the season suitable for tick activity lengthens, so tick-borne diseases are likely to become more common in Canada. In addition to Lyme disease, four other tick-borne diseases (TBDs) have started to emerge and are likely to increase: Anaplasmosis; Babesiosis; Powassan virus; and Borrelia miyamotoi disease. Increased temperature increases the survival and activity period of ticks, increases the range of both reservoir and tick hosts (e.g. mice and deer) and...
Monday 1 April 2019
Authors: Václav Hönig Pavel Švec Lukáš Marek Tomáš Mrkvička Zubriková Dana Maria (Vögerl) Wittmann Ondřej Masař Daniela Szturcová Daniel Růžek Kurt Pfister Libor Grubhoffer In Europe, Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) are the two vector-borne diseases with the largest impact on human health. Based on data on the density of host-seeking Ixodes ricinus ticks and pathogen prevalence and using a variety of environmental data, we have created an acarological risk model for a region where both diseases are endemic (Czech Republic—South Bohemia and Germany—Lower Bavaria, Upper Palatinate). The data on tick density were acquired by flagging 50 sampling sites three times in a single season. Prevalence of the ...
Monday 1 April 2019
Authors: Haddad E, Caumes E PMID: 30928181 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Monday 1 April 2019
When dealing with chronic pain, it is often not possible for clinicians to provide adequate answers to their patients about what might be wrong, and why they continue to have their pain. This has led to greater use of diagnostic âlabelsâ for conditions such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, and many others. Assigning such âlabelsâ to patients with chronic pain has far-reaching consequences for all stakeholders. The aim of this clinical commentary is to highlight some of the common threads among 4 particular conditions common to womenâfibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome, and chronic Lyme diseaseâwhen it comes to the underlying neurobiology and its consequences for the patient ...
Sunday 31 March 2019
In this study, we investigated tick-borne bacterial pathogens in wild boar, hare, and fox and their ticks in Turkey. A total of 102 tick pools comprised of 445 ticks and blood samples were analyzed for the presence of bacterial DNA by PCRs targeted rickettsial gltA and ompA genes, 5S-23S rDNA gene for Borrelia spp., and msp4 gene for Anaplasma spp. As a result of PCR and sequence analyses, three pathogenic spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae, two SFG rickettsiae with unknown pathogenicity and one pathogenic Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were detected in samples obtained from wild animals. Rickettsia slovaca was detected in ticks (13.7% of tick pools) collected from wild boars and blood of a wild boar. In addition, the presences of R. hoogstraalii (19.6% of tick pools), R. aeschlimannii...
Sunday 31 March 2019
CONCLUSION: Overall, 182 ticks (71%) were infected with at least one pathogen; among these co-infections were found in 94 ticks. Tick borne pathogens identified were C. burnetii, B. burgdorferi s.l., Bartonella spp., Rickettsia spp., Francisella spp., and Ehrlichia spp. In R. bursa and H. marginatum, the presence of B. burgdorferi s.l. was positively correlated with that of C. burnetii, Rickettsia spp., and Bartonella spp. and their coinfection probabilities were 29.8%, 22.7% and 11.7%, respectively; the probability of coinfection for Francisella spp. and Rickettsia spp. and for Francisella spp. and Bartonella spp. was 14.9% and 17.9%, respectively. In R. (Boophilus) annulatus, the probability of coinfection between C. burnetii and B. burgdorferi s.l. was 11.3%, while those between C. burn...
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Saturday 30 March 2019
Conclusion: The seroprevalence of Lyme borreliosis was high in Erzincan, particularly among people engaged in animal husbandry in rural areas. In addition, the seroprevalence of Borrelia varied according to geographical features, increasing in areas with a lower slope and altitude. PMID: 30918907 [PubMed] (Source: Iranian Journal of Arthropod-Borne Diseases)
Friday 29 March 2019
Lyme Neuroborreliosis - The Mystifying Pitfall: "Neuropathology and Current Therapeutics". Recent Pat Antiinfect Drug Discov. 2019 Mar 26;: Authors: Chavda V, Patel S Abstract Lyme's Disease (LD) is a severe rapidly growing broad spectrum chronic infection caused by the bacterium 'Borrelia (B.) burgdoferi', which can be easily transmitted through the bite of certain species of ticks. The prevalence of LD is swiftly mounting in present scenario in many countries from species to species. Although Lyme's infection is now detectable via serologic examination of early and late Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), the management of persistent symptoms is still fraught with quora of doubt and debate. LD is a multisystem spirochete which results after the dissemination of B. burgdorfe...
Thursday 28 March 2019
Authors: Jánová E Abstract Climatic changes, landscape management, massive human, animal and commodity transportation represent important factors which are contributing to the spread of zoonotic diseases. The environmental and socioeconomic factors affecting the incidence of vector-borne zoonoses and possibilities for the reduction of disease impacts are discussed in the article. The most important zoonoses with expanding area of incidence and/or increasing occurrence are summarized, with special emphasis on the European region. While some diseases and their respective pathogens are indigenous to Europe (e.g. Lyme disease), others have been introduced to Europe from tropical areas (e.g. chikungunya or dengue fever). These emerging diseases may represent a serious threat in near f...
Monday 25 March 2019
Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and is increasing in incidence in the United States. Patient education and early recognition and treatment of the disease are critical to reduce the impact of chronic long-term infection. (Source: Nursing Clinics of North America)
Sunday 24 March 2019
This study provides insight into the antigenic structure of OspC. The results enhance our understanding of immune responses that develop during infection or upon vaccination and have implications for interpretation of LD diagnostic assays that employ OspC. PMID: 30922701 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Vaccine)
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Saturday 23 March 2019
Authors: Begolli Gerqari A, Ferizi M, Gerqari I Abstract Atrophoderma of Pasini and Pierini is a skin atrophy presenting as single or multiple sharply demarcated, hyperpigmented, non-indurated patches, with a slight depression of the skin, that can converge and form a confluent area with atrophy as a consequence. The condition was first described by Pasini in 1923 and subsequently by Pierini in 1936. They distinguished this form of atrophy from other diseases and conditions in which the atrophy is morphologically and clinically different. The disease was initially associated with Borrelia burgdorferi infection; however, at present, various theories have emerged for the appearance of the disease, linked to genetic, neurogenetic, and immunological factors. Here we present a patient t...
Friday 22 March 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Wednesday 20 March 2019
Research ArticlesL. KRBKOV Á, L. HOMOLA, A. HLAVÁČOVÁ, P. MIKOLÁŠEK, J. BEDNÁŘOVÁ, Z. ČERMÁKOVÁ,Epidemiology& Infection,Volume 144 Issue 12, pp 2597-2604Abstract (Source: Epidemiology and Infection)
Tuesday 19 March 2019
Kate Winslet picture about renowned fossil hunter had been criticised by relatives for ‘unconfirmed’ portrait of her sexualityThe director of a new biopic about the celebrated fossil hunter Mary Anning has defended his film after criticism of its lesbian romance storyline.Ammonite, which stars Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, recently began filming in Lyme Regis, the coastal town in Dorset where Anning lived in the early 19th century. Anning never married and is not known to have had any direct descendants, but a report in the Telegraph suggested her distant relatives were at odds over the film ’s central relationship, a romance between Anning and Frances Bell, with whom Anning is known to have corresponded.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Tuesday 19 March 2019
CHICAGO—Keith Winthrop, MD, MPH, professor of public health and preventive medicine at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine, Portland, Ore., began the vaccination session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting with a review of vaccination timing and targets. He presented a clinically relevant snapshot of the vaccines rheumatologists should consider and emphasized... [Read More] (Source: The Rheumatologist)
Friday 15 March 2019
(Natural News) Most people use essential oils as a mood booster or stress reliever. But according to a study, a potent mix of essential oils from various herbs and medicinal plants can help eliminate the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. The study, which was published in the journal Antibiotics, was conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Friday 15 March 2019
Conclusion: This study was the first to determine the frequency of hantavirus in the study region and it includes current data for B. burgdorferi. Consequently, it is recommended that similar studies be carried out on rodents in all the regions at risk. PMID: 30862151 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences)
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Thursday 14 March 2019
We report nine cases of pediatric neuroborreliosis collected by the National Observatory of Pediatric Bacterial Meningitis in France between 2001 and 2012. The nine children, aged 4-13 years, were identified in northern and eastern France and had the following clinical features: meningeal irritation alone or with facial palsy, or isolated facial palsy. All cases showed anti-Borrelia antibodies in cerebrospinal fluid or serum, or with a positive Borrelia PCR in the CSF. The outcome was favorable in all cases after a 2- to 3-week course of third-generation cephalosporin. On the basis of these nine pediatric cases, this study provides an update on the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic strategy, and treatment of neuroborreliosis, with insight into the specific features of pediatric neu...
Thursday 14 March 2019
As I struggle with chronic pain, cozy for me is less hygge and more my ex-boyfriend ’ s mother, nurses with juice and weird, sandy doughnuts. (Source: NYT Health)
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Monday 11 March 2019
(Natural News) If you spend any amount of time outdoors or around animals, you’re at risk of Lyme disease. This infectious disease is transmitted by ticks, but it’s actually caused by a microbe, the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato bacteria. While many prevention methods focus on the ticks themselves, some researchers are looking into antimicrobial herbs... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Saturday 9 March 2019
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. PMID: 30854633 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: European Journal of Immunology)
Friday 8 March 2019
To what extent did the invasion of the blacklegged tick contribute to the spread of Lyme disease?Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Thursday 7 March 2019
Authors: Weiss T, Zhu P, White H, Posner M, Wickiser JK, Washington MA, Barnhill J Abstract Lyme disease is a continuing threat to military personnel operating in arboriferous and mountainous environments. Here we present the case of a 24-year-old Second Lieutenant, a recent graduate from the United States Military Academy, with a history of Lyme disease who developed recurrent knee effusions following surgery to correct a hip impingement. Although gonococcal arthritis was initially suspected from preliminary laboratory results, a comprehensive evaluation contradicted this diagnosis. Despite antibiotic therapy, aspiration of the effusions, and steroid treatment to control inflammation, the condition of the patient deteriorated to the point where he was found to be unfit for duty an...
Thursday 7 March 2019
No abstract available (Source: Neurology Today)
Wednesday 6 March 2019
We report an unusual case of organizing pneumonia occurring as a consequence of obstruction due to a carcinoid tumour and its complete resolution by bronchoscopic relief of obstruction without the need for steroid therapy. Organizing pneumonia is a well ‐known clinical entity resulting in response to noxious stimuli causing lung injury. It is known to occur with infectious disease processes, neoplasms, post lung surgery or radiation therapy and when idiopathic, is called cryptogenic organizing pneumonia. We present an unusual case of a 48‐year‐ old woman who presented with chronic cough and progressive dyspnoea while being on macrolide therapy for Lyme disease. Computerized tomography of chest demonstrated a well‐circumscribed nodule in the lingula and bilateral central ground glas...
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Tuesday 5 March 2019
EAST HADDAM, Conn. (WTNH) - A meeting is set to take place on Saturday to discuss a growing concern in East Haddam where a number of EMS volunteers resigned from their positions, putting a bit of strain on neighboring communities. Ten people have left East Haddam Ambulance since the beginning of the year. It's a non-profit organization that gets about 800 calls a year. Since they're down so many people, about 20 percent of the emergency calls in East Haddam are being taken care of by other emergency crews in neighboring towns like Haddam, Lyme, East Hampton, and Colchester. (Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News)
Tuesday 5 March 2019
(DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory) A team of researchers from the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) Health Data Sciences Institute (HDSI) have harnessed the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to better match cancer patients with clinical trials. The researchers were one of ten teams to develop a digital tool to address complex challenges relevant to medical conditions such as cancer and Lyme disease as part of The Opportunity Project (TOP) Health Sprint. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Tuesday 5 March 2019
G. P. Wormser et al. (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal)
Monday 4 March 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Monday 4 March 2019
CONCLUSION: The results of seroprevalence obtained in the present study confirm the possibility of infection with B. burgdorferi among respondents exposed to contact with ticks. PMID: 30817876 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Central European Journal of Public Health)
Monday 4 March 2019
CONCLUSION: It should be noted that detection of antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. is only an indirect evidence of the presence of this bacterium in the development of clinical signs of LD in humans. Laboratory LD tests should be performed in accordance with valid standards, positive and uncertain results must be confirmed by the Western Blot/Immunoblot assay. PMID: 30817877 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Central European Journal of Public Health)
Monday 4 March 2019
CONCLUSION: IAGC injection appears to be an effective and safe second-line strategy for persistent Lyme arthritis in children, associated with rapid clinical resolution and reduced need for additional treatment. PMID: 30824649 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Rheumatology)
Monday 4 March 2019
CONCLUSION: Older children and those with prolonged arthritis, arthritis limited to the knees, or poor initial response to antibiotics are more likely to have antibiotic-refractory disease and treatment-associated toxicity. Children with severe symptoms of systemic inflammation have more favorable outcomes. For children with persistently active Lyme arthritis after 2 antibiotic courses, pediatricians should consider starting antiinflammatory treatment and referring to a pediatric rheumatologist. PMID: 30824653 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Journal of Rheumatology)
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Monday 4 March 2019
R. P. Smith et al. (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal)
Thursday 28 February 2019
CONCLUSION: Public health strategies should focus on high-incidence age groups and regions during the months with the highest incidences and should emphasise prevention measures such as regular tick checks after exposure and prompt removal to avoid infection. PMID: 30892181 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Euro Surveill)
Thursday 28 February 2019
AbstractYears when the deer population is robust during the autumn hunting season may point toward an elevated risk of Lyme disease (LD) in the human population two summers later. We applied overdispersed Poisson regression models to county-specific data from New Jersey for each year from 2000 to 2014. The average relative risk of LD for each additional hunter-killed deer per square mile was 1.12 (1.10, 1.14) for 2000 –2007 and 1.11 (1.09, 1.13) for 2008–2014. The hunting data already collected for conservation and wildlife management purposes may be a relevant component of LD surveillance activities. (Source: EcoHealth)
Wednesday 27 February 2019
Publication date: Available online 27 February 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Ellie L. Milnes, Grace Thornton, Alexandre N. Léveillé, Pauline Delnatte, John R. Barta, Dale A. Smith, Nicole NemethAbstractCervid babesiosis, caused by the protozoan hemoparasite Babesia odocoilei and transmitted by the blacklegged tick Ixodes scapularis, is an emerging disease of Canadian cervids. This pathogen has not yet been described in humans. Data are lacking on the role of migratory birds in the adventitious spread of Ba. odocoilei-infected ticks, as well as on the infection status of I. scapularis in environments used by susceptible wildlife hosts. Following a high-mortality outbreak of cervid babesiosis at the Toronto Zoo [TZ], the present study was initiated to investigate Ba. ...
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Wednesday 27 February 2019
Publication date: Available online 26 February 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Lise E. Nigrovic, Desiree N. Neville, Fran Balamuth, Jonathan E. Bennett, Michael N. Levas, Aris C. Garro, for Pedi Lyme NetAbstractOf 1,770 children undergoing emergency department evaluation for Lyme disease, 362 (20.5%) children had Lyme disease. Of those with an available tick bite history, only a minority of those with Lyme disease had a recognized tick bite (60/325; 18.5%, 95% confidence interval 14.6 – 23.0%). Lack of a tick bite history does not reliably exclude Lyme disease. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Wednesday 27 February 2019
Publication date: Available online 26 February 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Seungeun Han, Charles Lubelczyk, Graham J. Hickling, Alexia A. Belperron, Linda K. Bockenstedt, Jean I. TsaoAbstractBorrelia miyamotoi is a relapsing fever spirochete transmitted by ticks in the Ixodes ricinus complex. In the eastern United States, B. miyamotoi is transmitted by I. scapularis, which also vectors several other pathogens including B. burgdorferi sensu stricto. In contrast to Lyme borreliae, B. miyamotoi can be transmitted vertically from infected female ticks to their progeny. Therefore, in addition to nymphs and adults, larvae can vector B. miyamotoi to wildlife and human hosts. Two widely varying filial infection prevalence (FIP) estimates - 6% and 73% - have been reported pr...
Wednesday 27 February 2019
(Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology)
Wednesday 27 February 2019
Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD) is a newly recognized borreliosis that is cotransmitted by ticks wherever Lyme disease is zoonotic. Unlike Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the agent of Lyme disease, B. miyamotoi is closely related to relapsing fever spirochetes, such as Borrelia hermsii. Some authors have suggested that the disease caused by B. miyamotoi should be considered a hard-tick-transmitted relapsing fever, and thus, the main mode of confirming a diagnosis for that infection, microscopy to analyze a blood smear, may have clinical utility. To determine whether blood smears may detect B. miyamotoi in the blood of acute BMD patients, we made standard malariological thick smears from anticoagulated blood samples that were previously determined to contain this agent (by PCR) and analyz...
Wednesday 27 February 2019
(Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology)
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Tuesday 26 February 2019
Authors: Bjark P PMID: 30808111 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening)
Wednesday 20 February 2019
CONCLUSIONS: Immunization with native antigens might not be sufficient to obtain complete protection to infection. Nonetheless we showed that non-infectious B. burgdorferi can be an effective carrier to deliver and elicit a specific host response to T. pallidum antigens to assess the efficacy of syphilis vaccine candidates. PMID: 30797635 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Vaccine)
Tuesday 19 February 2019
Authors: Mendoza-Roldan JA, Colella V Abstract The castor bean tick Ixodes ricinus is one of the most abundant tick species in Europe, being able to parasitize a wide number of vertebrate hosts, including mammals, birds, and reptiles. This tick species has an important role as vector of zoonotic pathogens, including the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis (i.e. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato). Here, we provide insights on a new tick-host association (i.e. I. ricinus infesting snakes) in an area recently recognized as endemic for reptile-associated zoonotic species of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l.. PMID: 30794772 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Acta Tropica)
Monday 18 February 2019
Laura Macleod, 31, tested positive for Lyme disease in 2016 but the standard treatment did nothing to alleviate her symptoms. Now, wants to travel to Germany for dangerous full body heating. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Monday 18 February 2019
(Source: International Journal of General Medicine)
Monday 18 February 2019
(Source: Neurological Sciences)
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Saturday 16 February 2019
Authors: Ranque-Garnier S, Eldin C, Sault C, Raoult D, Donnet A Abstract Lyme disease is caused by bacteria of the B. burgdorferi sensu lato complex, and can give polymorphic clinical manifestations that can affect several organs such as the skin, the central nervous system, or the joints. In recent years, patients' associations and physicians have been supporting the hypothesis that this infection would manifest as chronic generalized musculoskeletal pain symptoms, named "chronic Lyme disease". Fibromyalgia is a clinical presentation characterized by chronic generalized musculoskeletal pain with a major impact on quality of life and social and psychological functioning. We analyzed existing literature data on pain syndromes associated with Lyme disease (post-treatment Lyme diseas...
Saturday 16 February 2019
Authors: Eldin C, Jaulhac B, Mediannikov O, Arzouni JP, Raoult D Abstract Bacteria of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, responsible for Lyme disease, are members of the spirochetes phylum. Diagnostic difficulties of Lyme disease are partly due to the characteristics of spirochetes as their culture is tedious or even impossible for some of them. We performed a literature review to assess the value of the various diagnostic tests of spirochetes infections of medical interest such as Lyme borreliosis, relapsing fever borreliae, syphilis, and leptospirosis. We were able to draw similarities between these four infections. Real-time PCR now plays an important role in the direct diagnosis of these infections. However, direct diagnosis remains difficult because of a persistent l...
Friday 15 February 2019
This meta-analysis suggests that when symptoms of the disease are confined to a localised skin infection, treatment failures are relatively infrequent, only 2% at 12 months. Effective antibiotics include penicillin V, doxycycline, azithromycin, cefuroxime, amoxicillin and ceftriaxone plus doxycycline.The research has significant limitations, but choice, dose and duration of antibiotics appear to have little impact on outcomes. This research does not suggest that guidelines need to be reviewed. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Friday 15 February 2019
Contributors : Jerome Bouquet ; Charles Y ChiuSeries Type : Expression profiling by high throughput sequencingOrganism : Homo sapiensMost Lyme disease patients treated with appropriate antibiotics recover rapidly and completely, but a minority of patients develop persistent symptoms correlating with disseminated disease, a greater severity of illness at presentation, and delayed antibiotic therapy. When lingering or recurrent symptoms are associated with a functional decline and persist for greater than 6 months, patients are considered to meet clinical criteria for post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), although the exact molecular mechanisms underlying this condition remain unknown. We performed longitudinal whole transcriptome sequencing of PTLDS patients' immune cells. No immune...
Thursday 14 February 2019
This study aimed to investigate the presence and perform molecular characterization of Anaplasmataceae, Rickettsia spp., and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (sl) in tick species collected in Corsica. Ticks from cattle (Bos taurus), sheep (Ovis aries), and rodents (Rattus rattus) were collected from May to September 2016. DNA was purified from ticks, submitted to quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and sequenced for phylogenetic analysis. In total, 660 ticks were collected from 111 animals during the study. The most abundant collected tick species from cattle was Rhipicephalus bursa (n = 495; 84.5%), followed by Hyalomma marginatum (n = 91; 15.5%). Rhipicephalus bursa and Ixodes ricinus were the only tick species collected from sheep and rodents, respectively. Ov...
Tuesday 12 February 2019
LYME disease is a bacterial infection which is spread to humans by infected ticks. Blood tests have been available for some time to confirm or rule out the condition. But now health experts are advising doctors a ‘bull’s eye’ rash alone can diagnose Lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Tuesday 12 February 2019
The UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence urges medics to just look for the rash - which is present in around two-thirds of cases - due to lab tests not always picking up on the infection. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 12 February 2019
LYME disease is a bacterial infection which is spread to humans by infected ticks. Blood tests have been available for some time to confirm or rule out the condition. But now health experts are advising doctors a ‘bull’s eye’ rash alone can diagnose Lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Tuesday 12 February 2019
The rash is diagnostic and means the patient needs urgent antibiotics, new guidelines tell doctors. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)
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Tuesday 12 February 2019
People showing erythema migrans, the characteristic skin rash associated with Lyme disease, can be diagnosed without the need for blood tests, NICE says in new guidance. (Source: NHS Networks)
Tuesday 12 February 2019
GPs told not to wait for the results of blood tests before starting antibiotics if rash present Related items fromOnMedica TB could be cured by four months ’ treatment in many patients Adjuvanted trivalent flu vaccine best option for over-65s Rare polio-like illness on the rise MPs call for urgent action on antimicrobial resistance Chief medical officer launches push for flu jab drive (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Monday 11 February 2019
Authors: Guedj E, Eldin C, Raoult D, Azorin JM, Belzeaux R Abstract Approximately 10% of patients presenting with Lyme disease experience fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, concentration disorders, or short-term memory deficits in the six months following treatment. This entity has been defined as post-Lyme disease syndrome or post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. The pathophysiology of this syndrome is unknown, but neither persistence of the bacterium nor effectiveness of antibiotics are currently reported in the literature. The French High Council for Public Health (French acronym HCSP) has recently defined a new entity called "persistent polymorphic symptoms after a tick bite" allowing for designing studies to better understand these subjective presentations, for which objective bio...
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Monday 11 February 2019
Authors: Boulanger N, Boyer P, Talagrand-Reboul E, Hansmann Y Abstract Ticks are a major group of arthropod vectors, characterized by the diversity of pathogens they transmit, by their impact on human and animal health, and by their socioeconomic implication especially in countries of the Southern Hemisphere. In Europe, Ixodes is the most important tick due to its wide distribution in the ecosystems and the variety of transmitted pathogens, in particular Borrelia (responsible for Lyme borreliosis), but also the tick-borne encephalitis virus. Their increased presence in the environment since the beginning of the 20th century is undeniable, because of major modifications in the biodiversity caused by humans. Increasing the awareness of health professionals and the general population ...
Saturday 9 February 2019
(Natural News) A mass migration of birds may be amazing to behold, until they leave countless disease-ridden ticks in their wake. In the U.S., the disease-laden ticks spread in the Northeast and Midwest through dogs which serve as carriers for the Borrelia burgdorferi infection. In 2008, Canadian veterinarians worked on a project which looked into an... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Friday 8 February 2019
Authors: Melenotte C, Drancourt M, Gorvel JP, Mège JL, Raoult D Abstract Post-infectious chronic fatigue syndrome is a public health problem. Etiologies and physiopathological mechanisms are unknown. Some viruses are known to be involved in post-infectious chronic fatigue syndrome, but the role of bacterial infection is still questioned, especially in cases of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome where subjective symptoms are regularly attributed to the presence of the dormant bacterium without scientific evidence. However, the medical experience of recalcitrant infections, relapses, and reactivations questions the role of "dormant bacteria" in asymptomatic latent infections as well as in subjective symptoms. We summarized scientific literature data on post-bacterial infection chr...
Wednesday 6 February 2019
Publication date: Available online 6 February 2019Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Parasites and WildlifeAuthor(s): Natalia M. Pukhovskaya, Olga V. Morozova, Nelya P. Vysochina, Nadejda B. Belozerova, Leonid I. IvanovAbstractBorrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) DNA was detected by PCR in Ixodes persulcatus Schulze, 1930, Haemaphysalis concinna Koch, 1844, Haemaphysalis japonica douglasi Nuttall et Warburton, 1915 and Dermacentor silvarum Olenev, 1932 ticks collected in the Amur region, the Jewish Autonomous region, the Sakhalin region and on the Khabarovsk territory. Infection rate of I. persulcatus with B. burgdorferi s.l. 10–69% exceeded the corresponding values of three other tick species in all examined regions during 1999–2014 despite different tick abundance and ...
Wednesday 6 February 2019
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine have developed a PET imaging technique...Read more on AuntMinnie.comRelated Reading: PET's view of tau could explain women's early dementia PET in the paddock New PET tracer could aid melanoma detection PET tracers help guide breast cancer therapies C-11-based PET tracer could benefit arthritis patients (Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines)
Tuesday 5 February 2019
Publication date: Available online 4 February 2019Source: Veterinary MicrobiologyAuthor(s): Alena Žákovská, Hana Lya Kučerová, Jiřina Marková, Eva BártováAbstractThe aim of of this study was to determine the seroprevalence of antibodies to B. burgdorferi s.l. in wild small mammals in the Czech Republic and compare sensitivity of PCR and cultivaton. Wild small mammals (n = 691) were trapped in years 2010 – 2014 in three localities of the Czech Republic. Heart rinses (n = 340) and sera (n = 351) were examined by modified indirect ELISA. Seventy animals were randomly selected for comparison of results of cultivation and PCR. Mean annual antiborelian positivity was 12 % with statistical difference (p < 0.05) between Bank Vole (Clethrionomys glareolus) and other s...
Tuesday 5 February 2019
(Johns Hopkins Medicine) More than 1 in 10 people successfully treated with antibiotics for Lyme disease go on to develop chronic, sometimes debilitating, and poorly understood symptoms of fatigue and brain fog that may last for years after their initial infection has cleared up. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
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Tuesday 5 February 2019
CONCLUSION: In the presence of unilateral or bilateral diaphragmatic paralysis of undetermined aetiology, it seems relevant to perform Lyme serology in the blood and, in positive cases, to follow up with a lumbar puncture in order to detect intrathecal IgG synthesis. PMID: 30711345 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Revue des Maladies Respiratoires)
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Tuesday 5 February 2019
Authors: Muñoz-Leal S, Lopes MG, Marcili A, Martins TF, González-Acuña D, Labruna MB Abstract Microorganisms harbored by Chilean autochthonous ticks have been scarcely studied and current knowledge is restricted to three species of hard ticks only. The current study aimed to assess the presence of Anaplasmataceae, Borrelia and Hepatozoon agents in ticks collected directly from the environment, on reptiles, birds and mammals in twelve localities from northern, central and southern regions of the country and Antarctica. Ticks were identified by means of a morphological and molecular approach. PCR detections point the occurrence of an Anaplasma-like agent and a relapsing fever Borrelia sp. in Ornithodoros spheniscus; an Ehrlichia sp. and a Hepatozoon sp. in Ornithodoros atacamensis...
Monday 4 February 2019
AbstractCase-control study for the evaluation of innovative test formats for second-tier testing for the serodiagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB). A head-to-head comparison was performed with the test systems ViraStripe, SeraSpot, ViraChip, and recomBead. Serum samples from 62 patients (21 erythema migrans, 33 Lyme neuroborreliosis, 8 late LB) and 91 controls (including 29 potentially c ross-reacting sera) were tested. For ViraChip and recomBead, optimised interpretation criteria were developed for both IgG and IgM. The most important modification for the proposed interpretation criteria for ViraChip is the interpretation of strong (> 2.5-fold above cutoff) singular IgG reactions against VlsE as positive. This significantly improves sensitivity (32 to 85%,p < 0.0001) without ...
Monday 4 February 2019
Borrelia sp. is a causative pathogen of Lyme disease which has become a worldwide health concern. Non-toxic approaches especially directed toward latent persistent forms of this pathogen are desired. Lipids in th... (Source: BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine)
Thursday 31 January 2019
AbstractLyme disease (borreliosis) is one of the most common vector-borne diseases worldwide. Its incidence and geographic expansion has been steadily increasing in the last decades. Lyme disease is caused byBorrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, a heterogeneous group of which three genospecies have been systematically associated to Lyme disease:B. burgdorferi sensu strictoBorrelia afzelii andBorrelia garinii. Geographical distribution and clinical manifestations vary according to the species involved. Lyme disease clinical manifestations may be divided into three stages. Early localized stage is characterized by erythema migrans in the tick bite site. Early disseminated stage may present multiple erythema migrans lesions, borrelial lymphocytoma, lyme neuroborreliosis, carditis, or arthritis. Th...
Thursday 31 January 2019
We describe a 59-year-old man with a large calcified pericardial cyst who presented with recurrent spells of presyncope and dyspnea. Presyncope occurred on several occasions and was confined to when the patient was walking. Dyspnea occurred in the supine and semirecumbent positions and unpredictably during walking, especially when in a hot or humid environment. The patient ’s medical history was notable only for Lyme disease that had occurred the previous year. (Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings)
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Thursday 31 January 2019
Purpose: Lyme borreliosis is a multisystem infection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. A disease can affect every organ, and it is characterized by a wide range of clinical manifestations. Erythema migrans is the basic clinical marker of Lyme disease in acute or subacute form. Recurrences occur in 9 –30% of inadequately treated patients. The aim of this paper was to investigate the frequency and clinical forms of skin borreliosis on our material, with the presentation of four atypical cases and to draw attention to the importance of clinical recognition of the disease. (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
Thursday 31 January 2019
Purpose: The South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic is an endemic area of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). In 2017, the inhabitants of Římov municipality developed a serious course of TBE and Lyme borreliosis (LB). This led experts to research and serology examinations of the inhabitants of Římov in order to detect the seroprevalence of TBE and LB. (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
Thursday 31 January 2019
Purpose: There are few data on the prevalence to Lyme borreliosis (LB) in Istria County. The aim of this study was to analyse, by two-tire serological strategy, the prevalence and epidemiological characteristics of LB in Istria, the largest Croatian peninsula located at the westernmost part of Croatia. (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
Thursday 31 January 2019
The objective of this study was to develop a standardised and reproducible protocol for feeding I. scapularis and I. ricinus tick larvae on mice (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
Thursday 31 January 2019
Purpose: In southern Canada, Lyme disease (LD) is an emerging tick-borne disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Cases have increased from 144 to 987 between 2009 and 2016. The infection is more frequent in children and older adults probably due to increased exposure to high risk areas during outdoor activities. The aim of this study is to describe the clinical presentation and course of illness among children reported in Monteregie, an emerging area from Quebec province located north of New York state. (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
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Thursday 31 January 2019
Authors: Gueye S, Seck SM, Kane Y, Tosi PO, Dahri S, Kounde C, Algouzmari I, Gouin A, Ged É, Allal A, Rostaing L Abstract Known in less than half a century, borreliosis, or Lyme disease, is a zoonosis caused by the tick bite. It is the most common vector disease in Europe and the United States. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the bacterium in question, is fitted with a "cunning device" that allows it to trick the immune system and implant the infection chronically. It causes multi-system tissue damage mediated by the inflammatory response of the host. Renal involvement is rarely reported and is better known in dogs as Lyme nephritis. The first case of kidney impairment in the human being was described in 1999, and since then eight other cases have been reported. The involvemen...
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Authors: Eldin C, Parola P, Raoult D Abstract Lyme disease diagnosis is currently based on serology - an indirect diagnostic method - as laboratory cultures are fastidious. The only direct diagnostic method that can be useful with some specimens (cutaneous biopsies or aspiration fluid) is PCR. We aimed to detail the main limitations of serology and PCR testing in the diagnosis of bacterial infections. Limitations are supported by examples from the recent history of microbiology. The main limitation of bacterial serology is the presence of numerous cross-reactions due to many genes that are common to various bacterial species. Some serological techniques, such as those used for the diagnosis of rickettsioses mainly, have even been based on the existence of cross-reactions. The m...
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Publication date: Available online 30 January 2019Source: Veterinary ParasitologyAuthor(s): David W. Ramilo, Carla Monteiro, Marrion Carreira, Isabel Pereira da Fonseca, Luís CardosoAbstractTrombiculids parasitize a wide variety of terrestrial vertebrates, including domestic animals, throughout the world. They are parasites only during their larval stages, causing several dermatological lesions on their hosts, such as acute dermatitis, erythema, excoriation, erosion, papules, crusts and alopecia on the ear margins, face, interdigital spaces and abdomen. Neotrombicula is one of the several genera in Trombiculidae family, which cause trombiculosis. The most common species implicated in clinical cases is Neotrombicula autumnalis. However, several reports have shown that Neotrombicula inopina...
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Treatment of Borrelia burgdorferi-Infected Mice with Apoptotic Cells Attenuates Lyme Arthritis via PPAR-γ. J Immunol. 2019 Jan 30;: Authors: Hilliard KA, Brown CR Abstract Infection of mice with Borrelia burgdorferi causes an inflammatory arthritis that peaks 3-4 wk postinfection and then spontaneously resolves. Although the recruitment of neutrophils is known to drive the development of arthritis, mechanisms of disease resolution remain unclear. Efficient clearance of apoptotic cells (AC) is likely an important component of arthritis resolution. In this article, we show the number of AC increases in the joints of B. burgdorferi-infected mice around day 21 postinfection and peaks around day 28. Injection of AC directly into the ankles of B. burgdorferi-infected mice l...
Tuesday 29 January 2019
Authors: Gentilini M, Bricaire F PMID: 30685081 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
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Monday 28 January 2019
Vector-borne pathogens are emerging concerns in multiple regions of Canada. Determining regional prevalence of canine vector-borne pathogens and documenting change will improve clinician awareness, enable targ... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Sunday 27 January 2019
Publication date: January 2019Source: Journal of Comparative Pathology, Volume 166Author(s): S. Lee, H. Lee, J. Park, S. Yoon, B. So, H. Seo, K. Kim, M. Yoo, Y.S. Cho, B. Hyun (Source: Journal of Comparative Pathology)
Saturday 26 January 2019
We describe a case of mitral regurgitation with a preoperative diagnosis of myxomatous mitral valve degeneration. During surgery, the surgeon suspected infective rather than degenerative; etiology; tissue cultures were negative. However, universal bacterial PCR on explanted valve tissue detected Borrelia burgdorferi Deoxyribonucleic Acid(DNA). If a surgeon suspects infective endocarditis at the time surgery, appropriate specimens should be sent for histopathology, culture, and PCR. (Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery)
Friday 25 January 2019
We describe a case of mitral regurgitation with a preoperative diagnosis of myxomatous mitral valve degeneration. During surgery, the surgeon suspected infective rather than degenerative; etiology; tissue cultures were negative. However, universal bacterial PCR on explanted valve tissue detected Borrelia burgdorferi Deoxyribonucleic Acid(DNA). If a surgeon suspects infective endocarditis at the time surgery, appropriate specimens should be sent for histopathology, culture, and PCR. PMID: 30690018 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery)
Sunday 20 January 2019
Publication date: Available online 19 January 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Isis Arsnoe, Jean I. Tsao, Graham J. HicklingAbstractMost people who contract Lyme borreliosis in the eastern United States (US) acquire infection from the bite of the nymphal life stage of the vector tick Ixodes scapularis, which is present in all eastern states. Yet <5% of Lyme borreliosis cases are reported from outside the north-central and northeastern US. Geographical differences in nymphal questing (i.e., host-seeking behavior) may be epidemiologically important in explaining this latitudinal gradient in Lyme borreliosis incidence. Using field enclosures and a ‘common garden’ experimental design at two field sites, we directly tested this hypothesis by observing above-litter que...
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Saturday 19 January 2019
This article is a selective literature review of social science works published on Lyme disease that draws on other articles published on similar health hazards. These works present Lyme borreliosis as an "archetypal" example of modern infectious risks. It is an "invisible" risk resulting from interactions between human activities, ecosystems, and pathogens. To tackle this risk, health authorities promote individual-based prevention measures. Perceptions of the general population should thus be better understood: different from the perceptions of experts, the general population's perceptions are socially differentiated, inclined to an "optimism bias", and influenced by personal stories. One should also not forget the dilemmas faced by the general population when contemplating preventive be...
Saturday 19 January 2019
The chemokine CXCL13 is an intensively investigated biomarker in Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Its role in other neuroinfections is increasingly recognized but less clear. (Source: Journal of Neuroinflammation)
Thursday 17 January 2019
We report a 37-year-old female with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) who was repeatedly misdiagnosed for a chronic Lyme disease and treated with tetracycline antibiotics before she developed an acute exacerbation of SLE and finally died due to multi-organ failure.The internet encourages patients to ask physicians for serology testing for Lyme disease and to demand further antibiotic treatment. However, there is clear evidence that positive serology does not indicate infection with B.burgdorferi and most importantly, antibiotic therapy for PTLDS is potentially harmful for patients.It is crucial to follow the recent guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and PTLDS to avoid the repetition of antibiotic regimens and misdiagnosing patients. (Source: Joint Bone Spine)
Wednesday 16 January 2019
Review in-depth clinical information, latest medical news, and guidelines on Lyme tick disease or Lyme borreliosis. Review articles on the management of Lyme disease symptoms, including Lyme disease rash, and Lyme disease treatment. (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Wednesday 16 January 2019
Alexandra Wall, 33, of south-west London, was diagnosed with Brugada syndrome decades after the ordeal when she saw a cardiologist while battling Lyme disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 15 January 2019
Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) is a complex containing pathogenic bacteria of which some species, such as Borrelia lusitaniae, use birds, small mammals and reptiles as reservoirs. In Italy, the bacteria have b... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Monday 14 January 2019
We report the case of a 9-year-old girl who suffered from headaches for several days and was shown to have opsoclonus and left peripheral facial palsy. Work-up excluded the diagnosis of neuroblastoma, but CSF analysis showed aseptic meningitis, and serology for Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme) was positive. The outcome was favorable with complete regression of symptoms after treatment with ceftriaxone 2g/day for 3 weeks. Although rare, the diagnosis of Lyme neuroborreliosis must be raised in the presence of isolated opsoclonus, particularly if the clinical picture is incomplete and if other features, such as peripheral facial palsy and pleocytosis in the CSF, are present. PMID: 30655046 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Archives de Pediatrie)
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Saturday 12 January 2019
We report 2 cases of severe babesiosis initially mistaken as malaria. The first patient was complicated by shock and splenic infarction, the other co-infected with Lyme disease. As the population traveling abroad increases every year, physicians should be aware of babesiosis which mimics malaria, co-infection with other diseases, and its complications. PMID: 30630283 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Korean Journal of Parasitology)
Saturday 12 January 2019
Publication date: Available online 12 January 2019Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): William J. Landesman, Kenneth Mulder, Brian F. Allan, Laura A. Bashor, Felicia Keesing, Kathleen LoGiudice, Richard S. OstfeldAbstractTick microbiomes may play an important role in pathogen transmission. However, the drivers of microbiome variation are poorly understood, and this limitation has impeded mechanistic understanding of the functions of microbial communities for pathogen acquisition. The goal of this research was to characterize the role of the blood meal host in structuring the microbiome of Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector of Lyme disease in the eastern United States, and to determine if ticks that fed from different host species harbor distinct bacterial communities. We perf...
Thursday 10 January 2019
In this study, we investigated tick-borne bacterial pathogens in wild boar, hare, and fox and their ticks in Turkey. A total of 102 tick pools comprised of 445 ticks and blood samples were analyzed for the presence of bacterial DNA by PCRs targeted rickettsial gltA and ompA genes, 5S-23S rDNA gene for Borrelia spp., and msp4 gene for Anaplasma spp. As a result of PCR and sequence analyses, three pathogenic spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae, two SFG rickettsiae with unknown pathogenicity and one pathogenic Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato were detected in samples obtained from wild animals. Rickettsia slovaca was detected in ticks (13.7% of tick pools) collected from wild boars and blood of a wild boar. In addition, the presences of R. hoogstraalii (19.6% of tick pools), R. aeschlimannii...
Thursday 10 January 2019
Authors: Kotłowski R, Holec-Gąsior L Abstract It is still under investigation, whether all Borrelia sp. causing Lyme borreliosis and other diseases are already identified and properly classified as human pathogens. For this reason, it is of great importance to develop a diagnostic ELISA test that detects all Borrelia sp. The aim of this study was to identify conserved DNA and protein regions present in all currently known Borrelia sp. In experimental studies 31 available Borrelia sp. genomes were aligned and screened for the presence of evolutionary conserved regions. As a result of bioinformatics analysis, one evolutionally conserved DNA region encoding a core fragment of the S21 ribosomal protein was identified. Both a couple of genus-specific PCR primers and the S21 protein B-...
Tuesday 8 January 2019
Purpose of review To review the clinical diagnosis, management and natural history of septic arthritis of the hip (SAH) in the pediatric patient, and to highlight new information that may improve the management of these patients. Recent findings The basics of management of possible pediatric SAH have remained largely unchanged for generations. New questions have been raised regarding the role and timing of advanced imaging (MRI) in the evaluation of patients with possible SAH. Published criteria have been derived to guide the need for MRI studies in these patients. Validation of these guidelines continues. Recent reviews have highlighted the possibility of Lyme disease as a potential cause of monoarticular pediatric hip pain. The role of PCR technology in the diagnosis and management ...
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Monday 7 January 2019
M. A. Kulkarni et al. (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal)
Monday 7 January 2019
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Sunday 6 January 2019
Naturalist ’s symptoms of diarrhoea, rashes, palpitations and flatulence could have been tick infection, say researchersHe travelled the world studying exotic creatures in dangerous lands, but the disease that marred Charles Darwin ’s life may have been caught closer to home as he trudged around Britain collecting insects, shooting birds, and picking up stones, researchers say.The Victorian naturalist who gave the world the theory of evolution is a strong contender for the most famously ill scientist in history. His diaries, notebooks and letters brim with despair over ailments ranging from diarrhoea, rashes and heart palpitations, to vomiting, muscle pain and incessant flatulence.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Thursday 3 January 2019
We describe a rare case of a 56-year-old previously healthy male who presented with thoracic paresthesias and hyperesthesias involving the T6-11 dermatomes several weeks after a febrile illness. A thoracic MRI demonstrated a T7-10 transverse myelitis and an exhaustive evaluation revealed neuroborreliosis. His symptoms improved significantly after an initial steroid course and 21 day course of ceftriaxone. We review neuroborreliosis and summarize the features of 23 previously reported cases of Lyme myelopathy. Although Lyme myelopathy is rare, including Lyme in the differential diagnosis of an acute transverse myelitis work up is important in endemic regions, as it is a potentially reversible disorder with a generally good prognosis when appropriately treated with antibiotics. (Source: Mult...
Thursday 3 January 2019
Authors: Salomon J PMID: 30600111 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Wednesday 2 January 2019
In the United States, laboratories frequently offer multiple different assays for testing of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples to provide laboratory support for the diagnosis of central nervous system Lyme disease (CNSLD). Often included among these diagnostic tests are the same enzyme immunoassays and immunoblots that are routinely used to detect the presence of antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in serum. However, performing these assays on CSF alone may yield positive results simply from passive diffusion of serum antibodies into the CSF. In addition, such tests are only U.S. Food and Drug Administration cleared and well validated for testing serum, not CSF. When performed using CSF, positive results from these assays do not establish the presence of intrathecal antibody production to B...
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Tuesday 1 January 2019
Erythema migrans is a characteristic rash that appears in approximately 70% to 80% of patients with Lyme disease.1 The ring-shaped rash usually appears at the site of the tick bite within the first 2 weeks and expands outward. (Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings)
Monday 31 December 2018
In conclusion, the perpetrator profiles of Samento and Banderol for herb–drug interactions completely differ. Clinical studies are strongly recommended to clarify whether the effects observed in vitro are of clinical relevance. (Source: Molecules)
Saturday 29 December 2018
We report rare manifestation of a common disease and emphasize the importance of considering LD in the differential diagnosis of acute transverse myelitis, particularly in residents of endemic areas. (Source: IDCases)
Saturday 29 December 2018
This study aims to estimate the incidence of the different clinical manifestations of LB in Belgium. The incidence of erythema migrans (EM) was estimated through the network of sentinel general practices at 97.6/100,000 inhabitants (uncertainty interval [UI] 82.0–113.0) for the period 2015 to 2017. This result was used to estimate the incidence of other LB manifestations based on their proportional distribution (ratios) to EM reported in the neighboring countries of Belgium. To estimate these ratios, we performed a systematic review of studies published between February 1, 2008 and January 31, 2018 and pooled the results using a random effects meta-analysis. Six studies were retained in the systematic review, and the meta-analysis estimated the occurrence ratios for Lyme neuroborreliosis...
Friday 28 December 2018
Authors: Feyeux D, Fantin B Abstract Lyme disease is currently a hot topic in France due to a high incidence in some areas. Its clinical polymorphism can lead to misdiagnosis on one hand and to unjustified treatment on the other hand. Clinical symptoms vary considerably according to involved organs (skin, central and/or peripheral nervous system, joints, heart, eyes) and may be limited to or associated with general non-specific signs. Biological exams must be guided by clinical symptoms to help diagnosis and treatment decision according to clinical history, presentation, time of onset and duration of symptoms. However, to date, no serologic test can discriminate between past and active disease. The role of the internist is two-fold: make a diagnosis when faced with general or focal...
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Monday 24 December 2018
Publication date: Available online 23 December 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Amandine Boeuf, Gilles Schnell, Quentin Bernard, Aurelie Kern, Benoît Westermann, Laurence Ehret-Sabatier, Antoine Grillon, Frederic Schramm, Benoît Jaulhac, Nathalie BoulangerAbstractUnderstanding the mechanism of pathogen transmission is essential for the development of strategies to reduce arthropod-borne diseases. The pharmaco- and immunomodulatory properties of insect and acarine saliva play an essential role in the efficiency of pathogen transmission. The skin as the site where arthropod saliva and pathogens are inoculated - represents the key interface in vector-borne diseases. We identified tick molecules potentially involved in pathogen transmission, using micro-HPLC and mass spect...
Monday 24 December 2018
CONCLUSION: Lyme neuroborreliosis has a favorable prognosis if treated early. The long-term administration of antibiotics over many weeks or even months for putative chronic Lyme neuroborreliosis with nonspecific symptoms yields no additional benefit and carries the risk of serious adverse effects. PMID: 30573008 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Deutsches Arzteblatt International)
Thursday 20 December 2018
(Source: Blood)
Wednesday 19 December 2018
(VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology)) The immune system is composed of a wide range of different immune cells each with dedicated functions. Natural killer T cells form a specialized immune cell that protects against a variety of diseases such as cancer, autoimmunity, metabolic disease or certain infections such as Lyme disease (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Wednesday 19 December 2018
The pathophysiology of post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) may be linked to overactive immunity including aberrant activity of the brain ’s resident immune cells, microglia. Here we used [11C]DPA-713 and ... (Source: Journal of Neuroinflammation)
Wednesday 19 December 2018
Cranial polyneuropathy is commonly caused by Lyme disease. We discuss the case of a man who presented with cranial nerve deficits causing dysphagia, dysphonia and facial weakness. This diagnostic dilemma stemmed from a workup that ruled out Lyme and vascular causes leading to an expanded search for infectious explanations, which revealed varicella zoster in the cerebrospinal fluid. On review, this phenomenon is rarely reported, but has been observed with a number of herpes family viruses. In emergency department settings, clinical suspicion should be raised for VZV infection even in the absence of rash in patients that present with multiple cranial nerve palsies. (Source: The American Journal of Emergency Medicine)
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Tuesday 18 December 2018
To the Editor There are a number of inaccuracies in the Viewpoint by Drs Shapiro and Wormser on Lyme disease. (Source: JAMA)
Tuesday 18 December 2018
In Reply Mr Tuttle and Mr Santarella and Dr Sellati cite data from passive surveillance systems as evidence that our statement that erythema migrans develops in 90% or more of patients with Lyme disease was inaccurate. However, multiple large clinical studies have estimated the proportions of pediatric and adult patients with Lyme disease with erythema migrans. These estimates, which are much more reliable because patients were carefully assessed for the presence of erythema migrans, have consistently equaled or exceeded 90%. Lower proportions (eg, 70%) among cases reported to the CDC likely reflect reporting bias toward clinical manifestations associated with seropositivity. The CDC also estimates that 90% of cases of Lyme disease go unreported. Among cases reported to the CDC, 30% had Ly...
Monday 17 December 2018
We report on five cases of patients with a diagnosis of neuroborreliosis based on clinical symptoms, serologic tests and MR imaging results. However, neither of them fulfils the diagnostic criteria for definite neuroborreliosis. Are the diagnostic criteria still valid or is there a need to revis e them? Is our diagnosis correct? Are these cases post-Lyme auto-immune neuronal inflammation, and not due to still active spirochetal infection? Do we need to consider immunosuppressive therapy instead of third-generation cephalosporins? (Source: Acta Neurologica Belgica)
Monday 17 December 2018
Conclusions/SignificanceThese preliminary results suggest the potential utility of CSF metabolomics as a rapid screening test to enhance diagnostic accuracies and improve patient outcomes. (Source: PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases)
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Saturday 15 December 2018
Publication date: Available online 14 December 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): George Psevdos, Teresa Khoo, Robert Chow, Christopher L Romano, Scott CampbellAbstractIn North America, Lyme disease (LD) is caused predominantly by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferisensu stricto, and is transmitted by blacklegged ticks. Long Island, New York, is highly endemic for the disease. The C6 peptide (C6P) is currently used as a screening test for LD in our institution. Our objective was to examine how screening with C6P concorded with diagnosis of LD at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Northport, Long Island. A retrospective chart-review of 2558 C6P tests was performed during the period of 1/1/2010 to 12/31/2016. Patients were categorized by Lyme Disease (LD) or no LD groups. ...
Thursday 13 December 2018
Authors: Eldin C, Raffetin A, Bouiller K, Hansmann Y, Roblot F, Raoult D, Parola P Abstract Lyme disease is a tick-borne bacterial disease with polymorphic clinical manifestations (cutaneous, rheumatological, and neurological). In recent years the issue of the diagnosis of this infection has been highly publicized on the Internet and other media in Europe and America. Some patients and physicians may share the perception that the diagnosis of the infection is not reliable in France. We reviewed current European and American guidelines on Lyme disease and performed a methodological evaluation of all guidelines. We retrieved 16 guidelines from seven countries. Our analysis revealed a global consensus regarding diagnosis at each stage of the infection. All guidelines indicate that the...
Saturday 8 December 2018
(Natural News) Lyme disease can be difficult to treat. If caught early, a round of antibiotics can clear up the infection and resolve symptoms, but that isn’t always the case. Roughly 10 to 20 percent of sufferers go on to experience ongoing symptoms like joint pain and fatigue. Known as persistent Lyme infection, it can... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
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Friday 7 December 2018
Vitomir Djokic, Shekerah Primus, Lavoisier Akoolo, Monideep Chakraborti, Nikhat Parveen (Source: Frontiers in Immunology)
Friday 7 December 2018
Publication date: Available online 6 December 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Tereza Rojko, Petra Bogovič, Stanka Lotrič-Furlan, Katarina Ogrinc, Tjaša Cerar-Kišek, Urška Glinšek Biškup, Miroslav Petrovec, Eva Ružić-Sabljić, Andrej Kastrin, Franc StrleAbstractThe aims of the study were to determine the frequency of borrelial infection in patients with peripheral facial palsy (PFP) and to compare clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients with borrelial PFP and patients with PFP of unknown etiology.Adult patients with PFP who presented at our department between January 2006 and December 2013 qualified for the study if they had undergone lumbar puncture and also been tested for the presence of borrelial IgM and IgG antibodies in serum and cerebrospinal ...
Friday 7 December 2018
Conclusion: The study demonstrates an association between MD and positive tests for both Bb and RFB spirochetes. In conjunction with previous studies, our study provides corroborative evidence linking MD to Borrelia infection and tick-borne illness. PMID: 30519067 [PubMed] (Source: Clinical, Cosmetic and Investigational Dermatology)
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Thursday 6 December 2018
Septic arthritis is a dangerous medical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. However, the differential diagnosis can be broad with conditions that mimic this disease and require different evaluation and treatment. This narrative review presents the emergency medicine evaluation and management, as well as important medical conditions that may mimic this disease. Septic arthritis commonly presents with monoarticular joint pain with erythema, warmth, swelling, and pain on palpation and movement. Fever is present in many patients, though most are low grade. Blood testing and imaging may assist with the diagnosis, but the gold standard is joint aspiration. Management includes intravenous antibiotics and orthopedic surgery consult for operative management vs. serial asp...
Thursday 6 December 2018
Authors: Burkhard JPM, Lädrach K, Iizuka T, Gerber S Abstract Lyme borreliosis is a prevalent disease with a wide variety of clinical manifestations. However, only a few pertinent references are found in the dental literature. Considering the diversity of differential diagnoses, borreliosis-associated orofacial pain may be a challenge for treatment providers and patients alike. The aim of this case report is to emphasize the importance of a sound, structured medical history and assessment to identify severe cases early and to start interdisciplinary therapy if indicated. PMID: 30509016 [PubMed] (Source: Schweizer Monatsschrift fur Zahnmedizin)
Tuesday 4 December 2018
Publication date: Available online 3 December 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Sukanya Narasimhan, Carmen J. Booth, Kathleen DePonte, Ming-Ji Wu, Xianping Liang, Subhasis Mohanty, Fred Kantor, Erol FikrigAbstractIxodes scapularis vectors several pathogens including Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease. Nymphal and larval stages, and the pathogens transmitted by I. scapularis are maintained in a zoonotic cycle involving rodent reservoir hosts, predominantly Peromyscus leucopus. Humans are not reservoir hosts, however, accidental encounters of infected ticks with humans, results in pathogen transmission to the human host. Laboratory models of non-reservoir hosts such as guinea pigs develop a strong immune response to tick salivary proteins and reject ticks upon ...
Tuesday 4 December 2018
A new study finds that essential oils from garlic cloves, myrrh trees, thyme leaves, and several other herbs can kill forms of Lyme disease bacteria. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Tuesday 4 December 2018
The bacteria of the group Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. are the etiological agents of Lyme borreliosis in humans, transmitted by bites of ticks. Improvement of control measures requires a solid framework of the envir... (Source: International Journal of Health Geographics)
Monday 3 December 2018
Enea Gino Di Domenico, Ilaria Cavallo, Valentina Bordignon, Giovanna D'Agosto, Martina Pontone, Elisabetta Trento, Maria Teresa Gallo, Grazia Prignano, Fulvia Pimpinelli, Luigi Toma, Fabrizio Ensoli (Source: Frontiers in Neurology)
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Monday 3 December 2018
(Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health) Oils from garlic and several other common herbs and medicinal plants show strong activity against the bacterium that causes Lyme disease, according to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Friday 30 November 2018
ConclusionThe evidence base of biologic markers for A-RLA is limited. However, a range of promising biomarkers have been identified. Cytokines and chemokines related to Th17 pathway together with a number of miRNAs species (miR-146a, miR-155 and let-7a) may be promising candidates in the prediction of A-RLA. A panel of multiple biomarkers may yield clinically relevant prediction of the possible resistance at the time of LA first diagnosis.FundingPublic Health Agency of Canada. (Source: Infectious Diseases and Therapy)
Thursday 29 November 2018
Vivek Chauhan, Suman ThakurJournal of Global Infectious Diseases 2018 10(4):175-176 (Source: Journal of Global Infectious Diseases)
Wednesday 28 November 2018
The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence of Borrelia and Bartonella species in Ixodes spp. ticks collected from 16 USA states. Genus PCR amplification and sequence analysis of Bartonella and Borrelia 16SsRNA-23SsRNA intergenic regions were performed on DNA extracted from 929 questing adult ticks (671 Ixodes scapularis, 155 Ixodes affinis, and 103 Ixodes pacificus). Overall, 129/929 (13.9%) Ixodes ticks were PCR positive for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, 48/929 for B. bissettiae whereas 23/929 (2.5%) were PCR positive for a Bartonella henselae. Borrelia bissettiae or B. burgdorferi s.s. and B. henselae co-infections were found in I. affinis from North Carolina at a rate of 4.5%; in a single I. scapularis from Minnesota, but not in I. pacificus. For both bacterial gen...
Tuesday 27 November 2018
Salford University scientists made the discovery using azithromycin, which treats infections ranging from gonorrhoea to Lyme disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 26 November 2018
ConclusionThe SILC risk score and COSTAR mnemonic (constitutional symptoms; outdoor activity; sex = male; tick bite; age < 50; rash = erythema migrans) may help to identify LC in patients presenting with high‐degree AVB, and ultimately, minimize the implantation of unnecessary permanent pacemakers. (Source: Clinical Cardiology)
Thursday 22 November 2018
CONCLUSION: Despite growing global incidence of the Lyme disease, treatment has not attracted pharmaceutical investment, and the evidence base and international guidelines for treatment and management of chronic Lyme continue to be conflicting and controversial. The challenges of this immune mediated tick borne disease for public health policy and clinical practice are summarised, alongside directions for future research. PMID: 30458921 [PubMed - in process] (Source: J Pharm Pharm Sci)
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Thursday 22 November 2018
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. (Source: Clinical Cardiology)
Thursday 22 November 2018
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. (Source: Clinical Cardiology)
Tuesday 20 November 2018
Writer, journalist and columnist James Dellingpole, 53, from Worcestershire, is one of many people who struggle with Lyme Disease. This is his story. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Tuesday 20 November 2018
(University of Cincinnati) Biologists at the University of Cincinnati say the hungrier ticks are, the harder they try to find you or other hosts. The findings could have implications for the spread of tick-borne disease such as Lyme or Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Monday 19 November 2018
Writer, journalist and columnist James Dellingpole, 53, from Worcestershire, is one of many people who struggle with Lyme Disease. This is his story. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 19 November 2018
In this study, we investigated the mechanisms that lead to the production of proinflammatory mediators by the murine macrophage cell line, RAW264.7, when these cells are exposed in vitro to recombinant Borrelia burgdorferi basic membrane protein A (rBmpA). Using antibody protein microarray technology with high-throughput detection ability for detecting 25 chemokines in culture supernatant the RAW264.7 cell culture supernatants at 12 and 24 h post-stimulation with rBmpA, we identified two chemokines, a monocyte chemoattractant protein-5 (MCP-5/CCL12) and a macrophage inflammatory protein-2 (MIP-2/CXCL2), both of which increased significantly after stimulation. We then chose these two chemokines for further study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and real-time polymerase chain reaction reve...
Saturday 17 November 2018
Conclusions: Despite raising awareness of Lyme borreliosis, late forms of the disease such as ACA are still observed. Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans skin lesions may be located in non-characteristic areas, e.g. abdominal skin. Symptoms are not irritating or painful, therefore patients do not seek medical help. The effect of antibiotic treatment varies. PMID: 30429707 [PubMed] (Source: Advances in Dermatology and Allergology)
Friday 16 November 2018
FRIDAY, Nov. 16, 2018 -- Rising temperatures are expected to increase the number of cases of Lyme disease in the United States by more than 20 percent by mid-century, according to a study published online Oct. 24 in the Canadian Journal of... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Friday 16 November 2018
ConclusionGoogle Trends data are a good correlate of the reported incidence of Lyme disease in Germany, but it failed to significantly improve the forecasting accuracy in models based on traditional data. (Source: Zoonoses and Public Health)
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Thursday 15 November 2018
(CBS News) – New government research shows that tickborne diseases like Lyme disease continue to rise. The report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention finds that in 2017, state and local health departments reported a record number of cases of illnesses spread by ticks. Cases of Lyme disease, Powassan virus; spotted fever rickettsiosis, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis and tularemia all increased last year. The CDC said there were 59,349 confirmed cases of tickborne diseases in 2017, up from 48,610 in 2016. In past years, health officials have acknowledged that the true number of cases is likely many times higher than the officially tally. The findings reflect an accelerating trend of tick-related diseases reported ...
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Wednesday 14 November 2018
A new report from the CDC shows that tickborne diseases like Lyme and Rocky Mountain spotted fever continue to rise (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Wednesday 14 November 2018
The 2017 tally of more than 59,000 cases is a 22 percent increase from the previous year. Lyme disease accounted for nearly three-quarters of the illnesses. That's about 43,000 cases. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 14 November 2018
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. health officials say a record number of tick-borne diseases were reported last year. The 2017 tally of more than 59,000 cases is a 22 percent increase from the previous year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the numbers Wednesday. Lyme disease accounted for nearly three-quarters of the illnesses. That's about 43,000 cases. Traditionally about 30,000 cases of Lyme disease were reported to the government each year, but experts believed there was underreporting and thought the actual number was more like 300,000. Experts say better reporting may be a reason for recent increases, but scientists have also discovered more diseases transmitted by ticks. Researchers also note that disease-spreading ticks have been seen over a wide range of states. Edit...
Wednesday 14 November 2018
WEDNESDAY, Nov. 14, 2018 -- The number of Americans with tickborne diseases reached a record high of nearly 60,000 in 2017, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says. Most of those cases (42,743) were Lyme disease. There were 36,000... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
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Wednesday 14 November 2018
Authors: McClure M, Diuk-Wasser M Abstract The nymph of the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the primary North American vector of the causative agent of Lyme disease, must attach to a host by the end of its questing season in order to feed and subsequently molt into an adult. The proper timing of this behavior is critical both for the tick's survival and for perpetuating the transmission of tick-borne pathogens. Questing also depletes limited nymphal lipid reserves and increases desiccation risk. Given this tradeoff, questingbehavior and its environmental influences can be expressed in a dynamic state variable model. We develop what we believe to be the first such model for a tick, and investigate the influence of climate on nymph fitness predictions. We apply these results to...
Tuesday 13 November 2018
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A disability insurer's conclusion that a claimant suffered from chronic fatigue syndrome, which limited long-term disability benefits to 24 months, and not from symptoms of Lyme disease was not unreasonable based on the medical evidence in the administrative record, a District of Columbia federal judge said Nov. 7 (Wesley Loucka v. Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., No. 17-1375, D. D.C., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 190935). (Source: LexisNexis® Mealey's™ Disability Insurance Legal News)
Monday 12 November 2018
Conclusions: MDD and PTLDS can be confused neuropsychologically because both exhibit similar levels of psychomotor slowing. However, problems on memory-related tasks, though mild, are more pronounced in PTLDS. PTLDS patients with poorer memory also exhibit poorer language fluency, and less deficit in processing speed and attention compared to MDD. PMID: 30418507 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology)
Sunday 11 November 2018
Publication date: Available online 10 November 2018Source: Molecular Phylogenetics and EvolutionAuthor(s): Gabriele Margos, Noémie S. Becker, Volker Fingerle, Andreas Sing, Jaime Albino Ramos, Isabel Lopes de Carvalho, Ana Claudia NorteAbstractBorrelia burgdorferi sensu lato comprises a species complex of tick-transmitted bacteria that includes the agents of human Lyme borreliosis. Borrelia turdi is a genospecies of this complex that exists in cryptic transmission cycles mainly between ornithophilic tick vectors and their avian hosts. The species has been originally discovered in avian transmission cycles in Asia but has increasingly been found in Europe. Next generation sequencing was used to sequence the genome of B. turdi isolates obtained from ticks feeding on birds in Portugal to bet...
Sunday 11 November 2018
Publication date: Available online 9 November 2018Source: Journal of Theoretical BiologyAuthor(s): Mia Åstrand, Julia Cuellar, Jukka Hytönen, Tiina A. SalminenAbstractBacteria of the genus Borrelia cause vector-borne infections like the most important hard tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere, Lyme borreliosis (LB), and soft tick or louse transmitted relapsing fevers (RF), prevalent in temperate and tropical areas. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) includes several genospecies and causes LB in humans. In infected patients, Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) expresses the BmpA, BmpB, BmpC and BmpD proteins. The role of these proteins in the pathogenesis of LB remains incompletely characterized, but they are, however, closely related to Treponema pallidum PnrA (Purine ...
Friday 9 November 2018
by Zhuan Qin, Jiagang Tu, Tao Lin, Steven J. Norris, Chunhao Li, Md A. Motaleb, Jun Liu Periplasmic flagella are essential for the distinct morphology and motility of spirochetes. A flagella-specific type III secretion system (fT3SS) composed of a membrane-bound export apparatus and a cytosolic ATPase complex is responsible for the assembly of the periplasmic flagella. Here, we deplo yed cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET) to visualize the fT3SS machine in the Lyme disease spirocheteBorrelia burgdorferi. We show, for the first time, that the cytosolic ATPase complex is attached to the flagellar C-ring through multiple spokes to form the “spoke and hub” structure inB.burgdorferi. This structure not only strengthens structural rigidity of the round-shaped C-ring but also appears to rotat...
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Tuesday 6 November 2018
Two Frogs Healing Center to share about microparticle "liposomes" for relieving chronic Lyme disease pain, fatigue, and mental(PRWeb November 06, 2018)Read the full story at https://www.prweb.com/releases/microscopic_remedies_reduce_painful_toxins_in_persistent_lyme_disease_infections/prweb15895030.htm (Source: PRWeb: Medical Pharmaceuticals)
Monday 5 November 2018
Blair Jollands, 47, from London, was happy and healthy until August 2015, when a tick bite changed everything - and he developed Lyme Disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 5 November 2018
Canadian Journal of Microbiology, e-First Articles. Lyme disease is a tick-borne disease that is emerging in Canada. The disease is caused by spirochetes of the Lyme borreliosis group, which is expanding as new species are discovered. In Canada, Lyme disease risk has so far been assessed primarily by detection of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto. Of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected between 2014 and 2016 in New Brunswick, Canada, 7 were shown to be infected with Borrelia bissettii by nested PCR and sequencing of 5 B. bissettii genes. Since different Borrelia species are associated with different clinical manifestations and are not detected with the same diagnostic tests, the identification of a previously undocumented or underreported pathogenic Borrelia species has important implication...
Saturday 3 November 2018
Publication date: Available online 3 November 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Ching-I Huang, Samantha C. Kay, Stephen Davis, Danielle M. Tufts, Kimberley Gaffett, Brian Tefft, Maria A. Diuk-WasserAbstractAn inverse relationship between biodiversity and human health has been termed the ‘dilution effect’ paradigm. In the case of tick-borne infections such as Lyme disease, the key assumption is that Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato abundance is increased by the loss of less competent (dilution) hosts as biodiversity declines. White-tailed deer play a dual role in the pathogen cycle, as key reproductive hosts for adult ticks and incompetent hosts for the pathogen. While the role of deer as hosts of adult ticks is well established, the extent to which deer also feed immat...
Friday 2 November 2018
Malaria, Zika virus, West Nile virus, Dengue fever, and Lyme disease are common causes of morbidity and mortality around the world. While arthropod bites may cause local inflammation and discomfort, a greater concern is the potential to develop deadly systemic infection. The use of insect repellents (IR) to prevent systemic infections constitutes a fundamental public health effort. Cost-effectiveness, availability, and high-efficacy against arthropod vectors are key characteristics of an ideal IR. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
Thursday 1 November 2018
(TellMed Strategies) To encourage greater understanding of the ability of Lyme bacteria to invade tissues and organs, Bay Area Lyme Foundation announces the addition of the Lyme Disease Tissue Collection Program to its Lyme Disease Biobank. This is the only national entity working to accelerate research by collecting surgical and post-mortem tissue samples from individuals with persistent Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections. The collaboration also involves the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI) and MyLymeData Patient Registry. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Wednesday 31 October 2018
The emergence of B. burgdorferi sensu stricto-infected ticks in the Tennessee Valley highlights the need for Lyme disease awareness in the region.Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
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Wednesday 31 October 2018
(Carnegie Mellon University) A new study looked at the relationship between climatic variables and the incidence of Lyme disease in 15 U.S. states. The study found that rising temperatures are expected to boost the number of cases of Lyme disease by more than 20 percent by mid-century. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Wednesday 31 October 2018
ConclusionSymptomatic children who present with new high-grade heart block from an endemic area should be tested for Lyme disease. Antibiotic therapy provides quick and complete resolution of advanced heart block within 5 days, while steroids did not appear to shorten the time course in this case series. Importantly, no patients required a permanent pacemaker. (Source: Pediatric Cardiology)
Tuesday 30 October 2018
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence ’s guidelines describe the importance of early diagnosis and management of Lyme disease. (Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal)
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Tuesday 30 October 2018
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: Each summer, some friends and I spend a week camping in a wilderness area in northern Minnesota. When we got back this year, a member of our group was diagnosed with Lyme disease. As we get ready to go next time, what should we do to protect ourselves from Lyme disease? ANSWER: [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Monday 29 October 2018
In this study, the prevalence of antibodies against two Babesia spp. was investigated in a cohort of patients that were seropositive for Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.). Data were compared to a control group of healthy individuals. Sera were collected from 283 individuals residing in the southernmost region of Sweden, Skåne County. Almost one third of the sera were from patients with a confirmed seropositive reaction against B. burgdorferi s.l. All sera samples were assessed for IgG antibodies against Babesia (Ba.) microti and Ba. divergens by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) assays. Seropositive IgG titers for at least one of the Babesia spp. was significantly more common (p < 0.05) in individuals seropositive for Borrelia (16.3%) compared to the healthy control gr...
Monday 29 October 2018
In this study, we examine the ability of spirochetes belonging to seven distinct genospecies (Borrelia (B.) burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.), B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. spielmanii, B. bavariensis, B. lusitaniae and B. valaisiana) to adhere to human keratinocytes. Among the genospecies analyzed, B. valaisiana and B. spielmanii showed the strongest adherence while B. bavariensis, B. garinii and B. afzelii displayed moderate binding activity. By contrast, only a few cells of B. burgdorferi s.s. and B. lusitaniae bound to keratinocytes. Furthermore, intra-species differences have also been observed among B. garinii, B. bavariensis, B. afzelii, and in particular B. valaisiana.To further assess the role of infection-associated borrelial outer surface proteins for mediating interaction to human c...
Sunday 28 October 2018
Authors: Rayment C, O'Flynn N PMID: 30361320 [PubMed - in process] (Source: The British Journal of General Practice)
Saturday 27 October 2018
Publication date: Available online 26 October 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Vera Maraspin, Tatjana Mrvič, Eva Ružić-Sabljić, Vesna Jurčić, Franc StrleABSTRACTAcrodermatitis chronica atrophicans is a late manifestation of European Lyme borreliosis and is characterized by high levels of borrelial IgG antibodies, slowly expanding skin redness usually beginning on distal parts of extremities, and corresponding histologic findings. It very rarely develops in children. The main prerequisite for the diagnosis is clinical suspicion. In the present article we report on two children with acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans and on the findings of a PubMed literature search on acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans in childhood, published in the past three decades. (Source: Ti...
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Saturday 27 October 2018
Publication date: Available online 26 October 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Katherine A. Moon, Jonathan Pollak, Annemarie G. Hirsch, John N. Aucott, Cara Nordberg, Christopher D. Heaney, Brian S. SchwartzAbstractLyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Electronic health record (EHR)-based research on Lyme disease is limited. We used Geisinger EHR data from 479,344 primary care patients in 38 Pennsylvania counties in 2006–2014 to compare EHR-based Lyme disease incidence rates to surveillance incidence rates, evaluate individual and community risk factors for incident Lyme disease, and to characterize the proportion of cases with diagnoses consistent with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome in the EHR (PTLDSEHR). We primarily identif...
Thursday 25 October 2018
A $1 million gift from the Steven& Alexandra Cohen Foundation will advance UCLA ’s mission to provide high-quality health care for people facing financial hardship and other challenges in access to quality care, as well as providing resources to treat children who are victims of sexual assault and victims of rape.“We are grateful to the Steven& Alexandra Cohen Foundation for its gift, and its continued support of our efforts, ” said Johnese Spisso, president of UCLA Health, CEO of the UCLA Hospital System, and associate vice chancellor of UCLA Health Sciences. “Steven and Alexandra’s previous generosity has been vital to our efforts, and this timely gift will make a profound difference in the lives of so many of ou r patients.”The gift also will benefit the Rape Treatme...
Thursday 25 October 2018
Lyme disease rashes can change throughout the stages of the illness. Untreated Lyme disease can have serious consequences, so people should be familiar with the symptoms and types of rash. Learn to identify Lyme disease rashes here. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Thursday 25 October 2018
A mixed infection of a single tick or host by Lyme disease spirochetes is common and a unique challenge for the diagnosis, treatment, and surveillance of Lyme disease. Here, we describe a novel protocol for differentiating Lyme strains on the basis of deep sequencing of the hypervariable outer surface protein C locus (ospC). Improving upon the traditional DNA-DNA hybridization method, the next-generation sequencing-based protocol is high throughput, quantitative, and able to detect new pathogen strains. We applied the method to more than one hundred infected Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from New York State, USA, in 2015 and 2016. An analysis of strain distributions within individual ticks suggests an overabundance of multiple infections by five or more strains, inhibitory interactions...
Thursday 25 October 2018
We present the first analytic evaluation of the automated Borrelia B31 ViraChip IgM and IgG microarray immunoblot (MIB) assays (Viramed Biotech AG, Planegg, Germany) in comparison to two different, semiautomated blot assays for LD, including the Borrelia B31 ViraStripe IgM and IgG line immunoassays (LIAs) (Viramed) and the MarDx Borrelia burgdorferi IgM and IgG Western blot (WB) assays (Trinity Biotech, Carlsbad, CA), using prospectively collected sera (n = 411) and archived, clinically characterized samples (n = 91). We show comparable overall agreement (>84%) of the ViraChip MIB assays against the two aforementioned LD blot methods. The ViraChip MIB assays were also compared to a consensus standard, whereby samples were classified as positive or negative for IgM or IgG to B. burgdorfe...
Thursday 25 October 2018
The study compares diagnostic parameters of different commercial serological kits based on three different antigen types and correlates test results with the status of the patient's Borrelia infection. In total, 8 IgM and 8 IgG kits were tested, as follows: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Euroimmun) based on whole-cell antigen, 3 species-specific enzyme immunoassays (EIAs) (TestLine), Liaison chemiluminescence (DiaSorin), ELISA-Viditest (Vidia), EIA, and Blot-Line (TestLine) using recombinant antigens. All tests were performed on a panel of 90 samples from patients with clinically characterized borreliosis (53 with neuroborreliosis, 32 with erythema migrans, and 5 with arthritis) plus 70 controls from blood donors and syphilis patients. ELISA based on whole-cell antigens has sup...
Wednesday 24 October 2018
Neurologic manifestations of nervous system infection with Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia garinii, and Borrelia afzelii are qualitatively similar, and include lymphocytic meningitis, cranial neuritis, radiculoneuritis, and other focal or multifocal mononeuropathies. Parenchymal central nervous system (CNS) infection occurs rarely. Neurobehavioral changes are common, but are rarely evidence of CNS infection. Diagnosis requires likely exposure and a finding with high diagnostic positive predictive value, specifically erythema migrans, or laboratory support, typically positive 2-tiered serologic testing. CNS infection is often evidenced by a cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis and intrathecal production of specific antibody. (Source: Neurologic Clinics)
Wednesday 24 October 2018
Authors: Bhanot P, Parveen N Abstract The incidence of babesiosis, Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases has increased steadily in Europe and North America during the last five decades. Babesia microti is transmitted by species of Ixodes, the same ticks that transmit the Lyme disease-causing spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi. B. microti can also be transmitted through transfusion of blood products and is the most common transfusion-transmitted infection in the U.S.A. Ixodes ticks are commonly infected with both B. microti and B. burgdorferi, and are competent vectors for transmitting them together into hosts. Few studies have examined the effects of coinfections on humans and those have had somewhat contradictory results. One study linked coinfection with B. microti to a greate...
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Tuesday 23 October 2018
Clinical Cardiology,Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-. (Source: Clinical Cardiology)
Tuesday 23 October 2018
This study identified fundraising campaigns for unsubstantiated treatments, such as homeopathic remedies for cancer and antibiotic therapy for chronic Lyme disease, on GoFundMe and other crowdfunding platforms. (Source: JAMA)
Friday 19 October 2018
We describe a case of late neuroborreliosis in an Erasmus programme student living in Porto. We discuss the importance of the epidemiological suspicion, the clinical approach, the diagnostic criteria and the most adequate treatment. PMID: 30332376 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Acta Medica Portuguesa)
Friday 19 October 2018
This guideline covers diagnosing and managing Lyme disease. It aims to raise awareness of when Lyme disease should be suspected and ensure that people have prompt and consistent diagnosis and treatment. It does not cover preventing Lyme disease. The guideline was updated in October 2018. Treatment for Lyme carditis in haemodynamically unstable children aged 9-12 was changed to IV ceftriaxone. First alternative was changed to oral doxycycline (DX). Footnote was added on using clinical judgement to determine doses of DX in children (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
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Friday 19 October 2018
Authors: Brown JA, Allman R, Herwaldt BL, Gray E, Rivera HN, Qvarnstrom Y, Kwit N, Schriefer ME, Hinckley A, Pontones P PMID: 30335739 [PubMed - in process] (Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkl...)
Thursday 18 October 2018
In January 2018, a patient admitted to a Delaware hospital tested positive for hantavirus immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay testing. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Thursday 18 October 2018
In the report " Vaccination Coverage for Selected Vaccines and Exemption Rates Among Children in Kindergarten --- United States, 2017-18 School Year, " on page 1121, an incorrect figure was published. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Thursday 18 October 2018
From 2007-2008 to 2015-2016, the age-adjusted percentage of adults who tried to lose weight during the past 12 months increased from 43.3% to 49.3%. This increase was seen among both men (35.5% to 42.2%) and women (51.2% to 56.3%). The percentage of women who tried to lose weight in the past year was higher than men for each survey year from 2007-2008 to 2015-2016. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Thursday 18 October 2018
In June 2016, a physician in northwestern Indiana reported a high prevalence of clinically diagnosed Lyme disease among his patients. To further evaluate these findings, the Indiana State Department of Health and CDC conducted a laboratory investigation using specimens from some of the patients. (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
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Thursday 18 October 2018
In the report " National, Regional, State, and Selected Local Area Vaccination Coverage Among Adolescents Aged 13-17 Years - United States, 2017, " on page 914, in Table 2, the entry for the column " Difference " and row " ≥3 Hepatitis B doses " should have read -2.6 (-4.8 to -0.3). (Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Thursday 18 October 2018
Publication date: Available online 17 October 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Christine A. James, David L. Pearl, L. Robbin Lindsay, Andrew S. Peregrine, Claire M. JardineAbstractIn eastern North America, the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the vector for Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, the causal agents for human and canine Lyme disease and anaplasmosis, respectively. The extensive range expansion of I. scapularis in Ontario is a growing veterinary and public health concern. However, there is limited information on the risk factors associated with I. scapularis carriage on dogs. Within an emerging area for Lyme disease risk in southeastern Ontario, we identified the tick species carried by dogs; determined the prevalence of B. ...
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Thursday 18 October 2018
-- If you want to lower your risk of getting Lyme disease, keeping ticks away is your best bet. Lymedisease.org offers these suggestions for reducing the tick population near your home: Prune trees. Clear brush. Remove litter. Mow grass short, and... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Wednesday 17 October 2018
(Natural News) One fact that people know about Lyme disease is that ticks cause it. As to which tick causes the condition – which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports as the most commonly reported vector-based illness in the U.S. – is where the confusion starts. Lyme disease, of which the causative agent is the spirochetal bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi,... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Tuesday 16 October 2018
Prevention of Lyme disease in dogs in North America depends on effective vaccination against infection by the tick vector-born spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Most vaccines effectively prevent spirochete transmi... (Source: BMC Veterinary Research)
Tuesday 16 October 2018
In conclusion, three groups of Rickettsiales constituted the important part of the tick pathogen community in Poland, especially in the urbanized central Poland (Mazovia). In the Warsaw agglomeration, there is a greater risk of encountering the I. ricinus tick infected with Rickettsiales and co-infected with Lyme spirochaetes, in comparison to natural areas. This finding raises the question whether cities might in fact be the hot spots for TBDs. PMID: 30327827 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Microbial Ecology)
Thursday 11 October 2018
(Rutgers University) Researchers have developed techniques to detect Lyme disease bacteria weeks sooner than current tests, allowing patients to start treatment earlier. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Thursday 11 October 2018
Authors: Erin Schillberg Dorian Lunny L. Robbin Lindsay Mark P. Nelder Curtis Russell Mike Mackie Dave Coats Alex Berry Kit Ngan Young Hoon The range of Ixodes scapularis is expanding in Ontario, increasing the risk of Lyme disease. As an effective public health response requires accurate information on disease distribution and areas of risk, this study aims to establish the geographic distribution of I. scapularis and its associated pathogen, B. burgdorferi, in northwestern Ontario. We assessed five years of active and passive tick surveillance data in northwestern Ontario. Between 2013 and 2017, 251 I. scapularis were submitted through passive surveillance. The submission rate increased over time, and the proportion infected with B. burgdorferi was 13.5%. Active tic...
Wednesday 10 October 2018
Molecular Microbiology,Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Tuesday 9 October 2018
-- People aren't the only ones who are vulnerable to Lyme disease. Fido or Fluffy also could contract the illness from an infected tick. The American Kennel Club says Lyme disease occurs the most often in the Northeast, the Upper Midwest and on the... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Thursday 4 October 2018
(MedPage Today) -- Meta-analysis finds little difference in efficacy, adverse effects (Source: MedPage Today Dermatology)
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Thursday 4 October 2018
Publication date: Available online 26 September 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): R. Dersch, A. Sarnes, M. Maul, O. Minakowski, T. Hottenrott, O. Stich, S. RauerAbstractAbout 5–20% of the general population in endemic areas have seroprevalence for anti-borrelial antibodies. Previous studies have shown a high rate of 25–97% of persisting anti-borrelial antibodies in patients with treated Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) at follow-up. These studies used immunoblots with antigens from whole-cell sonicates, which could be less specific than modern recombinant antigens. We assessed the seroprevalence of anti-borrelial antibodies in serum from patients with definite LNB and healthy controls with a line immunoblot using highly specific recombinant antigens.We retrospectively iden...
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Thursday 4 October 2018
Authors: Bowman M PMID: 30277741 [PubMed - in process] (Source: American Family Physician)
Wednesday 3 October 2018
This network meta-analyses of 19 randomized clinical trials conducted in the United States and Europe examines antibiotic agents and treatment modalities to assess treatment effectiveness and drug-related adverse outcomes in early cutaneous Lyme borreliosis. (Source: JAMA Dermatology)
Wednesday 3 October 2018
Authors: Ross Russell AL, Dryden M, Pinto AA, Lovett J Abstract Lyme disease (borreliosis) is a tick-borne bacterial infection caused by the spirochaete Borrelia burgdoferi, transmitted by hard-backed Ixodes ticks. Actual numbers of cases are increasing and it appears that the distribution across the UK is widening; however, it occurs most frequently in area of woodland, with temperate climate. It typically presents in mid to late summer. Lyme disease is a multisystem disease. The nervous system is the second most commonly affected system after the skin. Other systemic manifestations, such as carditis, keratitis, uveitis and inflammatory arthritis, rarely occur in European Lyme disease. In 2018, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has updated its guidelines on the...
Monday 1 October 2018
This article presents an overview of the current diagnosis and management of two spirochetal infections of the nervous system, neuroborreliosis (Lyme disease) and neurosyphilis, focusing on similarities and differences. Although neuroborreliosis was first identified almost a century ago, much confusion remains about how to accurately diagnose this quite treatable nervous system infection. Well-established diagnostic tools and therapeutic regimens exist for neurosyphilis, which has been well-known for centuries. RECENT FINDINGS Serologic testing targeting the C6 antigen may simplify diagnostic testing in neuroborreliosis while improving accuracy. Historically, screening for syphilis has used a reaginic test followed by a treponeme-specific assay; alternative approaches, including use of ...
Monday 1 October 2018
(University of North Carolina Health Care) When patients present to providers in North Carolina for a possible tick bite, clinicians are not testing them for Ehrlichia, a tick-borne illness that occurs more frequently than Lyme disease and as frequently as Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Monday 1 October 2018
In conclusion, CXCL13 is elevated in CSF in children with LNB, showing acceptable sensitivity and specificity. In patients with possible LNB, CXCL13 was elevated in a majority of cases (73%) and is suggested as a complementary diagnostic tool in pediatric LNB patients. CXCL13 was not associated with specific clinical features or recovery. (Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases)
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Saturday 29 September 2018
Authors: Jolyon M. Medlock Kayleigh M. Hansford Alexander G. C. Vaux Ben Cull Emma Gillingham Steve Leach In recent years, the known distribution of vector-borne diseases in Europe has changed, with much new information also available now on the status of vectors in the United Kingdom (UK). For example, in 2016, the UK reported their first detection of the non-native mosquito Aedes albopictus, which is a known vector for dengue and chikungunya virus. In 2010, Culex modestus, a principal mosquito vector for West Nile virus was detected in large numbers in the Thames estuary. For tick-borne diseases, data on the changing distribution of the Lyme borreliosis tick vector, Ixodes ricinus, has recently been published, at a time when there has been an increase in the numbers of re...
Friday 28 September 2018
This prescribing bulletin summarising key recommendations from NICE guidance on Lyme disease, covers diagnosis, laboratory investigations, treatment and management, emergency referral, and antibiotic treatment. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
Friday 28 September 2018
Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology, EarlyView. (Source: Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology)
Thursday 27 September 2018
“Heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, chronic Lyme disease, depression” – just some of the illnesses outlined by World Health Organization (WHO) chief Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, who drove home the danger by asking delegates to stand up, when they heard the name of an illness that had killed someone they loved: One by one, every single person in the room, got to their feet. (Source: UN News Centre - Health, Poverty, Food Security)
Thursday 27 September 2018
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Wednesday 26 September 2018
On a global scale, ticks are second only to mosquitoes as the most important of vectors of infectious disease agents of humans [1]. Ticks transmit a greater diversity of viral, bacterial and protozoan infections than any other arthropod on earth, and in many temperate regions of the world, including Europe and the United States, tick-borne diseases (TBD) are the most widespread and medically important of all vector-borne infections. Lyme borreliosis, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato species and transmitted by various Ixodes spp., afflicts tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of persons in the Northern Hemisphere each year and has brought the subject of TBD to general attention more than any other associated infection. (Source: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease)
Monday 24 September 2018
Arthritis&Rheumatology, EarlyView. (Source: Arthritis and Rheumatology)
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Saturday 22 September 2018
Publication date: October 2018Source: Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Volume 34, Issue 10, Supplement 1Author(s): G. Besant, C. Blakely, D. Wan, D. Redfearn, C. Simpson, B. Glover, H. Abdollah, W. Hopman, A. Baranchuk (Source: Canadian Journal of Cardiology)
Saturday 22 September 2018
Zoonoses and Public Health, EarlyView. (Source: Zoonoses and Public Health)
Friday 21 September 2018
(Institut Pasteur) Lyme borreliosis is a disease caused by bacteria of the genus Borrelia that are transmitted by a bite from a tick of the genus Ixodes. Scientists from the Institut Pasteur found evidence of rapid bacterial transmission following a bite, with infection occurring within 24 hours of an adult tick bite. This is a timely reminder of the importance of removing ticks as soon as possible after being bitten to prevent infection. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Thursday 20 September 2018
Authors: Santos AVPD, Souza AM, Bueno MG, Catao-Dias JL, Toma HK, Pissinati A, Molina CV, Kierulff MCM, Silva DGF, Almosny NRP PMID: 30231164 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Revista do Instituto de Medicina Tropical de Sao Paulo)
Thursday 20 September 2018
This article discusses case examples showing the wide range of symptoms and presentations that are possible with babesiosis. (Source: The Nurse Practitioner)
Wednesday 19 September 2018
Delusional infestation is the conviction that one is infested with pathogens – either animate or inanimate - despite medical or microbiologic evidence to the contrary. Infestation with inanimate pathogens, specifically fibers or filaments, has been controversially termed Morgellons disease by the patients themselves, who believe that this is not a psychiatric disease but r ather a new organic condition or a skin manifestation of an infection, such as Lyme disease. A large-scale study by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on patients presenting with Morgellons symptoms did not find evidence of fibers in the skin nor an association with any infection, i ncluding Lyme disease. (Source: Clinics in Dermatology)
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Tuesday 18 September 2018
Authors: Gofton AW, Margos G, Fingerle V, Hepner S, Loh SM, Ryan U, Irwin P, Oskam CL Abstract Borrelia are tick-borne bacteria that in humans are the aetiological agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever. Here we present the first genomes of B. turcica and B. tachyglossi, members of a recently described and rapidly expanding Borrelia clade associated with reptile (B. turcica) or echidna (B. tachyglossi) hosts, transmitted by hard ticks, and of unknown pathogenicity. Borrelia tachyglossi and B. turcica genomes are similar to those of relapsing fever Borrelia species, containing a linear ~ 900 kb chromosome, a single long (> 70 kb) linear plasmid, and numerous short (< 40 kb) linear and circular plasmids, as well as a suite of housekeeping and macronutrient biosynthesi...
Saturday 15 September 2018
Cellular Microbiology,Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-. (Source: Cellular Microbiology)
Thursday 13 September 2018
Parched olive groves in northern Croatia, where West Nile Virus has already claimed one victim this year. West Nile Virus infections have sharply increased in Europe this year, the World Health Organisation says, largely due to a longer transmission season in the region which this year saw high temperatures and extended rainy spells followed by dry weather, helping mosquito breeding and propagation. Credit: Ed Holt/IPSBy Ed HoltVIENNA, Sep 13 2018 (IPS)Climate change and health experts are warning of the growing threat to public health in Europe from global warming as rising temperatures help potentially lethal diseases spread easily across the continent.This summer Europe has had to contend with record temperatures, drought, and destructive storms caused by heat and wildfires as forests i...
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Monday 10 September 2018
SCARBOROUGH, Maine (AP) — New England’s hot summer might be helping keep the ticks that carry Lyme disease at bay. The Northeastern states — which are some of the worst for Lyme in the U.S., posing a hazard to residents and vacationers alike — are still totaling the number of Lyme cases from the summer months, and there will likely be more in the fall. But preliminary indicators show the disease abating, and public health authorities are finding fewer deer ticks, state officials and researchers said. In Maine, there had been a steady annual growth of Lyme cases, including a jump of 23 percent to more than 1,850 last year. But the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said Lyme cases for May, June and July were below long-term averages. Those are major months for i...
Sunday 9 September 2018
New England's hot summer might be helping keep the ticks that carry Lyme disease at bay (Source: ABC News: Health)
Saturday 8 September 2018
CONCLUSIONS: This is to our knowledge the first multidisciplinary center implemented in France for the management of patients presenting with LB suspicion related to polymorphous signs and symptoms. Several diagnoses could be confirmed or corrected, although some symptoms and complaints could not be explained. This cohort could improve our knowledge of LB and its differential diagnoses. PMID: 30190164 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Friday 7 September 2018
(Source: Infection and Drug Resistance)
Thursday 6 September 2018
[Lyme disease in Perú. A clinical and epidemiological review]. Rev Peru Med Exp Salud Publica. 2018 Apr-Jun;35(2):292-296 Authors: Cervantes J Abstract This is a critical and organized review of all the available and updated information on Lyme disease and Borrelia infection in Peru. Several studies of positive serology to Borrelia burgdorferi and several cases of Lyme disease have been reported in Peru in the last two decades. New information suggests that new species of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato do exist in South America, and possibly in Peru. Future genetic and microbiology studies in this part of the continent, not only in cases with an indeterminate Western blot but in vectors and possible reservoirs as well, are necessary to measure the extent and clinical...
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Tuesday 4 September 2018
The objectives of this study were to investigate the geographic distribution and magnitude of tick infestations in opportunistically sampled mammalian wildlife and companion animals (i.e., dogs) in southern Ontario and to test these ticks for evidence of zoonotic tick-borne pathogens. Ticks collected from wildlife carcasses, live-trapped wildlife and companion animals (2015-2016), as well as wildlife diagnostic cases (2011-2013), were identified to species and life stage. Ixodes scapularis ticks were tested by real-time PCR for Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia microti, Borrelia miyamotoi and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.). Amblyomma americanum ticks were tested for Ehrlichia chaffeensis. A total of 1,687 ticks of six species were collected from 334 animals, including 224 racco...
Tuesday 4 September 2018
Charles Pavia, Maria Plummer (Source: Frontiers in Microbiology)
Tuesday 4 September 2018
This article can educate those engaged in imaging of the nervous system and serve as a comprehensive tool in clinical cases.Key Points•Diagnostic criteria for LNB emphasise exclusion of an alternative cause to the clinical symptoms.•MRI makes a crucial contribution in the diagnosis and follow-up of LNB.•MRI may have normal findings, or show neuritis, meningitis, myelitis, encephalitis or vasculitis.•White matter lesions are not a prominent feature of LNB. (Source: Insights into Imaging)
Tuesday 4 September 2018
Listen: Mayo Clinic Radio 9/1/18 On the Mayo Clinic Radio podcast, Dr. Gregory Poland, director of Mayo Clinic's Vaccine Research Group, discuss vaccines for vector-borne illnesses, including Lyme disease and Zika virus. Dr. Poland also discusses the problem of vaccine hesitancy. Also on the podcast, Dr. Margaret Long, a gynecologist at Mayo Clinic, explains how [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Sunday 2 September 2018
Publication date: Available online 1 September 2018Source: Air Medical JournalAuthor(s): Philip S. Nawrocki, Matthew PorembaA 15-year-old male presented with exertional syncope and was found to be in an unstable regular wide complex tachyarrhythmia (WCT). After a trial of antiarrhythmic medication, his clinical condition declined, necessitating synchronized cardioversion. Although he noted symptomatic improvement after cardioversion, he was found to be in third-degree heart block. The patient was transported by rotor wing aircraft to a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit where he was ultimately diagnosed with Lyme disease. He was treated with a course of intravenous antibiotics, his heart block resolved, and he was discharged home with a good neurologic outcome. (Source: Air Medical Jour...
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Sunday 2 September 2018
New diagnostic approaches bring hope for patients with debilitating tick-borne illnesses (Source: Chemical and Engineering News)
Saturday 1 September 2018
This study assessed cost-effectiveness of a potential anti-tick vaccine that would protect against both Lyme borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in a highly endemic setting of Slovenia.A Markov model was developed to estimate cost-effectiveness of a vaccine with potential combined protection against LB and TBE from the societal perspective. The model expressed time in annual cycles, followed a target population through their lifetime, and applied an annual discounting of 3%. A target population entered the model in a susceptible state, with time dependent probabilities to acquire LB/TBE. Disease manifestations were either resolved within one cycle, or a patient developed LB/TBE sequelae. The vaccination consisted of initial immunization and one revaccination. Estimates of LB...
Saturday 1 September 2018
Authors: Stolk JM, van Nieuwkoop C, van der Voorn MPJA, van Erp S, van Burgel ND Abstract Lyme disease (LD) is the most common tick-borne illness. The diagnosis of LD is difficult because of the great variation in clinical manifestations. Although abdominal pain is generally not considered a sign of LD, in this case report we describe a patient with unexplained severe abdominal pain that eventually turned out to be LD due to radiculopathy. Since the incidence of LD is rising it is important to realise that severe abdominal pain could be the first clinical manifestation of early neuroborreliosis. PMID: 30220659 [PubMed - in process] (Source: The Netherlands Journal of Medicine)
Friday 31 August 2018
USDA ’s Andrew Li discusses tick pheromones and how we can turn them to our advantage (Source: Chemical and Engineering News)
Friday 31 August 2018
S ébastien Bontemps-Gallo, Charlotte Gaviard, Crystal L. Richards, Takfarinas Kentache, Sandra J. Raffel, Kevin A. Lawrence, Joseph C. Schindler, Joseph Lovelace, Daniel P. Dulebohn, Robert G. Cluss, Julie Hardouin, Frank C. Gherardini (Source: Frontiers in Microbiology)
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Thursday 30 August 2018
We describe the clinical presentation of two children with confirmed early Lyme disease and features suggestive of infectious mononucleosis, including one case of probable Lyme and EBV co-infection. PMID: 30166498 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Clinical Medicine and Research)
Monday 27 August 2018
A lab ’s deference to the community garners a preliminary yes vote from a critic of the experiment (Source: Chemical and Engineering News)
Wednesday 22 August 2018
B. miyamotoi was detected in Ixodes scapularis ticks in Connecticut in 2001 [2], but the first human case in the United States was not reported until 2013 [3]. Unlike with Lyme disease, patients in the United States with B. miyamotoi infections typically do not have skin lesions and instead present with a non-specific febrile illness, potentially associated with leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and elevated liver function tests [4]. Highly immunocompromised patients may develop chronic meningitis [3]. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Wednesday 22 August 2018
In this study, we determined the effects of other physiologically relevant SCFAs in the regulation of metabolic/virulence-associated proteins using mutant borrelial strains. No apparent increase in the synthesis of outer surface protein C (OspC) was noted when a carbon storage regulator A (csrA of B. burgdorferi, or csrABb) mutant (mt) was propagated within dialysis membrane chambers implanted within rat peritoneal cavity, while the parental wild type (wt; B31-A3 strain) and csrABb cis-complemented strain (ct) had increased OspC with a reciprocal reduction in OspA levels. Growth rates of wt, mt, ct, 7D (csrABb mutant lacking 7 amino acids at the C terminus), and 8S (csrABb with site-specific changes altering its RNA-binding properties) borrelial strains were similar in the presence of acet...
Tuesday 21 August 2018
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
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Monday 20 August 2018
Publication date: Available online 20 August 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Brian Stevenson, Volker Fingerle, Gary P. Wormser, Gabriele Margos (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Monday 20 August 2018
Authors: Wu X, Sharma B, Niles S, O'Connor K, Schilling R, Matluck N, D'Onofrio A, Hu LT, Lewis K Abstract Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis. Antibiotic therapy of early acute infection is effective for most patients, but 10-20% go on to develop Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. The nature of PTLDS remains unknown, but currently approved antibiotics for treatment of Lyme disease do not appear to impact these symptoms after they have developed. We reason that minimizing the time the pathogen interacts with the host will diminish the probability of developing PTLDS, irrespective of its nature. This calls for an efficient eradication of the pathogen during acute infection. In search of a superior killing antibiotic, we examined approved antibiotics fo...
Sunday 19 August 2018
We report Lyme disease in a young man from north India who presented with progressive diminution of vision, severe headache, quadriparesis, seizures, dermatological and pulmonary lesions, lymphadenopathy and a hypocellular bone marrow. This is the first case report of Lyme disease with multi-system involvement from India, confirmed twice by positive serology. PMID: 30124129 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Tropical Doctor)
Saturday 18 August 2018
ConclusionDysregulation of prostaglandins and related lipid mediators may play a role in the etiology of LB and persistence of inflammation that may lead to long-term complications. Further investigation into the precise levels of a wide range of PGs and related factors is critical as it may propose novel markers that can be used for early diagnosis. (Source: Inflammation Research)
Thursday 16 August 2018
In this study, bird species migrating through Bulgaria were investigated as carriers of zoonotic pathogens. In total, 706 birds belonging to 46 species were checked for the presence of various bacterial pathogens (Campylobacter, Yersin ia, Salmonella, Listeria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Francisella tularensis, Coxiella burnetii, Borrelia burgdorferi, and Brucella spp.). From 673 birds we investigated fecal samples, from the remaining 33, blood samples. We detected Campylobacter 16S rDNA gene in 1.3% of birds, but no ne were of pathogenic Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli species. Escherichia coli 16S rDNA gene was found in 8.8% of the birds. Out of 34 birds that transported Yersinia enterocolitica strains (5.05%), only 1 carried a pathogenic isolate. Three birds (0...
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Wednesday 15 August 2018
BOSTON (CBS) – More and more people are being afflicted by Lyme disease, not only here in New England but around the country. It begs the question, why don’t we have a vaccine to prevent this common tick-borne illness? A human vaccine was introduced in 1998. It was effective but expensive and there was public concern about its safety and sales were low, so it was yanked off the market four years later. Right now there is only a Lyme vaccine for dogs. Fortunately, there is a new vaccine for humans in the pipeline developed by a French company, which says it has received fast-track status from the FDA and hopes to get the vaccine licensed in about five years. (Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire)
Wednesday 15 August 2018
As Lyme disease and Lyme arthritis spread to new regions in North America, physicians may ned to become aware of their signs and symptoms. Allen C. Steere, MD, says “Lyme arthritis is more complicated to treat than other manifestations of the disease.” Here are some best practices for treating Lyme arthritis... (Source: The Rheumatologist)
Tuesday 14 August 2018
The only vaccine was taken off the market more than 15 years ago. As reports of the disease skyrocket, researchers are working on a new one. (Source: NYT Health)
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Friday 10 August 2018
Reuters Health Information (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Friday 10 August 2018
Publication date: 11–17 August 2018Source: The Lancet, Volume 392, Issue 10146Author(s): The Lancet (Source: The Lancet)
Thursday 9 August 2018
Publication date: Available online 8 August 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Fernando S. Flores, Sebastián Muñoz-Leal, Luis A. Diaz, Marcelo B. LabrunaAbstractBorrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s. l.) spirochetes are associated with a wide range of vectors and hosts. Birds are important hosts in the ecology of some hard ticks (Ixodidae) in northwestern Argentina, where B. burgdorferi s.l. have been detected in Ixodes pararicinus. We evaluated Borrelia infection in ticks collected from wild birds by molecular analysis through the presence of Borrelia DNA (by nested-PCR targeting the fla gene). A total of 381 ticks (357 larvae and 24 nymphs) belonging to four species (I. pararicinus, Haemaphysalis juxtakochi, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris and Amblyomma sp.) were collected...
Wednesday 8 August 2018
Quest Diagnostics reports that Lyme disease, a tick-borne ailment, continues to swell and is a risk to people across the United States. (Source: AARP.org News)
Wednesday 8 August 2018
Alexis Lacout, Mostafa El Hajjam, Pierre-Yves Marcy, Christian PerronneJournal of Global Infectious Diseases 2018 10(3):170-171 (Source: Journal of Global Infectious Diseases)
Tuesday 7 August 2018
A Vermont resident has died from a rare, Lyme disease complication where bacteria gets into the heart on the heels of news that all 50 states have residents tested positive for the disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 7 August 2018
New research finds cases of Lyme disease have exploded in unusual areas of the country (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Tuesday 7 August 2018
A Quest Diagnostics analysis showed that the largest increases in positive Lyme Disease tests outside the Northeastern U.S. occurred in Florida (77% increase) and California (194.5% increase). (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
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Monday 6 August 2018
The Asian long-horned tick, reported in New York ’ s suburbs and as far west as Arkansas, can carry lethal diseases. But no infected specimens have yet been found here. (Source: NYT Health)
Monday 6 August 2018
The chronic tick-borne illness has long been rampant across the North East, which has historically accounted for 95 percent of cases. But a new report shows a 194% rise in cases in California. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 6 August 2018
In conclusion, CXCL13 is elevated in CSF in children with LNB, showing acceptable sensitivity and specificity. In patients with possible LNB, CXCL13 was elevated in a majority of cases (73%) and is suggested as a complementary diagnostic tool in pediatric LNB patients. CXCL13 was not associated with specific clinical features or recovery. (Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases)
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Sunday 5 August 2018
Authors: Bae JM Abstract Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common tick-borne infectious disease in North America, and it was designated as a national notifiable infectious disease in Korea in December 2010. While no cases in Jeju-do were recorded from 2012 to 2016, a recent survey reported that the seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays in horses in Jeju-do was 19.0% (95% confidence interval, 12.0 to 28.3%). This fact suggests that horses may be a potential reservoir of LB in Jeju-do and that individuals in close contact with horses may be a high-risk group. Thus, a serological study in this high-risk group is urgently needed. PMID: 30071709 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health)
Friday 3 August 2018
This article therefore aims to take a closer look on the biology and virulence attributes of the two suggested genera, i. e. those causing Lyme borreliosis and relapsing fever borreliosis. Both genera have much in common with similar infection biological features. They are both characterized as bacterial zoonoses, transmitted by hematophagous arthropods with almost identical microbiological appearance. Nevertheless, a closer look at the genotypic and phenotypic characteristics clearly reveals several differences that might motivate the suggested split. On the other hand, a change of this well-established classification within the genus Borrelia might impose an economical burden as well as a great confusion in society, including medical and scientific societies as well as the general ...
Thursday 2 August 2018
A new column by Yale pediatrician and epidemiologist Eugene Shapiro, M.D. sheds light on medical breakthroughs and common myths surrounding Lyme disease. (Source: Yale Science and Health News)
Thursday 2 August 2018
Introduction: Lyme disease can present itself as erythema migrans (EM). It is transmitted by Borrelia burgdoferi, a spirochete bacteria that lives in the midgut of ticks of the Ixodidae family. The diagnosis can be difficult, especially when a clear history of tick bite is lacking. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
Thursday 2 August 2018
Background: Erythema migrans (EM) is the most well known cutaneous manifestation of Lyme disease. Review of the literature and the case described below suggest that atypical cutaneous presentations, such as vesiculobullous EM, can occur and must remain in the differential diagnosis in the proper clinical setting. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
Thursday 2 August 2018
We present 3 cases of dermatitis artefacta with distinct clinical and histologic features. The first case was that of a 12-year-old right-handed boy presenting with a unilateral linear eruption involving the left arm. Histopathology revealed an unusual pattern of epidermal necrosis. Lyme serology and immunofluorescence were negative. He eventually voluntarily admitted that this was self-inflicted and was referred to the local child and adolescent mental health services. The second case involved a 37-year-old woman with Fowler syndrome presenting acutely with an extensive annular blistering rash sparing her back and posterior legs. (Source: Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology)
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Thursday 2 August 2018
(Entomological Society of America) The textbook approach to managing disease outbreaks focuses on three factors -- pathogen, host, and environment--but it leaves out one critical component in the case of afflictions such as Zika, malaria, and Lyme: the insect or arthropod responsible for transmission to humans. A new report in the Annals of the Entomological Society of America proposes a new version of the classic 'epidemiologic triad' that better reflects the complexities of managing vector-borne diseases. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
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Thursday 2 August 2018
Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex (B. b. sl) spirochetes can cause Lyme borreliosis, manifesting as localized infection (e.g. erythema migrans) or disseminated disease (e.g. Lyme neuroborreli... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
Thursday 2 August 2018
This Viewpoint provides a clinical update on Lyme disease, reviewing information on the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of the infection, and discussing the role of Lyme testing in the evaluation of chronic pain and fatigue. (Source: JAMA - Journal of the American Medical Association)
Wednesday 1 August 2018
LYME disease symptoms are not always obvious. While a rash is one of the most notable signs you ’ve been bitten by an infected tick, flu-like symptoms can also develop. There are ways of preventing the disease, but is a vaccine one of them? (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 1 August 2018
Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in North America, with the majority of cases occurring in the Northeast and upper Midwest. Lyme arthritis is the most prevalent manifestation of late-stage Lyme disease. Lyme arthritis typically presents as a monoarthritis or oligoarthritis in large joints such as the knee. Accompanying positive 2-tier Lyme serologies or polymerase chain reaction from synovial fluid/tissue is considered diagnostic for patients from an endemic area. The mainstay of initial treatment is a prolonged course of oral antibiotics. (Source: Pediatric Emergency Care)
Wednesday 1 August 2018
This cohort study compares the development and treatment outcome of disease among European patients with Lyme borreliosis manifested as either multiple erythema migrans or as erythema migrans as well as controls without a history of the disease. (Source: JAMA Dermatology)
Wednesday 1 August 2018
OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology,Volume 22, Issue 8, Page 565-574, August 2018. (Source: OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology)
Wednesday 1 August 2018
The impact of a pathogen on the fitness and behaviour of its natural host depends upon the host–parasite relationship in a given set of environmental conditions. Here, we experimentally investigated the effects of Borrelia afzelii, one of the aetiological agents of Lyme disease in humans, on the fitness of its natural rodent host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), in semi-natural conditions with two contrasting host population densities. Our results show that B. afzelii can modify the reproductive success and spacing behaviour of its rodent host, whereas host survival was not affected. Infection impaired the breeding probability of large bank voles. Reproduction was hastened in infected females without alteration of the offspring size at birth. At low density, infected males produced...
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Tuesday 31 July 2018
TUESDAY, July 31, 2018 -- There's been a sharp spike in Lyme disease cases in the United States, and the tick-borne illness has now spread to all 50 states, a new report shows. " Lyme disease is a bigger risk to more people in the United States than... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Tuesday 31 July 2018
Natacha Sertour, Violaine Cott é, Martine Garnier, Laurence Malandrin, Elisabeth Ferquel, Valérie Choumet (Source: Frontiers in Microbiology)
Monday 30 July 2018
TICK bites have been labelled the most dangerous insect bites in the UK. This is because the bite could transmit lyme disease, a serious illness. It could be possible to identify a tick bite by looking in these areas. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Friday 27 July 2018
Background: The importance of tick-borne diseases is increasing all over the world, including Georgia. In Georgia, almost only a few TBDs have been reported in animals and men, involving Lyme Borreliosis [LB], tick-borne relapsing fever [TBRF], tick-borne encephalitis [TBE], Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever [CCHF]. (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
Friday 27 July 2018
CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides insights into the alteration of the plasma phospholipid profile of LA patients, resulting from Borrelia burgdorferi infection, that may lead to improved LA diagnosis and differentiation of this disease from RA. Furthermore, LPE (14:0) was found to have a high potential to be a possible biomarker of LA. PMID: 30059653 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics)
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Thursday 26 July 2018
Standard two-tiered testing (STTT) is the recommended algorithm for laboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease (LD). Several limitations are associated with STTT that include low sensitivity in the early stages of disease, as well as technical complexity and subjectivity associated with second-tier immunoblotting; therefore, modified two-tiered testing (MTTT) algorithms that utilize two sequential first-tier tests and eliminate immunoblotting have been evaluated. Recently, a novel MTTT that uses a VlsE chemiluminescence immunoassay followed by a C6 enzyme immunoassay has been proposed. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of the VlsE/C6 MTTT using well-characterized serum samples. Serum samples from the CDC Lyme Serum Repository were tested using three MTTTs, VlsE/C6, whole-...
Thursday 26 July 2018
(Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology)
Thursday 26 July 2018
Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness caused by Borreliella (Borrelia) burgdorferi, and it is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States, with an estimated incidence of 300,000 cases per year. The currently recommended approach for laboratory support of the diagnosis of Lyme disease is a standard two-tiered (STT) algorithm comprised of an enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA) or immunofluorescence assay (IFA), followed by Western blotting (WB). The STT algorithm has low sensitivity in early infection, and there are drawbacks associated with the WB use in practice. Modified two-tiered (MTT) algorithms have been shown to improve the sensitivity of the testing in early disease while maintaining high specificity. In this issue of the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, A. Pegalajar-Jurad...
Wednesday 25 July 2018
Sure, itchy bug bites are a nuisance. But for those living in parts of the country where mosquito or tick-borne illnesses are common—and these days, that’s most of us—bug-repellent sprays and liquids are an important safeguard against Lyme disease, West Nile virus and other serious health conditions. The annual number of people sickened by mosquitos or tick bites has more than tripled since 2004, according to the CDC. The World Health Organization has concluded that climate change is a likely contributor to these increases, which are predicted to continue as warmer global temperatures expand the habitats of mosquitos, ticks and other disease-spreading bugs. For all of these reasons, more and more people are looking for safe and effective ways to keep biting bugs at bay. ...
Wednesday 25 July 2018
G. J. Hickling et al. (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal)
Wednesday 25 July 2018
Trends in Urology&Men's Health,Volume 9, Issue 4, Page 29-31, July/August 2018. (Source: Trends in Urology and Men's Health)
Wednesday 25 July 2018
Authors: Kristoferitsch W, Aboulenein-Djamshidian F, Jecel J, Rauschka H, Rainer M, Stanek G, Fischer P Abstract Dementia-like syndromes are rare manifestations of Lyme neuroborreliosis. The clinical patterns are summarized using our own cases and case reports from the literature, which were diagnosed as definite Lyme neuroborreliosis according to the European guidelines. The cases disclose signs of subcortical dementia that occur more rapidly than in patients suffering from primary dementia. Gait disturbances early in the disease course is another frequently observed characteristic feature. The response to 2-4 weeks of antibiotic treatment with ceftriaxone was excellent. There were no indications for a prolonged antibiotic treatment. It is essential to be aware of this manifesta...
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Monday 23 July 2018
The tick-borne pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi is responsible for approximately 300,000 Lyme disease (LD) cases per year in the United States. Recent increases in the number of LD cases, in addition to the spread of the tick vector and a lack of a vaccine, highlight an urgent need for designing and developing an efficacious LD vaccine. Identification of protective epitopes that could be used to develop a second-generation (subunit) vaccine is therefore imperative. Despite the antigenicity of several lipoproteins and integral outer membrane proteins (OMPs) on the B. burgdorferi surface, the spirochetes successfully evade antibodies primarily due to the VlsE-mediated antigenic variation. VlsE is thought to sterically block antibody access to protective epitopes of B. burgdorferi. However, it i...
Sunday 22 July 2018
In this study, we performed shotgun RNA sequencing on 112 individual adult I. scapularis collected in Wisconsin, USA. We characterized the abundance, prevalence and co-infection rates of viruses, bacteria and eukaryotic microorganisms. We identified pairs of tick-infecting microorganisms whose observed co-infection rates were higher or lower than would be expected, or whose RNA levels were positively correlated in co-infected ticks. Many of these co-occurrence and correlation relationships involved two bunyaviruses, South Bay virus and blacklegged tick phlebovirus-1. These viruses were also the most prevalent microorganisms in the ticks we sampled, and had the highest average RNA levels. Evidence of associations between microbes included a positive correlation between RNA levels of South B...
Saturday 21 July 2018
Horsefly bites can become infected and swollen if not treated properly. But, what is the worst UK insect to be bitten by? This spider-relative ’s bite could cause lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
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Saturday 21 July 2018
Abstract: Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States. After initial antibiotic treatment for patients with Lyme disease, ongoing symptoms that may persist have considerable long-term impact on healthcare costs. Posttreatment Lyme disease syndrome is characterized by a host of chronic symptoms that can leave patients physically and mentally disabled. (Source: The Nurse Practitioner)
Saturday 21 July 2018
Publication date: Available online 20 July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Tammi L. Johnson, Christine B. Graham, Sarah E. Maes, Andrias Hojgaard, Amy Fleshman, Karen A. Boegler, Mark J. Delory, Kimetha S. Slater, Sandor E. Karpathy, Jenna K. Bjork, David F. Neitzel, Elizabeth K. Schiffman, Rebecca J. EisenAbstractIn the north-central United States, the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is currently known to vector seven human pathogens. These include five bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia mayonii, Borrelia miyamotoi, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis), one protozoan (Babesia microti) and one virus (Powassan). We sought to assess the prevalence and distribution of these pathogens in host-seeking nymphs collected throughout ...
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Friday 20 July 2018
The device — designed to be less invasive, more accurate and faster than existing tests for Lyme disease — could make it to market as early as the end of next year. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Physician Practices headlines)
Friday 20 July 2018
The device — designed to be less invasive, more accurate and faster than existing tests for Lyme disease — could make it to market as early as the end of next year. (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Biotechnology headlines)
Friday 20 July 2018
FRIDAY, July 20, 2018 -- Ticks capable of transmitting Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have been identified in dozens of places across the United States where the pests had never previously been recorded, according to a study published... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Thursday 19 July 2018
(Natural News) Approximately 30,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year in the U.S. Lyme disease is a vector borne disease spread by the black-legged (deer) ticks of the genus Ixodes. Deer ticks do not cause the infection; they are the vector. Vectors transmit an infectious pathogen into another living organism. The infection is... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
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Thursday 19 July 2018
Conclusions: Our results confirm national trends suggesting increasing rates of TBI and substantially increased testing. This may reflect a greater incidence of TBI in our region and/or increased awareness of these infections. PMID: 30032283 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: American Journal of Clinical Pathology)
Wednesday 18 July 2018
Jo Ann Simon from Bethel, Connecticut, details the battle her husband Tom faced with Lyme-disease and ALS, discussing how the boisterous chef rapidly declined from his diagnosis to his death. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 18 July 2018
Insect bites can become infected and swollen if not treated properly. But, what is the worst UK insect to be bitten by? This spider-relative ’s bite could cause lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 18 July 2018
Lisa K. Blum, Julia Z. Adamska, Dale S. Martin, Alison W. Rebman, Serra E. Elliott, Richard R. L. Cao, Monica E. Embers, John N. Aucott, Mark J. Soloski, William H. Robinson (Source: Frontiers in Immunology)
Sunday 15 July 2018
In 1977, a seminal paper described what was subsequently called Lyme arthritis1. The name “Lyme” originated from the initial investigation of the disease that was conducted in the Connecticut towns of Lyme, Old Lyme and East Haddam1. As more of the clinical manifestations of this illness were discovered, the condition became referred to as Lyme disease2-4. In 1983, the principal etio logic agent for Lyme disease in North America was identified in patients3,5. The etiologic agent became known as Borrelia burgdorferi and until fairly recently was the only species of Lyme borrelia identified to cause Lyme disease in the United States. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Saturday 14 July 2018
(Source: Neurological Sciences)
Friday 13 July 2018
"Tick populations have exploded ," researchers say – even in counties where they were never seen before (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Friday 13 July 2018
Researchers in the Czech Republic uncovered proof ticks, which can carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, may prefer type A blood. Supermodel Bella Hadid has often spoken about her battle with Lyme. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Friday 13 July 2018
In this report, we discuss the diagnosis, electrodiagnostic progression, pain management, goals for inpatient rehabilitation, and overall prognosis of NA.Level of EvidenceV (Source: PMandR)
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Thursday 12 July 2018
THURSDAY, July 12, 2018 -- Think you live in a place that's free from disease-carrying ticks? Don't be so sure. Citizen scientists found ticks capable of transmitting Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses in dozens of places across the United... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Thursday 12 July 2018
Given the variable clinical signs attributed to Borrelia burgdorferi, including infectious arthritis, neurologic disease, and behavioral changes, B burgdorferi is an important differential for decreased performance in sport horses. The primary vectors (Ixodes tick species) are expanding their range and thus Borrelia species are located in a wider area, making exposure more likely. Due to regionally high seroprevalence and vague clinical signs, diagnosis of Lyme disease in the horse is believed overestimated. Antibiotics are first-line treatment of confirmed Lyme disease. A single positive serologic test, by itself, is not conformation of Lyme disease but is evidence of current or past infection. (Source: Veterinary Clinics of North America: Equine Practice)
Thursday 12 July 2018
(PLOS) A nationwide investigation of the prevalence and distribution of ticks and exposure to tick-borne diseases highlights the value of public participation in science. The study, published on July 12 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, was conducted by Nathan Nieto of Northern Arizona University and colleagues, and funded by Bay Area Lyme Foundation. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Thursday 12 July 2018
(Colorado State University) A bite from a disease-carrying tick can transmit a serious, potentially fatal infection, such as Lyme disease. But many ticks go unnoticed and unreported. Now, with the help of citizen scientists, ecologists at Colorado State University and Northern Arizona University are offering better insight into people's and animals' potential exposure to tick-borne diseases -- not just the disease reporting and prevalence that's only tracked when people get sick. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Wednesday 11 July 2018
Publication date: Available online 10 July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne DiseasesAuthor(s): Nicole E. Breuner, Andrias Hojgaard, Adam J. Replogle, Karen A. Boegler, Lars EisenAbstractThe relapsing fever spirochete, Borrelia miyamotoi, is increasingly recognized as a cause of human illness (hard tick-borne relapsing fever) in the United States. We previously demonstrated that single nymphs of the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, can transmit B. miyamotoi to experimental hosts. However, two recent epidemiological studies from the Northeastern United States indicate that human cases of hard tick-borne relapsing fever peak during late summer, after the spring peak for nymphal tick activity but coincident with the peak seasonal activity period of larval ticks in the Northeast. These epid...
Wednesday 11 July 2018
Jessica L. Kostick-Dunn, Jerilyn R. Izac, John C. Freedman, Lee T. Szkotnicki, Lee D. Oliver, Richard T. Marconi (Source: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology)
Wednesday 11 July 2018
(The University of Montana) University of Montana researchers Dan Drecktrah and Scott Samuels were recently awarded $449,998 from the National Institutes of Health for the first year of a five-year project to study the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Wednesday 11 July 2018
ConclusionsNon-specific symptoms after tick bite may be caused by uncommon pathogens or co-infection, therefore it should be considered in differential diagnosis after tick bite. (Source: Advances in Medical Sciences)
Wednesday 11 July 2018
With a prevalence of 4.7 –13% in Danish Ixodes ricinus ticks, Rickettsia helvetica is one of the most frequently detected tick-borne organisms in Denmark. Most reports of human exposure have described asymptomatic... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
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Wednesday 11 July 2018
Molecular Microbiology,Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: May 2018Source: Joint Bone Spine, Volume 85, Issue 3Author(s): Marie Schmitt, Benoît Daubail, Amélie Bohm (Source: Joint Bone Spine)
Tuesday 10 July 2018
We present the case of a 10-year old patient from southeastern Ontario with severe bilateral facial palsy. MRI was performed that showed extensive symmetric enhancement of cervical cranial nerve roots and multiple cranial nerves (III, V, VI, VII, VIII, X and XII). Lumbar puncture was performed that revealed pleocytosis and elevated proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid. Serology confirmed the diagnosis of neuroborreliosis. The patient was treated with a 4-week course of IV ceftriaxone, following which he returned to baseline. (Source: IDCases)
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: August 2018Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance, Volume 8, Issue 2Author(s): Shogo Furutani, Makoto Ihara, Kristin Lees, Steven D. Buckingham, Frederick A. Partridge, Jonathan A. David, Rohit Patel, Scott Warchal, Ian R. Mellor, Kazuhiko Matsuda, David B. SattelleAbstractA novel L-glutamate-gated anion channel (IscaGluCl1) has been cloned from the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which transmits multiple pathogens including the agents of Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis. When mRNA encoding IscaGluCl1 was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, we detected robust 50–400 nA currents in response to 100 μM L-glutamate. Responses to L-glutamate were concentration-dependent (pEC50 3.64 ± 0.11). Ibotenate was a p...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
This study shows that humus type can be indicative of nymph abundance. Three types of humus were observed: (1) moder, (2) mull, and (3) mull-moder humus. One of them, moder humus, which is characterized by a thick layer of fragmented leaves, was found in multivariate analyses to be strongly associated with the nymph abundance. This study demonstrates that factors such as saturation deficit do not suffice to explain the differences in nymph abundance among sites. The composition of the soil and especially the type of humus should also be taken into consideration when assessing acarological risk. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Scott C. Williams, Eliza A.H. Little, Kirby C. Stafford, Goudarz Molaei, Megan A. LinskeAbstractLyme disease continues to be the most common vector-borne disease in the United States with an estimated 330,000 human cases annually. In the eastern United States, the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the primary vector of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, is a primary reservoir host. In four residential neighborhoods in Connecticut over three years, we tested the effectiveness of different low-toxicity integrated tick management approaches to control larval and nymphal I. scapularis parasitizing P. leucopus. Combinations of white...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Sanne C. Ruyts, Dries Landuyt, Evy Ampoorter, Dieter Heylen, Steffen Ehrmann, Elena C. Coipan, Erik Matthysen, Hein Sprong, Kris VerheyenAbstractAn increasing number of studies have investigated the consequences of biodiversity loss for the occurrence of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. As host species differ in their ability to transmit the Lyme borreliosis bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. to ticks, increased host diversity can decrease disease prevalence by increasing the proportion of dilution hosts, host species that transmit pathogens less efficiently. Previous research shows that Lyme borreliosis risk differs bet...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
This study suggests that accounting for landscape connectivity may improve model-based predictions of spatial spread patterns of B. burgdorferi s.s. The findings are consistent with possible past dispersal patterns of B. burgdorferi s.s. as determined by phylogeographic studies. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
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Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Samniqueka J. Halsey, Brian F. Allan, James R. MillerAbstractDue to the ongoing expansion of Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick) throughout the northeastern and midwestern United States, there is need to identify the role wildlife hosts play in the establishment and maintenance of tick populations. To quantify and synthesize the patterns of I. scapularis and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and sensu lato prevalence relative to wildlife hosts, we reviewed the findings of independent studies conducted throughout the United States. We performed a comprehensive literature search from 1970 to 2017 using the ISS Web of Science Core Collection and the keywords “Ixodes scapularis,” “Ixodes dammi...
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Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Mateusz Markowicz, Anna-Margarita Schötta, Michael Kundi, Petra Bogovič, Katarina Ogrinc, Franc Strle, Gerold StanekAbstractThe aims of the study were to determine and compare the concentration of CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) and various other neurological disorders applying a Luminex based assay and ELISA, and to find factors associated with CXCL13 concentration. CSF samples obtained from four clinically well-defined groups of patients (proven LNB, suspected LNB, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), and aseptic meningitis/meningoencephalitis other than TBE) – 25 samples per group – were analyzed. The performance of the Luminex recomBead CXCL13 a...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
In this study, we used this chamber model and showed that I. scapularis ticks will not only acquire bovine blood but human and quail blood as well. The latter two are the incidental host and an avian host of Lyme borreliae, respectively. We also investigated the roles that BBA52 and Lp6.6 play in promoting spirochete survival in nymphal ticks fed on human or quail blood. After feeding on human blood, spirochete burdens in ticks infected with an lp6.6-deficient B. burgdorferi were significantly reduced, while bba52-deficient spirochete burdens in ticks remained unchanged, similar to the wild-type strain. No strain showed a change in spirochete burdens in ticks fed on quail blood. These results indicate that Lp6.6 plays a role for B. burgdorferi in nymphs fed on human but not quail blood. Su...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Vivian Kjelland, Katrine M. Paulsen, Rikke Rollum, Andrew Jenkins, Snorre Stuen, Arnulf Soleng, Kristin S. Edgar, Heidi H. Lindstedt, Kirsti Vaino, Moustafa Gibory, Åshild K. AndreassenAbstractThe aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of tick-borne pathogens of medical importance in questing ticks collected from five recreationally used islands along the Norwegian coastline. Furthermore, since coinfection may affect the disease severity, this study aimed to determine the extent of coinfection in individual ticks or co-localization of tick-borne pathogens. In all, 4158 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks were analyzed. For detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), nymphs (3690) were...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
In this study, possible role of another Oligopeptide ABC transporter, OppA4 in ospC expression was investigated by construction of an oppA4 deletion mutant and the complemented strain. Inactivation of oppA4 resulted an increased production of OspC, suggesting that OppA4 has a negative impact on ospC expression. Expression of ospC is controlled by Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS, the central pathway essential for mammal infection. We showed that increased ospC expression in the oppA4 mutant was due to an increased rpoS expression. We then further investigated how OppA4 negatively regulates this pathway. Two regulators, BosR and BadR, are known to positively and negatively, respectively, regulate the Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS pathway. We found that deletion of oppA4 resulted in an increased level of BosR. Previous repo...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Angélica Hernández-Jarguín, Sandra Díaz-Sánchez, Margarita Villar, José de la FuenteAbstractAn innovative metaomics approach integrating metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics was used to characterize bacterial communities in the microbiota of the Lyme borreliosis spirochete vector, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae). Whole internal tissues and salivary glands from unfed larvae and female ticks, respectively were used. Reused I. ricinus RNA-sequencing data for metranscriptomics analysis together with metaproteomics provided a better characterization of tick bacterial microbiota by increasing bacteria identification and support for identified bacteria with putative functional implications. The ...
Tuesday 10 July 2018
Publication date: August 2018Source: Journal of Microbiological Methods, Volume 151Author(s): Zhenyu Shen, Michael Z. Zhang, Roger W. Stich, William J. Mitchell, Shuping ZhangAbstractAnaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Rickettsia spp., and Lyme disease associated Borrelia spp. are the most common tick-borne pathogens reported to infect human beings worldwide and other animals, such as dogs and horses. In the present study, we developed a broad-coverage SYBR Green QPCR panel consisting of four individual assays for the detection and partial differentiation of the aforementioned pathogens. All assays were optimized to the same thermocycling condition and had a detection limit of 10 copies per reaction. The assays remained sensitive when used to test canine and equine blood DNA samples spiked wit...
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Monday 9 July 2018
Just in time for summer hikes and outdoor play: A study finds that the ticks that often convey Lyme disease become unable to bite, and soon die after exposure to clothing treated with permethrin.(Image credit: Pearl Mak/NPR) (Source: NPR Health and Science)
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Monday 9 July 2018
Just in time for summer hikes and outdoor play, a study finds that the ticks that often convey Lyme disease become unable to bite, and soon die, after exposure to clothing treated with permethrin.(Image credit: Pearl Mak/NPR) (Source: NPR Health and Science)
Monday 9 July 2018
(Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies) In the eastern US, risk of contracting Lyme disease is higher in fragmented forests with high rodent densities and low numbers of resident fox, opossum, and raccoons. These are among the findings from an analysis of 19 years of data on the ecology of tick-borne disease in a forested landscape, recently published in the journal Ecology. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Monday 9 July 2018
Cellular Microbiology, EarlyView. (Source: Cellular Microbiology)
Friday 6 July 2018
ConclusionsNon-specific symptoms after tick bite may be caused by uncommon pathogens or co-infection, therefore it should be considered in differential diagnosis after tick bite. (Source: Advances in Medical Sciences)
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: May 2018Source: Joint Bone Spine, Volume 85, Issue 3Author(s): Marie Schmitt, Benoît Daubail, Amélie Bohm (Source: Joint Bone Spine)
Thursday 5 July 2018
We present the case of a 10-year old patient from southeastern Ontario with severe bilateral facial palsy. MRI was performed that showed extensive symmetric enhancement of cervical cranial nerve roots and multiple cranial nerves (III, V, VI, VII, VIII, X and XII). Lumbar puncture was performed that revealed pleocytosis and elevated proteins in the cerebrospinal fluid. Serology confirmed the diagnosis of neuroborreliosis. The patient was treated with a 4-week course of IV ceftriaxone, following which he returned to baseline. (Source: IDCases)
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: August 2018Source: International Journal for Parasitology: Drugs and Drug Resistance, Volume 8, Issue 2Author(s): Shogo Furutani, Makoto Ihara, Kristin Lees, Steven D. Buckingham, Frederick A. Partridge, Jonathan A. David, Rohit Patel, Scott Warchal, Ian R. Mellor, Kazuhiko Matsuda, David B. SattelleAbstractA novel L-glutamate-gated anion channel (IscaGluCl1) has been cloned from the black-legged tick, Ixodes scapularis, which transmits multiple pathogens including the agents of Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis. When mRNA encoding IscaGluCl1 was expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes, we detected robust 50–400 nA currents in response to 100 μM L-glutamate. Responses to L-glutamate were concentration-dependent (pEC50 3.64 ± 0.11). Ibotenate was a p...
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Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Scott C. Williams, Eliza A.H. Little, Kirby C. Stafford, Goudarz Molaei, Megan A. LinskeAbstractLyme disease continues to be the most common vector-borne disease in the United States with an estimated 330,000 human cases annually. In the eastern United States, the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the primary vector of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the white-footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, is a primary reservoir host. In four residential neighborhoods in Connecticut over three years, we tested the effectiveness of different low-toxicity integrated tick management approaches to control larval and nymphal I. scapularis parasitizing P. leucopus. Combinations of white...
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Angélica Hernández-Jarguín, Sandra Díaz-Sánchez, Margarita Villar, José de la FuenteAbstractAn innovative metaomics approach integrating metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics was used to characterize bacterial communities in the microbiota of the Lyme borreliosis spirochete vector, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae). Whole internal tissues and salivary glands from unfed larvae and female ticks, respectively were used. Reused I. ricinus RNA-sequencing data for metranscriptomics analysis together with metaproteomics provided a better characterization of tick bacterial microbiota by increasing bacteria identification and support for identified bacteria with putative functional implications. The ...
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Sanne C. Ruyts, Dries Landuyt, Evy Ampoorter, Dieter Heylen, Steffen Ehrmann, Elena C. Coipan, Erik Matthysen, Hein Sprong, Kris VerheyenAbstractAn increasing number of studies have investigated the consequences of biodiversity loss for the occurrence of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. As host species differ in their ability to transmit the Lyme borreliosis bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. to ticks, increased host diversity can decrease disease prevalence by increasing the proportion of dilution hosts, host species that transmit pathogens less efficiently. Previous research shows that Lyme borreliosis risk differs bet...
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Samniqueka J. Halsey, Brian F. Allan, James R. MillerAbstractDue to the ongoing expansion of Ixodes scapularis (blacklegged tick) throughout the northeastern and midwestern United States, there is need to identify the role wildlife hosts play in the establishment and maintenance of tick populations. To quantify and synthesize the patterns of I. scapularis and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and sensu lato prevalence relative to wildlife hosts, we reviewed the findings of independent studies conducted throughout the United States. We performed a comprehensive literature search from 1970 to 2017 using the ISS Web of Science Core Collection and the keywords “Ixodes scapularis,” “Ixodes dammi...
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Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Vivian Kjelland, Katrine M. Paulsen, Rikke Rollum, Andrew Jenkins, Snorre Stuen, Arnulf Soleng, Kristin S. Edgar, Heidi H. Lindstedt, Kirsti Vaino, Moustafa Gibory, Åshild K. AndreassenAbstractThe aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of tick-borne pathogens of medical importance in questing ticks collected from five recreationally used islands along the Norwegian coastline. Furthermore, since coinfection may affect the disease severity, this study aimed to determine the extent of coinfection in individual ticks or co-localization of tick-borne pathogens. In all, 4158 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks were analyzed. For detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), nymphs (3690) were...
Thursday 5 July 2018
In this study, we used this chamber model and showed that I. scapularis ticks will not only acquire bovine blood but human and quail blood as well. The latter two are the incidental host and an avian host of Lyme borreliae, respectively. We also investigated the roles that BBA52 and Lp6.6 play in promoting spirochete survival in nymphal ticks fed on human or quail blood. After feeding on human blood, spirochete burdens in ticks infected with an lp6.6-deficient B. burgdorferi were significantly reduced, while bba52-deficient spirochete burdens in ticks remained unchanged, similar to the wild-type strain. No strain showed a change in spirochete burdens in ticks fed on quail blood. These results indicate that Lp6.6 plays a role for B. burgdorferi in nymphs fed on human but not quail blood. Su...
Thursday 5 July 2018
In this study, possible role of another Oligopeptide ABC transporter, OppA4 in ospC expression was investigated by construction of an oppA4 deletion mutant and the complemented strain. Inactivation of oppA4 resulted an increased production of OspC, suggesting that OppA4 has a negative impact on ospC expression. Expression of ospC is controlled by Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS, the central pathway essential for mammal infection. We showed that increased ospC expression in the oppA4 mutant was due to an increased rpoS expression. We then further investigated how OppA4 negatively regulates this pathway. Two regulators, BosR and BadR, are known to positively and negatively, respectively, regulate the Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS pathway. We found that deletion of oppA4 resulted in an increased level of BosR. Previous repo...
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: July 2018Source: Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, Volume 9, Issue 5Author(s): Mateusz Markowicz, Anna-Margarita Schötta, Michael Kundi, Petra Bogovič, Katarina Ogrinc, Franc Strle, Gerold StanekAbstractThe aims of the study were to determine and compare the concentration of CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) and various other neurological disorders applying a Luminex based assay and ELISA, and to find factors associated with CXCL13 concentration. CSF samples obtained from four clinically well-defined groups of patients (proven LNB, suspected LNB, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), and aseptic meningitis/meningoencephalitis other than TBE) – 25 samples per group – were analyzed. The performance of the Luminex recomBead CXCL13 a...
Thursday 5 July 2018
This study shows that humus type can be indicative of nymph abundance. Three types of humus were observed: (1) moder, (2) mull, and (3) mull-moder humus. One of them, moder humus, which is characterized by a thick layer of fragmented leaves, was found in multivariate analyses to be strongly associated with the nymph abundance. This study demonstrates that factors such as saturation deficit do not suffice to explain the differences in nymph abundance among sites. The composition of the soil and especially the type of humus should also be taken into consideration when assessing acarological risk. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
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Thursday 5 July 2018
This study suggests that accounting for landscape connectivity may improve model-based predictions of spatial spread patterns of B. burgdorferi s.s. The findings are consistent with possible past dispersal patterns of B. burgdorferi s.s. as determined by phylogeographic studies. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Thursday 5 July 2018
Publication date: August 2018Source: Journal of Microbiological Methods, Volume 151Author(s): Zhenyu Shen, Michael Z. Zhang, Roger W. Stich, William J. Mitchell, Shuping ZhangAbstractAnaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Rickettsia spp., and Lyme disease associated Borrelia spp. are the most common tick-borne pathogens reported to infect human beings worldwide and other animals, such as dogs and horses. In the present study, we developed a broad-coverage SYBR Green QPCR panel consisting of four individual assays for the detection and partial differentiation of the aforementioned pathogens. All assays were optimized to the same thermocycling condition and had a detection limit of 10 copies per reaction. The assays remained sensitive when used to test canine and equine blood DNA samples spiked wit...
Thursday 5 July 2018
Dan Drecktrah, Laura S. Hall, Philipp Rescheneder, Meghan Lybecker, D. Scott Samuels (Source: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology)
Tuesday 3 July 2018
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Tuesday 3 July 2018
This study suggests that accounting for landscape connectivity may improve model-based predictions of spatial spread patterns of B. burgdorferi s.s.. The findings are consistent with possible past dispersal patterns of B. burgdorferi s.s. as determined by phylogeographic studies. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Monday 2 July 2018
. (Source: International Journal of Environmental Health Research)
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Sunday 1 July 2018
The aim of this study was to determine the characteristics, treatment, and outcome according to each etiology of pachymeningitis. We conducted a retrospective multicenter French nationwide study between 2000 and 2016 to describe the characteristics, outcome, and treatment of pachymeningitis. We included 60 patients (median age 55.5 years; interquartile range [IQR] 30–80, female/male ratio 0.43). Neurologic signs were present in 59 patients (98%) and consisted of headache in 43 (72%), cranial nerve palsy in 33 (55%), confusion in 10 (17%), seizures in 7 (12%), and focal neurologic signs in 9 (15%). Fever and weight loss were present in 8 (13%) and 13 cases (22%), respectively. Cerebral venous thrombosis was present in 8 cases (13%). Analysis of cerebrospinal fluid showed moderate hyperp...
Sunday 1 July 2018
AbstractThe frequency of cells with cytogenetic disorders in the synovial fluid cells of the knee joints was studied in patients of different age groups with chronic arthritis associated with Lyme borreliosis (CAALB) or posttraumatic arthritis (PTA) with respect to polymorphism in the glutathioneS-transferase geneGSTM1. One hundred thirty five residents of the north of Tomsk and Tyumen oblasts were included in the study; 68 of them suffered from CAALB, while PTA was detected in the remaining 67 patients comprising the control group. Our results indicate the presence of significant age-related differences in the frequency of cytogenetic disorders in the synovial fluid cells of the knee joints between the groups of young and elderly CAALB patients. An integrative estimation of clinical and c...
Saturday 30 June 2018
Authors: Dainsberg C PMID: 29957621 [PubMed - in process] (Source: The American Journal of Nursing)
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Friday 29 June 2018
DEAR MAYO CLINIC: What is the best way to remove a tick? We live near a grassy area and find several every summer, and I worry about Lyme disease. But there is so much conflicting information online about how to remove a tick properly and what to do after. ANSWER: If you find a tick [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Thursday 28 June 2018
Authors: Lydon EC, Ko ER, Tsalik EL Abstract INTRODUCTION: A century of advances in infectious disease diagnosis and treatment changed the face of medicine. However, challenges continue to develop including multi-drug resistance, globalization that increases pandemic risks, and high mortality from severe infections. These challenges can be mitigated through improved diagnostics, and over the past decade, there has been a particular focus on the host response. Since this article was originally published in 2015, there have been significant developments in the field of host response diagnostics, warranting this updated review. Areas Covered: This review begins by discussing developments in single biomarkers and pauci-analyte biomarker panels. It then delves into 'omics, an area where...
Thursday 28 June 2018
Rachel Gordon, 27, who is believed to be from London, was diagnosed with Lyme disease privately last year after NHS doctors told her she had chronic fatigue syndrome. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 27 June 2018
We examined incidence rate trends of first Lyme disease diagnosis among 384,652 Maryland Medicaid members enrolled from July 2004-June 2011. Age, gender, county, season, and year-specific incidence rates were calculated, and mixed effects multiple logistic regression models were used to study the relationship between diagnosis and these variables. The incidence rate in our sample was 97.65 per 100,000 person-years (95% confidence interval (CI): 91.53, 104.06), and there was a 13% average annual increase in odds of diagnosis (odds ratio: 1.13, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.17, P < 0.001). Incidence rates for males and females were not significantly different, though males were significantly more likely to be diagnosed during high season months (relative risk [RR]: 1.24, 95% CI: 1.06, 1.44) and less li...
Tuesday 26 June 2018
Authors: Antony S Abstract In the United States, tick-borne illnesses account for a significant number of patients that have been seen and treated by health care facilities. This in turn, has resulted in a significant morbidity and mortality and economic costs to the country. The distribution of these illnesses is geographically variable and is related to the climate as well. Many of these illnesses can be diagnosed and treated successfully, if recognized and started on appropriate antimicrobial therapy early in the disease process. Patient with illnesses such as Lyme disease, Wet Nile illness can result in chronic debilitating diseases if not recognized early and treated. This paper covers illnesses such as Lyme disease, West Nile illness, Rocky Mountain Spotted fever, Ehrlichia, ...
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Tuesday 26 June 2018
Conclusions: The current findings are consistent with the literature showing that the most robust neurocognitive deficit associated with PTLDS is in verbal memory and with variable decline in processing speed. Compared to population normative comparison standards, PTLDS-related cognitive decline remains mild. Thus, further research is needed to better understand factors related to the magnitude of subjective cognitive complaints as well as objective evidence of mild cognitive decline. PMID: 29945190 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology)
Monday 25 June 2018
Former model Jessica Bennett says her life has been devastated by Lyme disease. (Source: BBC News | Health | UK Edition)
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Saturday 23 June 2018
Cellular Microbiology,Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-. (Source: Cellular Microbiology)
Friday 22 June 2018
In this study, a total of 138 blood specimens collected from Bactrian camels from Zhangye City in Gansu Province and Yili and Aksu in Xinjiang Province, China, were examined for the presence of Borrelia spp. Species-specificity nested PCR based on the 5S-23S rRNA, OspA, flaB and 16S rRNA genes revealed that the total positive rate of Borrelia spp. was 3.6% (5/138, 95% CI = 0.2-17.9). These results were confirmed by sequence analysis of the positive PCR products or positive colonies. This is the first report of Borrelia pathogens in camels in China. Two Borrelia species that cause Lyme disease and one that causes relapsing fever were identified in the camel blood samples by sequencing. The findings of this study indicate that the Bactrian camel may serve as a potential natural host of L...
Thursday 21 June 2018
Amy B. Scher’s “This Is How I Save My Life” is the true story of a fiery young woman diagnosed with late-stage, chronic Lyme disease whose journey takes her from near-death in California to a trip around the world in search of her ultimate salvation. This excerpt coincides with the book’s release in paperback from Gallery Books, an imprint CBS sister company Simon & Schuster. I am twenty-eight years old when I arrive in magnificent India. I am here with my parents, an updated vaccine record, and a visa, searching for something I cannot find at home: a cure. In a tiny hospital on the outskirts of Delhi, a female Indian doctor is offering experimental embryonic stem cell therapy to patients from all over the world. That is what I have come for. For the past seven years, my body h...
Thursday 21 June 2018
The most common tick-borne illness in the U.S. (30,000+ new cases a year), Lyme disease produces a wide range of symptoms ranging from fever and rash to arthritis and paralysis. Thanks to biotech, genome sequencing and precision medicine, prevention, early detection and treatment are now possible. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Thursday 21 June 2018
Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease (LD), uses host-derived signals to modulate gene expression during the vector and mammalian phases of infection. Microarray analysis of mutants lacking the Borrelia host adaptation regulator (BadR) revealed the downregulation of genes encoding enzymes whose role in the pathophysiology of B. burgdorferi is unknown. Immunoblot analysis of the badR mutants confirmed reduced levels of these enzymes, and one of these enzymes, encoded by bb0086, shares homology to prokaryotic magnesium chelatase and Lon-type proteases. The BB0086 levels in B. burgdorferi were higher under conditions mimicking those in fed ticks. Mutants lacking bb0086 had no apparent in vitro growth defect but were incapable of colonizing immunocompetent C3H/HeN or immunodeficient ...
Wednesday 20 June 2018
The objectives of this study were to use data from client-owned cats in an Ixodes scapularis endemic area to evaluate for clinical associations with diagnostic test results for Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Borrelia burgdorferi and to provide information from a group of cats with possible borreliosis as the cause of clinical manifestations of disease. All cases were evaluated at one clinic, medical records were evaluated, and sera from all cats were tested using one of two commercially available assays labeled for the use with dog sera (SNAP ® 4Dx® or SNAP® 4Dx® Plus; IDEXX Laboratories, Westbrook, ME). (Source: Topics in Companion Animal Medicine)
Wednesday 20 June 2018
CONCLUSIONS: The results indicate that the host selection of ticks may be influenced by the physiological or biochemical profile of an individual, such as their blood group. This means that a blood group of an individual can be one of the factors that increase the risk of tick bite and the transmission of dangerous diseases and thus must not be underestimated. PMID: 29936803 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine : AAEM)
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Tuesday 19 June 2018
(University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences) Doctors found that cases of Lyme disease in children have increased exponentially in western Pennsylvania. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
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Sunday 17 June 2018
(Natural News) Research published in the European Journal of Microbiology and Immunology revealed yet another sweet benefit of stevia. Known for its natural sweetening properties, stevia was discovered to be a safer and even more effective alternative to conventional, toxic antibiotics in treating Lyme disease. The researchers from the University of New Haven used an alcohol extract... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Saturday 16 June 2018
Clinical Significance of Human Papillomavirus Type 16 for Breast Cancer & Adenocarcinomas of Various Internal Organs and Alzheimer's Brain with Increased β-amyloid (1-42); Combined Use of Optimal Doses of Vitamin D3 and Taurine 3 times/day Has Significant Beneficial Effects of Anti-Cancer, Anti-Ischemic Heart, and Memory & Other Brain Problems By Significant Urinary Excretion of Viruses, Bacteria, and Toxic Metals & Substances. Acupunct Electrother Res. 2016;41(2):127-134 Authors: Omura Y Abstract Human Papillomavirus type 16 (HPV-16) has a significant role in various cancers and Alzheimer's disease. 500 breast cancer mammograms as well as 3 cases of adenocarcinomas of esophagus, stomach, colon, prostate gland, uterus, ovary that was examined had significa...
Saturday 16 June 2018
In this study, possible role of another Oligopeptide ABC transporter, OppA4 in ospC expression was investigated by construction of an oppA4 deletion mutant and the complemented strain. Inactivation of oppA4 resulted an increased production of OspC, suggesting that OppA4 has a negative impact on ospC expression. Expression of ospC is controlled by Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS, the central pathway essential for mammal infection. We showed that increased ospC expression in the oppA4 mutant was due to an increased rpoS expression. We then further investigated how OppA4 negatively regulates this pathway. Two regulators, BosR and BadR, are known to positively and negatively, respectively, regulate the Rrp2-RpoN-RpoS pathway. We found that deletion of oppA4 resulted in an increased level of BosR. Previous repo...
Monday 11 June 2018
Authors: Norris SJ Abstract The spirochetes that cause Lyme disease have an elaborate antigenic variation system that produces millions of variants, thus evading the immune response. Verhey et al. have applied next-generation sequencing and computational analysis to gain new insights into how these bacteria keep 'one step ahead' of elimination by the host. PMID: 29903419 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Trends in Microbiology)
Monday 11 June 2018
Erythema migrans (EM) is the most common manifestation of Lyme borreliosis (LB), caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. The infection can disseminate into the nervous system and cause Lyme neur... (Source: BMC Pediatrics)
Tuesday 5 June 2018
Contributors : Timothy Casseli ; Adam ScheideggerSeries Type : Expression profiling by high throughput sequencing ; Methylation profiling by high throughput sequencingOrganism : Borreliella burgdorferiSingle Molecule Real Time (SMRT) sequencing was utilized to map the genome-wide DNA methylation pattern, and to identify consensus modified motifs in B. burgdorferi as well as isogenic methyltransferase mutants. Four conserved m6A modification motifs were identified, and were fully attributable to the presence of specific methyltransferases. Next, RNA-seq was compared between strains to determine the effects of altering global DNA methylation patterns on gene expression. Whole-genome transcriptome changes were observed in conjunction with the loss of methyltransferase enzymes, indicating that...
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Tuesday 5 June 2018
(Natural News) The official stance of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Lyme disease is that it is a tick-borne illness that it completely treatable by a short round (typically no more than three weeks) of antibiotics. While true in broad strokes, this position is hardly useful for those who do not... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Monday 4 June 2018
This article originally appeared on Health.com (Source: TIME: Health)
Friday 1 June 2018
CONCLUSION: We report this case to increase awareness among clinicians to include Lyme disease in the differential diagnosis of optic neuritis for unexplained cases of vision loss, particularly in Lyme endemic areas. PMID: 30048578 [PubMed - in process] (Source: WMJ)
Thursday 31 May 2018
(Source: BMJ)
Thursday 31 May 2018
Nucleoside diphosphate kinases (NDKs) are implicated in a wide variety of cellular functions owing to their enzymatic conversion of NDP to NTP. NDK from Borrelia burgdorferi (BbNDK) was selected for functional and structural analysis to determine whether its activity is required for infection and to assess its potential for therapeutic inhibition. The Seattle Structural Genomics Center for Infectious Diseases (SSGCID) expressed recombinant BbNDK protein. The protein was crystallized and structures were solved of both the apoenzyme and a liganded form with ADP and vanadate ligands. This provided two structures and allowed the elucidation of changes between the apo and ligand-bound enzymes. Infectivity studies with ndk transposon mutants demonstrated that NDK function was important for estab...
Thursday 31 May 2018
Authors: Sánchez-Vázquez DR, Márquez MF, Baranchuk A PMID: 29861394 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Archivos de Cardiologia de Mexico)
Wednesday 30 May 2018
Authors: Raoult D PMID: 29805049 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
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Wednesday 30 May 2018
[Abstract unavailable] Language: en... (Source: SafetyLit)
Wednesday 30 May 2018
We present evidence for clustering of these recombination events within the population and along the vlsE gene, a role for the direct repeats flanking the variable region in vlsE, and the importance of sequence homology in determining the location of recombination, despite RecA’s dispensability. Finally, we report that non-templated sequence variation is strongly associated with recombinational switching and occurs predominantly at the 5′ end of conversion tracts. This likely results from an error-prone repair mechanism operational during recombinational switching that elevates the mutation rate > 5,000-fold in switched regions. Graphical abstract Teaser The Lyme disease spirochete is a master of disguise and escapes the host immune system by continually changing a major surfac...
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Chrysoula Kitsou, Utpal Pal (Source: Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology)
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Authors: Yoshii K, Sato K, Ishizuka M, Kobayashi S, Kariwa H, Kawabata H Abstract Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is widely prevalent on the Eurasian continent, including Japan, but four cases of TBE have been reported in Japan. To inspect unconfirmed TBE cases in Japan, we conducted a retrospective seroepidemiological study of a total of 158 samples from 81 meningoencephalitis patients suspected as Lyme disease. Two serum samples from one patient showed neutralizing antibodies against TBE virus. The patient with severe and progressive encephalitis had a history of tick bite in Hokkaido in 2012. These results demonstrated that tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) case was actually unconfirmed in Japan. Further seroepidemiological surveys are required to identify unconfirmed TBEV infe...
Tuesday 29 May 2018
Publication date: Available online 28 May 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Scott C. Williams, Eliza A.H. Little, Kirby C. Stafford, Goudarz Molaei, Megan A. Linske Lyme disease continues to be the most common vector-borne disease in the United States with an estimated 330,000 human cases annually. In the eastern United States, the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the primary vector of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, and the white footed mouse, Peromyscus leucopus, is a primary reservoir host. In four residential neighborhoods in Connecticut over three years, we tested the effectiveness of different low-toxicity integrated tick management approaches to control larval and nymphal I. scapularis parasitizing P. leucopus. Combinations of white-tail...
Monday 28 May 2018
Drug company Valneva, based in Lyon, France, has successfully completed the first ever human trial for a vaccine against Lyme disease which affects 600,000 people every year. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Sunday 27 May 2018
Publication date: Available online 23 May 2018 Source:Journal of Microbiological Methods Author(s): Zhenyu Shen, Michael Z. Zhang, Roger W. Stich, William J. Mitchell, Shuping Zhang Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Rickettsia spp., and Lyme disease associated Borrelia spp. are the most common tick-borne pathogens reported to infect human beings worldwide and other animals, such as dogs and horses. In the present study, we developed a broad-coverage SYBR Green QPCR panel consisting of four individual assays for the detection and partial differentiation of the aforementioned pathogens. All assays were optimized to the same thermocycling condition and had a detection limit of 10 copies per reaction. The assays remained sensitive when used to test canine and equine blood DNA samples spiked wit...
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Friday 25 May 2018
Cellular Microbiology, EarlyView. (Source: Cellular Microbiology)
Thursday 24 May 2018
As we enter what is expected to be the worst season for ticks in years, you may want to invest in repellent clothing to guard against Lyme disease, as a CDC study found the garments immobilize bugs. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Thursday 24 May 2018
(Indiana University) A new environmental monitoring project at Indiana University has found increased numbers of deer ticks, which often carry Lyme disease, in Southern Indiana. The presence of an organism that carries a specific disease-causing bacterium -- like deer ticks -- is commonly followed by a rise in the associated illness. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Wednesday 23 May 2018
(Natural News) Darin Ingels, N.D., FAAEM followed the alkaline diet to cure himself of Lyme disease. The naturopathic doctor said that among all the other diets that claim to improve the disease’s symptoms, he found the alkaline diet to be the most helpful. An introduction to the alkaline diet The alkaline diet is based on... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Wednesday 23 May 2018
Arthritis&Rheumatology,Volume 0, Issue ja, -Not available-. (Source: Arthritis and Rheumatology)
Tuesday 22 May 2018
With the increase in vector-borne disease, we need more than an ounce of prevention. What we really need is a vaccine for Lyme disease.Medscape Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Authors: Max McClure Maria Diuk-Wasser Lyme disease (LD) is a commonly cited model for the link between habitat loss and/or fragmentation and disease emergence, based in part on studies showing that forest patch size is negatively related to LD entomological risk. An equivalent relationship has not, however, been shown between patch size and LD incidence (LDI). Because entomological risk is measured at the patch scale, while LDI is generally assessed in relation to aggregate landscape statistics such as forest cover, we posit that the contribution of individual patches to human LD risk has not yet been directly evaluated. We design a model that directly links theoretical entomological risk at the patch scale to larger-scale epidemiological data. We evaluate its predictions for rela...
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Authors: Wan D, Baranchuk A PMID: 29789287 [PubMed - in process] (Source: cmaj)
Tuesday 22 May 2018
AbstractPurpose of ReviewTicks are the second most important vectors of infectious diseases after mosquitoes worldwide. The growth of international tourism including in rural and remote places increasingly exposes travelers to tick bite. Our aim was to review the main tick-borne infectious diseases reported in travelers in the past 5 years.Recent FindingsIn recent years, tick-borne bacterial diseases have emerged in travelers including spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsioses, borrelioses, and diseases caused by bacteria of the Anaplasmataceae family.SummaryAfrican tick-bite fever, due toRickettsia africae, is the most frequent agent reported in travelers returned from Sub-Saharan areas. Other SFG agents are increasingly reported in travelers, and clinicians should be aware of them. Lyme ...
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Monday 21 May 2018
Health officials combine surveillance of human cases, dogs and ticks in the field to track the spread of the disease across the country. (Source: CBC | Health)
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Friday 18 May 2018
We at the GMR office are pleased to announce that the University of Minnesota-Duluth has been granted a Health Information Outreach award to support their research into Lyme disease. Project Description – The Ixodes Outreach Project is a concerted effort to tackle the emerging epidemic of Lyme disease in the upper Midwest. Dr. Ben Clarke and his team at the University of Minnesota-Duluth will be promoting awareness of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through educational outreach activities, a citizen-science program, and an undergraduate research experience. The primary component of this research project comes in the form of distributed tick-kits. These kits contain: information cards on tick/Lyme disease identification, a tick removal ‘key’, collection t...
Friday 18 May 2018
Tick bites: First aid? Most tick bites are painless and cause only minor symptoms, such as redness, swelling or a sore on the skin. But some ticks transmit bacteria that cause illnesses, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Learn the correct way to remove and handle a tick, and when you need to [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Friday 18 May 2018
Lyme borreliosis caused by spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato) complex is still the most common tick-borne disease in Europe, posing a considerable threat to public health. The predominant vector... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Thursday 17 May 2018
This article originally appeared on Health.com (Source: TIME: Health)
Wednesday 16 May 2018
This NICE Guidance was published in April 2018. It covers diagnosing and managing Lyme disease. It aims to raise awareness of when Lyme disease should be suspected and ensure that people have prompt and consistent diagnosis and treatment. It does not cover preventing Lyme disease. (Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH))
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Wednesday 16 May 2018
Authors: Gendelberg D, Hennrikus WL Abstract Most patients with untreated Lyme disease will experience joint symptoms. Owing to their resemblance in clinical presentation, Lyme arthritis and septic arthritis are often difficult to differentiate. However, their treatment is different. The elbow is rarely the first joint to present with symptoms. Therefore, Lyme disease is not commonly included in the differential diagnosis for children presenting with isolated elbow pain. The authors report 4 cases of monoarticular Lyme arthritis presenting in the elbow. There was an average delay of diagnosis of 4.75 days. Three cases were treated with oral antibiotics alone; 1 case was treated with unnecessary surgery due to uncertainty of the diagnosis and the delay in the laboratory performing t...
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Authors: Michal Chvostáč Eva Špitalská Radovan Václav Tatiana Vaculová Lenka Minichová Markéta Derdáková In Europe, Ixodes ricinus is the most important vector of tick-borne zoonotic bacteria. It transmits spirochaetes from the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. Although spatial differences in the prevalence of tick-borne pathogens have been intensively studied, seasonal (within-year) fluctuations in the prevalence of these pathogens within sites are often overlooked. We analyzed the occurrence and seasonal dynamics of Ixodes ricinus in an urban forest in Bratislava, Slovakia. Furthemore, we examined temporal trends in the community structure of B. burgdorferi s.l., A. phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. in quest...
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Tuesday 15 May 2018
Publication date: Available online 5 May 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Angélica Hernández-Jarguín, Sandra Díaz-Sánchez, Margarita Villar, José de la Fuente An innovative metaomics approach integrating metatranscriptomics and metaproteomics was used to characterize bacterial communities in the microbiota of the Lyme borreliosis spirochete vector, Ixodes ricinus (Acari: Ixodidae). Whole internal tissues and salivary glands from unfed larvae and female ticks, respectively were used. Reused I. ricinus RNA-sequencing data for metranscriptomics analysis together with metaproteomics provided a better characterization of tick bacterial microbiota by increasing bacteria identification and support for identified bacteria with putative functional implications. The result...
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Publication date: Available online 22 April 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Sanne C. Ruyts, Dries Landuyt, Evy Ampoorter, Dieter Heylen, Steffen Ehrmann, Elena C. Coipan, Erik Matthysen, Hein Sprong, Kris Verheyen An increasing number of studies have investigated the consequences of biodiversity loss for the occurrence of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, the most common tick-borne disease in the northern hemisphere. As host species differ in their ability to transmit the Lyme borreliosis bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. to ticks, increased host diversity can decrease disease prevalence by increasing the proportion of dilution hosts, host species that transmit pathogens less efficiently. Previous research shows that Lyme borreliosis risk differs betwee...
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Publication date: Available online 20 April 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Mateusz Markowicz, Anna-Margarita Schötta, Michael Kundi, Petra Bogovič, Katarina Ogrinc, Franc Strle, Gerold Stanek The aims of the study were to determine and compare the concentration of CXCL13 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) and various other neurological disorders applying a Luminex based assay and ELISA, and to find factors associated with CXCL13 concentration. CSF samples obtained from four clinically well-defined groups of patients (proven LNB, suspected LNB, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), and aseptic meningitis/meningoencephalitis other than TBE) – 25 samples per group – were analyzed. The performance of the Luminex recomBead CXCL13 assa...
Tuesday 15 May 2018
Friday 11 May 2018
Authors: Doolan BJ, Christie M, Dolianitis C PMID: 29748954 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: The Australasian Journal of Dermatology)
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Friday 11 May 2018
Australasian Journal of Dermatology, EarlyView. (Source: Australasian Journal of Dermatology)
Thursday 10 May 2018
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 05/08/2018 This 27-minute teleconference focuses on new information about the nation's growing burden of disease from mosquitoes, ticks, and flea bites, and the important role that state and local departments and vector control organizations have in controlling them. These vector-borne diseases include dengue, Zika, West Nile, chikungunya, Lyme disease, and plague. Speakers also discuss the Minnesota Department of Health Vectorborne Diseases Unit, and Mosquito Control Program in New Orleans. (Video or Multimedia) (Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health)
Thursday 10 May 2018
Future Microbiology, Ahead of Print. (Source: Future Microbiology)
Wednesday 9 May 2018
Molecular Microbiology,Volume 108, Issue 4, Page 461-461, May 2018. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Tuesday 8 May 2018
Mikayla Vacher, 23, from Rhode Island was officially diagnosed with Lyme disease when she was just eighteen years old. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 8 May 2018
(University of Massachusetts at Amherst) For years, TickReport at UMass Amherst has tracked the incidence and spread of Lyme disease and the introduction of new bacterial and viral tick-borne illnesses such as the Borrelia miyamotoi and Powassan virus in the state. Now a new $100,000 grant from the CDC to the state's public health department will subsidize the cost of tick testing for Massachusetts residents. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Monday 7 May 2018
While many Wisconsin residents are more than ready to take advantage of the warmer weather and enjoy all the resources the state has to offer, the Department of Health Services (DHS) strongly encourages everyone to take care to avoid tick and mosquito bites. Both ticks and mosquitoes can transmit various illnesses.Lyme disease, which is spread by ticks, andWest Nile virus, which is transmitted by mosquitoes,...(see release) (Source: Wisconsin DHFS Press Releases)
Monday 7 May 2018
Hui Zhi, Jialei Xie, Jon T. Skare (Source: Frontiers in Immunology)
Monday 7 May 2018
(Natural News) One of the world’s foremost experts on the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease has teased out the exact process by which Borrelia burdorferi survives the immune responses of the body. This discovery could pave the way for effective treatments of the persistent disease, according to a ScienceDaily article. Borrelia has always been a source... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
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Monday 7 May 2018
The tick-borne illness is spreading north and south — about 300,000 U.S. cases a year. As scientists work on better diagnostic tests and surveillance tools, you can take steps to cut your risk.(Image credit: Kenneth H Thomas/Science Source/Getty Images) (Source: NPR Health and Science)
Sunday 6 May 2018
Publication date: Available online 5 May 2018 Source:Veterinary Parasitology Author(s): Susan E. Little, Anne W. Barrett, Yoko Nagamori, Brian H. Herrin, Dorothy Normile, Kathleen Heaney, Rob Armstrong Ticks are an important but under recognized parasitic threat to cats in many areas of the United States. To characterize the species and stages of ticks most commonly recovered from cats and determine the prevalence of disease agents in the ticks, we conducted a survey of ticks removed from cats at veterinary practices in 18 states from April 2016 – June 2017. A total of 796 ticks were submitted from 332 cats from 41 different veterinary practices. A single tick was submitted from the majority of cats, with a mean infestation intensity of 2.4 (range 1–46). The most common tick was Ixode...
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Friday 4 May 2018
The number of Americans infected by mosquito, tick, and flea bites tripled in the United States from 2004 to 2016, and a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the country is not prepared to deal with the continuing threat. Mosquitos, ticks and fleas are "vectors" that can spread pathogens like dengue, Zika, Lyme disease or plague through their bite. The CDC reported more than 640,000 cases of these diseases in the period studied as well as the introduction or discovery… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Physician Practices headlines)
Friday 4 May 2018
CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE: Vectorborne diseases are a large and growing public health problem in the United States, characterized by geographic specificity and frequent pathogen emergence and introduction. Differences in distribution and transmission dynamics of tickborne and mosquitoborne diseases are often rooted in biologic differences of the vectors. To effectively reduce transmission and respond to outbreaks will require major national improvement of surveillance, diagnostics, reporting, and vector control, as well as new tools, including vaccines. PMID: 29723166 [PubMed - in process] (Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkl...)
Thursday 3 May 2018
CONCLUSION: Improving the diagnosis and therapeutic management of patients believing themselves to be affected by chronic Lyme disease appears highly necessary both to limit their search for diagnosis and their experience of pain. It could be based on existing guidelines concerning medically unexplained symptoms to which the chronic Lyme disease issue appears quite similar on several points. PMID: 29706237 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Revue de Medecine Interne)
Thursday 3 May 2018
Illnesses caused by disease-infected ticks, mosquitoes and fleas have tripled in the U.S. in recent years, according to a new?report?from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Lyme disease is the most common illness attributed to ticks. "It's the most common vector-borne disease in the Northern Hemisphere and in North America, in the U.S. [...] (Source: News from Mayo Clinic)
Thursday 3 May 2018
Clinical Case Reports, EarlyView. (Source: Clinical Case Reports)
Wednesday 2 May 2018
BOSTON (CBS) — A Center for Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C.) report is raising concerns. From 2004-2016 the amount of tick, mosquito, and flea-transmitted diseases have tripled in the U.S. Nearly 60% of the diseases detected came from ticks. Dr. David Crandell, clinical co-director for the Dean Center Tick-Borne Illness at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, says he’s not surprised. Dr. Crandell believes an increase in Lyme disease diagnosis comes from better testing and more importantly, a better understanding of the disease and the signs. He says symptoms include: Malaise, almost like a flu-like symptom, people using presenting fever, cardiac arrhythmia Dr. Crandell says many people could have been bitten without ever seeing a tick on their body. He recommends wearing pants...
Wednesday 2 May 2018
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office of Infectious Diseases. 05/01/2018 This Web page provides information about bites from mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas, which can be vectors for spreading pathogens and vector-borne disease, like dengue, Zika, Lyme, or plague. It discusses what state and local public health agencies can do, and provides a video and sections about Overview, Problem, Infographic, What Can Be Done, and Issue Details. (Video or Multimedia) (Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health)
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Wednesday 2 May 2018
Years after he contracted Lyme disease, it's safe to say Sean Gurnsey has a knack for voice acting: his voice is featured across the world in commercial work, video game voicing and more. (Source: CBC | Health)
Wednesday 2 May 2018
As forest is the preferred environment for ticks, forestry workers are exposed to tick bites and tick-borne diseases. We assessed the seroprevalence of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) antibodies and investigated, ... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
(MedPage Today) -- Tick-borne illnesses more than doubled, mainly due to increases in Lyme disease (Source: MedPage Today Infectious Disease)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
Lyme disease, Zika, and other diseases spread by bug bites tripled in the U.S. from 2004 through 2016, according to a new report (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
Cases of Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile and Zika numbered more than 27,000 in 2004, and soared to over 96,000 in 2016, according to the CDC report. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
The warmer weather of spring and summer means the start of tick and mosquito season and the diseases they transmit, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and the West Nile and Zika viruses.A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that illnesses... (Source: Los Angeles Times - Science)
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Tuesday 1 May 2018
There are several measures you can take, some of which provide two-for-one protection against the insects. (Source: NYT Health)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
ATLANTA (CBS) – As the weather warms up and New Englanders prepare to enjoy the outdoors, the Centers for Disease Control is warning that illnesses from mosquito, tick and flea bites are on the rise. The report released by the CDC on Tuesday said there were 96,075 disease cases from the three in 2016. That’s more than triple the number of cases in 2004. (Image credit: CDC) “Zika, West Nile, Lyme, and chikungunya—a growing list of diseases caused by the bite of an infected mosquito, tick, or flea—have confronted the U.S. in recent years, making a lot of people sick,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in a statement. “And we don’t know what will threaten Americans next.” The CDC said there are likely several reasons behind the uptick. The populations of mosquitoes and t...
Tuesday 1 May 2018
The warmer weather of spring and summer means the start of tick and mosquito season and the diseases they transmit, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile and Zika. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that illnesses from mosquito, tick and flea bites more than tripled in […]Related:Feds crack down on e-liquid packaging that looks like candy, juice boxesCDC director asks that his $375,000 salary be cut after questions raised22 states now affected by dangerous outbreak of E. coli illness from romaine lettuce (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
Rates of Lyme, Zika and exotic new diseases are soaring. Federal officials blame hotter weather, jet travel, forested suburbs and slow vaccine development. (Source: NYT Health)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
Americans are getting Zika, dengue and Lyme diseases in increasing numbers. Warming weather and a lack of vaccines are among the causes. (Source: NYT Health)
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Tuesday 1 May 2018
The warmer weather of spring and summer means the start of tick and mosquito season and the diseases they transmit, including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, West Nile and Zika. A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found that illnesses from mosquito, tick and flea bites more than tripled in […]Related:Liquid nicotine for e-cigs looks like kids’ juice boxes and candy, government saysShe modeled in New York and worked for the Navy. At 93, parasites ate her alive at a nursing home.A rare eye cancer showed up in three friends. Doctors want to know if the cases are connected. (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Tuesday 1 May 2018
In the United States, diseases spread by mosquito, flea and tick bites tripled from 2004 to 2016, federal health officials say in a new report. During that time, there were more than 640,000 cases of vector-borne diseases. “People really do need to take this seriously,” says Dr. Lyle Petersen, the director of the Division of Vector-Borne Diseases in the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The new study—published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report—marks the first time the agency has collectively examined the trends for diseases that are spread by pests. The goal, says Petersen, is to gain a better understanding of the growing burden of these illnesses in the U.S.,...
Tuesday 1 May 2018
No abstract available (Source: Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice)
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Saturday 28 April 2018
Objective: To report potential efficacy in improving cognitive impairment found in patients with Lyme disease. This case also serves as developing insight into the diversity of Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. (Source: BRAIN STIMULATION: Basic, Translational, and Clinical Research in Neuromodulation)
Thursday 26 April 2018
(Source: Infection and Drug Resistance)
Wednesday 25 April 2018
LYME disease symptoms include a rash, headaches and joint pain. But, adding this cheap spice to your diet could prevent signs of the bacterial infection, that ’s caused by tick bites. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 25 April 2018
Jacob R. Greenmyer, Robert A. Gaultney, Catherine A. Brissette, John A. Watt (Source: Frontiers in Microbiology)
Wednesday 25 April 2018
The current diagnostic marker of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato antibody index (AI) in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), has insufficient sensitivity in the early phase of LNB. We aimed to elucidate the diagnostic value of PCR for B. burgdorferi sensu lato in CSF from children with symptoms suggestive of LNB and to explore B. burgdorferi sensu lato genotypes associated with LNB in children. Children were prospectively included in predefined groups with a high or low likelihood of LNB based on diagnostic guidelines (LNB symptoms, CSF pleocytosis, and B. burgdorferi sensu lato antibodies) or the detection of other causative agents. CSF samples were analyzed by two B. burgdorferi sensu lato-specific real-time PCR assays and, if B. burgdorferi sensu lato DNA was ...
Tuesday 24 April 2018
Wondering how to protect yourself outside from ticks this year? Here's what you need to know. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Tuesday 24 April 2018
In this study, we report reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) findings in a case of ACA. RCM examination revealed a flattened surface with broadened skin folds, a flattened dermoepidermal junction with few papillae and less bright basal cells and multiple small bright reflecting spots in the dermis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first description of the RCM findings in this disorder. (Source: The American Journal of Dermatopathology)
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Thursday 19 April 2018
Children with Lyme meningitis are often treated with intravenous ceftriaxone, although oral doxycycline may be effective. Parents were surveyed after observing a video describing a hypothetical Lyme meningitis treatment trial. Eighty-four of 102 (82%) would consent to their child participating. Parents would accept 2 additional days of symptoms (noninferiority margin) with doxycycline even if ceftriaxone hastened symptom resolution. (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Thursday 19 April 2018
Reuters Health Information (Source: Medscape Orthopaedics Headlines)
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Thursday 19 April 2018
Yorkshire ’s Jurassic World, at the Yorkshire Museum, includes a pregnant ichthyosaur, a Mesozoic virtual reality experience, and a dinosaur called AlanIf you say the word Jurassic to people in the UK, the chances are that their first thoughts will be of a certain hugely successful film franchise. Most palaeontologists are fine with this, because it gives us an excuse to wheel out our well-honed “all the things that were wrong about the Jurassic Park film” material. If they mention anything else at all, it is likely to be the Jurassic coast, a fantastic piece of tourism branding which ensures that Dorset seaside towns receive a steady stream of fossil-mad families on holiday every summe r.Other British Jurassic outcrops are available, however. In Scotland there are Jurassic outcrops ...
Tuesday 17 April 2018
Borrelia burgdorferi is one of the few extracellular pathogens capable of establishing persistent infection in mammals. The mechanisms that sustain long-term survival of this bacterium are largely unknown. Here we report a unique innate immune evasion strategy of B. burgdorferi, orchestrated by a surface protein annotated as BBA57, through its... (Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
Monday 16 April 2018
Conclusions: Clinical isolates of B. miyamotoi are highly susceptible to doxycycline, azithromycin and ceftriaxone in vitro Interestingly, as earlier described for tick isolates, amoxicillin shows poor in vitro activity against clinical B. miyamotoi isolates. PMID: 29661882 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy)
Sunday 15 April 2018
Lyme disease is the most frequently reported zoonotic tick-borne disease worldwide, and the number of infected humans is increasing. Lyme disease (or Lyme borreliosis) is an affection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, sensu lato. Lyme disease is also reported as a variety of misleading clinical symptomatologies. Infected patient ’s blood serology is the most currently test used for its diagnosis. However, serology has a low sensitivity, which ranges from 34 % to 70%.Thus, there are numerous subsequent false-negative diagnoses despite an active clinical infection profile. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Sunday 15 April 2018
Lyme disease is the most frequently reported zoonotic tick-borne disease worldwide, and the number of infected humans is increasing. Lyme disease (or Lyme borreliosis) is an affection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, sensu lato. Lyme disease is also reported as a variety of misleading clinical symptomatologies. Infected patient ’s blood serology is the most currently test used for its diagnosis. However, serology has a low sensitivity, which ranges from 34% to 70%.Thus, there are numerous subsequent false-negative diagnoses despite an active clinical infection profile. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
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Saturday 14 April 2018
Particularly in Brazil, cases with Lyme-like clinical symptoms, locally known as the Baggio-Yoshinari syndrome, have been diagnosed since 1992; however, the epidemiological, clinical and laboratory findings of this syndrome differ from the classic cases of Lyme borreliosis and the etiological agent has not yet been isolated either from humans or a natural vector [1]. (Source: Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease)
Friday 13 April 2018
Authors: Sabitova Y, Fomenko N, Tikunov A, Stronin O, Khasnatinov M, Abmed D, Danchinova G, Golovljova I, Tikunova N Abstract Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most frequently recorded tick-transmitted disease in Eurasia. Tomsk Province, Western Siberia in Russia and Selenge Aimag in Northern Mongolia are leading regions in the LB incidence rate in these countries. Spirochaetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) complex isolated from Ixodes ticks from Tomsk Province (n = 56) and Ixodes persulcatus ticks from Selenge Aimag (n = 5) were genetically characterized using Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST), analysis of the 5S23S rRNA intergenic spacer (IGS) amplicons, and p83/100 gene sequencing. According to MLST, B. afzelii (n = 26), B. bavariensis (n = 23), B. ga...
Friday 13 April 2018
Publication date: Available online 12 April 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Vivian Kjelland, Katrine M. Paulsen, Rikke Rollum, Andrew Jenkins, Snorre Stuen, Arnulf Soleng, Kristin S. Edgar, Heidi H. Lindstedt, Kirsti Vaino, Moustafa Gibory, Åshild K. Andreassen The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of tick-borne pathogens of medical importance in questing ticks collected from five recreationally used islands along the Norwegian coastline. Furthermore, since coinfection may affect the disease severity, this study aimed to determine the extent of coinfection in individual ticks or co-localization of tick-borne pathogens. In all, 4158 questing Ixodes ricinus ticks were analysed. For detection of tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), nymphs (3690) were an...
Thursday 12 April 2018
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence has published new guidance on diagnosing and treating Lyme disease. (Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal)
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Thursday 12 April 2018
Authors: Roberto Rosà Veronica Andreo Valentina Tagliapietra Ivana Baráková Daniele Arnoldi Heidi Hauffe Mattia Manica Fausta Rosso Lucia Blaňarová Martin Bona Marketa Derdáková Zuzana Hamšíková Maria Kazimírová Jasna Kraljik Elena Kocianová Lenka Mahríková Lenka Minichová Ladislav Mošanský Mirko Slovák Michal Stanko Eva Špitalská Els Ducheyne Markus Neteler Zdenek Hubálek Ivo Rudolf Kristyna Venclikova Cornelia Silaghi Evelyn Overzier Robert Farkas Gábor Földvári Sándor Hornok Nóra Takács Annapaola Rizzoli The incidence of tick-borne diseases caused by Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. has been rising in Europe in recent decades. Early pre-assessme...
Thursday 12 April 2018
Authors: A. Ferrell R. Brinkerhoff Patterns of vector-borne disease risk are changing globally in space and time and elevated disease risk of vector-borne infection can be driven by anthropogenic modification of the environment. Incidence of Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, has risen in a number of locations in North America and this increase may be driven by spatially or numerically expanding populations of the primary tick vector, Ixodes scapularis. We used a model selection approach to identify habitat fragmentation and land-use/land cover variables to test the hypothesis that the amount and configuration of forest cover at spatial scales relevant to deer, the primary hosts of adult ticks, would be the predominant determinants of tick abu...
Thursday 12 April 2018
Publication date: Available online 11 April 2018 Source:IDCases Author(s): Pierre-Philippe Piché-Renaud, Helen Branson, E. Ann Yeh, Shaun K. Morris (Source: IDCases)
Thursday 12 April 2018
NICE has issued new advice to help doctors quickly spot Lyme disease, so they can offer people NHS treatment as soon as possible. (Source: NHS Networks)
Wednesday 11 April 2018
So many ticks are lurking in the brush and woodlands. Here's what they might give you. It's more than Lyme. (Source: Forbes.com Healthcare News)
Wednesday 11 April 2018
Authors: Estrada-Peña A, Álvarez-Jarreta J, Cabezas-Cruz A Abstract The life cycle of spirochetes of the genus Borrelia includes complex networks of vertebrates and ticks. The tripartite association of Borrelia-vertebrate-tick has proved ecologically successful for these bacteria, which have become some of the most prominent tick-borne pathogens in the northern hemisphere. To keep evolutionary pace with its double-host life history, Borrelia must adapt to the evolutionary pressures exerted by both sets of hosts. In this review, we attempt to reconcile functional, phylogenetic, and ecological perspectives to propose a coherent scenario of Borrelia evolution. Available empirical information supports that the association of Borrelia with ticks is very old. The major split between th...
Monday 9 April 2018
Authors: Johnson TL, Boegler KA, Clark RJ, Delorey MJ, Bjork JKH, Dorr FM, Schiffman EK, Neitzel DF, Monaghan AJ, Eisen RJ Abstract Ixodes scapularis is the vector of at least seven human pathogens in Minnesota, two of which are known to cause Lyme disease (Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto and Borrelia mayonii). In Minnesota, the statewide incidence of Lyme disease and other I. scapularis-borne diseases and the geographic extent over which cases have been reported have both increased substantially over the last two decades. These changes correspond with an expanding distribution of I. scapularis over a similar time frame. Because the risk of exposure to I. scapularis-borne pathogens is likely related to the number of ticks encountered, we developed an acarological risk model pred...
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Sunday 8 April 2018
Immune and infectious contributions to psychiatric disease have been increasingly recognized, but mechanisms are poorly understood. Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis frequently presents with psychosis, and many studies have investigated the presence of anti-NMDAR antibodies in those with schizophrenia. Infectious diseases such as Lyme disease can present with neuropsychiatric manifestations, and co-morbid Lyme disease and psychosis has been reported in case reports. (Source: Biological Psychiatry)
Saturday 7 April 2018
BACKGROUND: Depression has been reported in 8-45% of patients with posttreatment Lyme symptoms (PTLS), but little is known about suicidal ideation in these patients. METHOD: Depression and suicidal ideation were assessed using the Beck Depression I... (Source: SafetyLit)
Friday 6 April 2018
Internal Medicine Journal,Volume 48, Issue 4, Page 422-426, April 2018. (Source: Internal Medicine Journal)
Thursday 5 April 2018
(University of Turku) A new research-based point-of-care test has been developed in Finland for detecting the Lyme neuroborreliosis spread by ticks. The test makes rapid initiation of antibiotic treatment possible for patients with borreliosis, which reduces the post-treatment symptoms related to the disease. At the same time, unnecessary antibiotic treatments can be avoided. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
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Thursday 5 April 2018
In this study, we used this chamber model and showed that I. scapularis ticks will not only acquire bovine blood but human and quail blood as well. The latter two are the incidental host and an avian host of Lyme borreliae, respectively. We also investigated the roles that BBA52 and Lp6.6 play in promoting spirochete survival in nymphal ticks fed on human or quail blood. After feeding on human blood, spirochete burdens in ticks infected with an lp6.6-deficient B. burgdorferi were significantly reduced, while bba52-deficient spirochete burdens in ticks remained unchanged, similar to the wild-type strain. No strain showed a change in spirochete burdens in ticks fed on quail blood. These results indicate that Lp6.6 plays a role for B. burgdorferi in nymphs fed on human but not quail blood. Su...
Wednesday 4 April 2018
Although a short course of corticosteroid therapy has been shown to improve the outcome of idiopathic facial nerve palsy (Bell's palsy), it is unclear whether corticosteroids, in addition to antibiotic therapy, are beneficial, harmful or have no impact on the outcome of facial palsy from Lyme disease (LDFP). From 2011 through 2016, 14 patients with LDFP were enrolled into a prospective study to determine the outcome of Lyme disease over the ensuing 12months. Eleven (78.6%) had received corticosteroids in addition to oral antibiotics and entered the study within 24days after onset of the LDFP (median 14days, range 2 –24days). (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Tuesday 3 April 2018
This study assessed clinicians'knowledge and practices regarding Lyme disease testing in a high-incidence region. Is more clinician education needed?American Journal of Clinical Pathology (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Tuesday 3 April 2018
Due to the raised public awareness of Lyme Borreliosis (LB), its increased incidence and the increased availability of serological tests, the demand for diagnostic testing on LB has increased. This may affect ... (Source: BMC Family Practice)
Monday 2 April 2018
(University of Maryland) A UMD researcher has uncovered a mechanism by which the bacteria that causes Lyme disease fights innate immune responses, and observed a never-before-seen phenomena demonstrating the bacteria can spring back in the body weeks later. Understanding this bacteria, one of only a few pathogens that can actually persist in the body for long periods of time, has major implications for treatment of tick-borne diseases like Lyme disease, an increasingly chronic and prevalent public health issue. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Sunday 1 April 2018
This article reviews bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic pathogens associated with myelopathy. Infectious myelopathies may be due to direct infection or parainfectious autoimmune-mediated mechanisms; this article focuses primarily on the former. RECENT FINDINGS Some microorganisms exhibit neurotropism for the spinal cord (eg, enteroviruses such as poliovirus and flaviviruses such as West Nile virus), while others are more protean in neurologic manifestations (eg, herpesviruses such as varicella-zoster virus), and others are only rarely reported to cause myelopathy (eg, certain fungal and parasitic infections). Individuals who are immunocompromised are at increased risk of disseminated infection to the central nervous system. Within the last few years, an enterovirus D68 outbreak has...
Sunday 1 April 2018
Clinical Diagnosis of Lyme Disease Frequently Misses the "Bull's Eye". Am Fam Physician. 2018 Apr 01;97(7):474 Authors: Shaughnessy AF PMID: 29671559 [PubMed - in process] (Source: American Family Physician)
Saturday 31 March 2018
CONCLUSIONS: Our data reported an high percentage of Lyme Disease infection (19%) in non endemic area. The definition of a multidisciplinary working group and a clinical care pathway allowed a better clinical management of Lyme disease cases treated in Sacco Hospital, Milan. PMID: 29600690 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia)
Saturday 31 March 2018
Authors: Contrada E PMID: 29596255 [PubMed - in process] (Source: The American Journal of Nursing)
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Saturday 31 March 2018
We report the case of a 73-year-old woman who presented with edema and erythema of her right upper eyelid. Biomicroscopic examination revealed a tick firmly attached to the eyelid margin. The tick was successfully removed using fine tweezers, and within a few days, the patient had fully recovered without sequelae. Ticks are a threat to public health as they are known vectors of numerous infectious agents responsible for serious pathologies such as Lyme disease. Ticks may also induce cutaneous local reactions, and more rarely, tick paralysis. Since morbidity increases substantially with the duration of the infestation, the tick should be completely removed as soon as possible, and patients should be aware about possible signs of tick related diseases. PMID: 29596772 [PubMed - in process...
Friday 30 March 2018
No abstract available (Source: AJN)
Friday 30 March 2018
Lyme disease is recognized as the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Surveillance data indicate both increasing numbers of Lyme disease cases and geographic expansion of areas where the causative spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, can be found. With prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment in the acute stage, most patients will recover fully. Without treatment, however, the infecting pathogen remains within the body, often producing long-term complications, including musculoskeletal, neurologic, and cardiovascular effects. The authors describe early and late manifestations of Lyme disease, the appropriate use of diagnostic tests, the recommended treatment, and strategies for preventing tick-borne diseases nurses can share with patients. (Source: AJN)
Thursday 29 March 2018
We describe a case of Lyme endocarditis which, to our knowledge, is the first reported case confirmed by molecular diagnostics in the United States. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Wednesday 28 March 2018
BACKGROUND: No study has previously analyzed aggressiveness, homicide, and Lyme disease (LD). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Retrospective LD chart reviews analyzed aggressiveness, compared 50 homicidal with 50 non-homicidal patients, and analyzed homicide... (Source: SafetyLit)
Tuesday 27 March 2018
This study shows that humus type can be indicative of nymph abundance. Three types of humus were observed: (1) moder, (2) mull, and (3) mull-moder humus. One of them, moder humus, which is characterized by a thick layer of fragmented leaves, was found in multivariate analyses to be strongly associated with the nymph abundance. This study demonstrates that factors such as saturation deficit do not suffice to explain the differences in nymph abundance among sites. The composition of the soil and especially the type of humus should also be taken into consideration when assessing acarological risk. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Tuesday 27 March 2018
Authors: Marion Ripoche Leslie Lindsay Antoinette Ludwig Nicholas Ogden Karine Thivierge Patrick Leighton Since its detection in Canada in the early 1990s, Ixodes scapularis, the primary tick vector of Lyme disease in eastern North America, has continued to expand northward. Estimates of the tick’s broad-scale distribution are useful for tracking the extent of the Lyme disease risk zone; however, tick distribution may vary widely within this zone. Here, we investigated I. scapularis nymph distribution at three spatial scales across the Lyme disease emergence zone in southern Quebec, Canada. We collected ticks and compared the nymph densities among different woodlands and different plots and transects within the same woodland. Hot spot analysis highlighted significant nymp...
Monday 26 March 2018
Two-tier serology testing is most frequently used for the diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis (LB); however, a positive result is no proof of active disease. To establish a diagnosis of active LB, better diagnostics are needed. Tests investigating the cellular immune system are available, but studies evaluating the utility of these tests on well-defined patient populations are lacking. Therefore, we investigated the utility of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay to diagnose active Lyme neuroborreliosis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of various study groups were stimulated by using Borrelia burgdorferi strain B31 and various recombinant antigens, and subsequently, the number of Borrelia-specific interferon gamma (IFN-)-secreting T cells was measured. We included 33 ac...
Friday 23 March 2018
AbstractBorrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto is the main etiological agent of Lyme disease (LD) in the USA. In Brazil, it is believed that a similar spirochete is the causal agent of the Baggio –Yoshinari syndrome (BYS), a zoonosis also transmitted by ticks, whose clinical manifestations are similar to those of LD. Despite the epidemiological importance, there are no studies reporting the presence and the prevalence ofB. burgdorferi among horses in Mato Grosso State. The aim of this study was to detect and measure the frequency of IgG antibodies anti-B. burgdorferi American strain G39/40 in horses in the municipality of Sinop, MT —Brazil, using the indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for serological diagnosis. Blood samples from 367 horses were collected in 81 farms. An ep...
Friday 23 March 2018
Conclusion This case highlights the importance of taking a good travel history and emphasizes the importance of appropriate and timely therapy to prevent unnecessary interventions such as permanent pacemaker insertion. (Source: Archives of Cardiovascular Diseases Supplements)
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Thursday 22 March 2018
A study on the relative risk for ehrlichiosis and Lyme disease highlights the need for more public education regarding tick-borne diseases.Emerging Infectious Diseases (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Thursday 22 March 2018
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases, Ahead of Print. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Thursday 22 March 2018
Clinical Case Reports,Volume 6, Issue 5, Page 901-903, May 2018. (Source: Clinical Case Reports)
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Thursday 22 March 2018
Host genotype influences the severity of murine Lyme borreliosis, caused by the spirochetal bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. C57BL/6 (B6) mice develop mild Lyme arthritis, whereas C3H/HeN (C3H) mice develop severe Lyme arthritis. Differential expression of interleukin 10 (IL-10) has long been associated with mouse strain differences in Lyme pathogenesis; however, the underlying mechanism(s) of this genotype-specific IL-10 regulation remained elusive. Herein we reveal a cAMP-mediated mechanism of IL-10 regulation in B6 macrophages that is substantially diminished in C3H macrophages. Under cAMP and CD14-p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling, B6 macrophages stimulated with B. burgdorferi produce increased amounts of IL-10 and decreased levels of arthritogenic cytokines, includi...
Thursday 22 March 2018
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, EarlyView. (Source: Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine)
Monday 19 March 2018
Discussion It can be difficult to consider what is the problem when a health care provider is presented with a group of seemingly disparate signs and symptoms with a history and time course that do not match classic (or commonly atypical) disease presentations. Common things happen commonly, so when symptoms occur without the usual co-occurring symptoms, unusual symptoms or time courses, it can be challenging. The provider must develop a reasonable differential diagnosis and balance how far to go with the evaluation against how much to monitor the patient for new signs or symptoms which can provide new information. Patient safety and the natural time course of diseases have to be considered. Providers also recognize that well-appearing individuals with acute onset of problems usually have ...
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Saturday 17 March 2018
A constant increase in the incidence of tick-borne diseases has been observed in Europe since the last decade of the twentieth century. In Poland, the most common zoonoses transmitted by Ixodes ricinus ticks are tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and Lyme disease. These diseases have become a serious clinical problem, especially in Podlaskie Region, which is considered an endemic area for these diseases (Czupryna et al., 2011). (Source: International Journal of Infectious Diseases)
Wednesday 14 March 2018
Authors: Patton SK, Phillips B Abstract Evidence-based strategies for nurses. ABSTRACT: Lyme disease is recognized as the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Surveillance data indicate both increasing numbers of Lyme disease cases and geographic expansion of areas where the causative spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, can be found. With prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment in the acute stage, most patients will recover fully. Without treatment, however, the infecting pathogen remains within the body, often producing long-term complications, including musculoskeletal, neurologic, and cardiovascular effects. The authors describe early and late manifestations of Lyme disease, the appropriate use of diagnostic tests, the recommended treatment, and strategies...
Wednesday 14 March 2018
CONCLUSIONS: Infestation of ticks infected with Lyme disease spirochete in this study proved to be variable and depend on the season, the area of tick attack and the region in Poland. The results of the study clearly show that ticks infected with <i>Borrelia burgdorferi</i> inhabit all regions of Poland. The results are consistent with National Institute of Hygiene data which indicates that Lyme disease cases are recorded in all regions of Poland. PMID: 29575881 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine : AAEM)
Tuesday 13 March 2018
In this study, the major factors underlying synonymous codon‐related amino acid usage in the B. burgdorferi genome and bias in synonymous codon usage of the translation initiation region of coding sequences were analyzed. Additionally, adaptation of B. burgdorferi to several of its hosts was analyzed in the context of synonymous codon usage. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that nucleotide content at the third synonymous position of a codon influenced the synonymous codon usage pattern, but the strand‐specific factor did not influence the synonymous codon usage pattern of B. burgdorferi. In terms of the low GC content of B. burgdorferi coding sequences, the effective number of codons (ENC) showed a significant correlation with GC3 content (at the synonymous position). For th...
Monday 12 March 2018
We report a typical case of trombiculosis induced by trombiculid larvae of N. autumnalis, which are habitual parasites of various endo- and ectothermic vertebrates. PMID: 29525801 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Infezioni in Medicina)
Monday 12 March 2018
Authors: Moreno LZ, Miraglia F, Loureiro AP, Kremer FS, Eslabao MR, Dellagostin OA, Lilenbaum W, Vasconcellos SA, Heinemann MB, Moreno AM Abstract Leptospira inadai is classified as a species of the Leptospira intermediate group that has been poorly studied due to its apparent insignificance to human and animal health. Nevertheless, over the last two decades the species has been described in human cases in India and in carrier animals in Ecuador. Here, we present the first identification and genomic characterisation of L. inadai serogroup Lyme isolated from captured rodent in Brazil. Even though the M34/99 strain was not pathogenic for hamsters, it was able to establish renal colonisation. The M34/99 strain presented high similarity with L. inadai serogroup Lyme human reference ind...
Sunday 11 March 2018
Molecular Microbiology, EarlyView. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Friday 9 March 2018
(Source: Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment)
Thursday 8 March 2018
In Reply We thank Drs Kim and Budhram for their valuable suggestion. Owing to the 600-word limit in the Observation section, much of the information associated with this patient had to be omitted in the article. Herein we fill in some of the gaps. We agree that magnetic resonance imaging is the first priority for excluding a paraneoplastic or parainfectious origin when treating a patient with opsoclonus. Small cell carcinoma of the lung, breast cancer, and ovarian cancer are most prevelent in adults with opsoclonus, whereas neuroblastoma accounts for more than 50% prevalence in children. Of course, such work-up had been done in this patient, yet the results were negative. Occasionally, other neoplasms (ie, non-Hodgkin ’s lymphoma, malignant lymphoma) have also been related to opsoclonus....
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Wednesday 7 March 2018
(Natural News) Testing methods for tick-borne diseases tend to be cumbersome, unreliable, specialized, or even nonexistent. That is, until a Science Daily article reported the recently-developed Tick-Borne Disease Serochip (TBD-Serochip) can accurately diagnose eight different tick-borne pathogens, including the bacterium responsible for the widespread Lyme disease. The brainchild of a large team of researchers from the Centers for... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Tuesday 6 March 2018
Marieta AH Braks, Sipke E van Wieren, Willem Takken and Hein Sprong, Editors (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Tuesday 6 March 2018
Lyme borreliosis (LB) and other Ixodes ricinus-borne diseases (TBDs) are diseases that emerge from interactions of humans and domestic animals with infected ticks in nature. Nature, environmental and health polic... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Tuesday 6 March 2018
In this study, we investigated how infection with the Lyme disease-causing bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) affects host metabolic pathways and how these metabolic pathways may impact host defense. First, metabolome analysis was performed on human... (Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
Monday 5 March 2018
Authors: Bause L, Niemeier A, Krenn V Abstract The German Society of Orthopaedic Rheumatology (DGORh) honored Prof. Dr. med. Veit Krenn (MVZ-ZHZMD-Trier) with the Arthur Vick Prize 2017. With this award, scientific results with high impact on the diagnosis, therapy and pathogenetic understanding of rheumatic diseases are honored. In cooperation with pathologists and colleagues from various clinical disciplines Prof. Dr. med. Veit Krenn developed several histopathologic scoring systems which contribute to the diagnosis and pathogenetic understanding of degenerative and rheumatic diseases. These scores include the synovitis score, the meniscal degeneration score, the classification of periprosthetic tissues (SLIM classification), the arthrofibrosis score, the particle score and the C...
Saturday 3 March 2018
Publication date: Available online 2 March 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Bessie H. Lockwood, Iga Stasiak, Madeleine A. Pfaff, Christopher A. Cleveland, Michael J. Yabsley The geographical distribution of Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma maculatum ticks is poorly understood in Kentucky. We conducted a convenience survey of wildlife species (white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), elk (Cervus canadensis) and black bears (Ursus americanus)) for ticks from October 2015 to January 2017. We detected four tick species including Amblyomma americanum, Dermacentor albipictus, I. scapularis and A. maculatum. Although the former two tick species were previously known to be widely distributed in Kentucky, we also found that I. scapularis and A. maculatum were also widespread....
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Thursday 1 March 2018
Depression has been reported in 8 –45% of patients with post-treatment Lyme symptoms (PTLS), but little is known about suicidal ideation in these patients. (Source: Psychosomatics)
Thursday 1 March 2018
Depression has been reported in 8 –45% of patients with posttreatment Lyme symptoms (PTLS), but little is known about suicidal ideation in these patients. (Source: Psychosomatics)
Wednesday 28 February 2018
Authors: Sekelj A, Đanić D Abstract Lyme borreliosis is a vector-borne infectious disease characterized by three disease stages. In the areas endemic for borreliosis, every acute facial palsy indicates serologic testing and implies specific approach to the disease. Th e aim of the study was to identify and confirm the value of acoustic refl ex and House-Brackman (HB) grading scale as prognostic indicators of facial palsy in neuroborreliosis. Th e study included 176 patients with acute facial palsy divided into three groups based on serologic testing: borreliosis, Bell's palsy, and facial palsy caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). Study patients underwent baseline audiometry with tympanometry and acoustic reflex, whereas current state of facial palsy was assessed by the ...
Wednesday 28 February 2018
(University of Nevada, Reno) Monika Gulia-Nuss, assistant professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Nevada, Reno, is working on generating transgenic ticks in her lab, the first of their kind, in order to explore new targets for vector control. Gulia-Nuss' lab works specifically on the deer tick and has received a $407,000 grant from the National Institute of Health to continue studies. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Wednesday 28 February 2018
In conclusion, bats were shown to pass rickettsia and haemoplasma DNA in their faeces. Molecular evidence is provided for the presence of Neorickettsia sp. in bat faeces in Europe. In the evaluated regions bat faeces and owl/kestrel pellets do not appear to pose epidemiological risk from the point of view of F. tularensis, C. burnetii and Chlamydiales. Testing of bird pellets may provide an alternative approach to trapping for assessing the local occurrence of vector-borne bacteria in small mammals. PMID: 29492770 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Antonie van Leeuwenhoek)
Saturday 24 February 2018
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. Borrelia burgdorferi, Lyme disease agent, harbors no enzymes to synthesize or degrade polyamines yet does contain the genes encoding a putative polyamine uptake system (potABCD). Here, we demonstrated that the PotABCD is a spermidine‐specific transporter system that is essential for survival. The genes are upregulated during tick feeding concomitantly with the decrease of osmoliarity which has been shown to trigger virulence factor expression. The potABCD genes are regulated in a RpoN‐dependent, RpoS‐independent, BosR‐independent fashion. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
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Friday 23 February 2018
Publication date: 3 April 2018 Source:Neuroscience Letters, Volume 671 Author(s): Geetha Parthasarathy, Mario T. Philipp Lyme neuroborreliosis, caused by the gram-negative bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, may affect the central and/or peripheral nervous systems. In previous studies, we showed that human oligodendrocytes exposed to the bacteria undergo apoptosis in an inflammatory environment, and that inflammatory pathways trigger cell-death pathways. We further demonstrated that several receptor tyrosine kinases were involved in triggering downstream effects, leading to inflammation and apoptosis. Toll-like receptors TLR2 and TLR5, which are commonly studied receptors in Lyme disease, only had a minimal role in inflammatory processes. To delineate the role of other TLRs, if any, real-time...
Friday 23 February 2018
Cerebrospinal fluid CXCL13 is a marker for Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). CXCL13 lateral flow immunoassay (LFA) was compared to CXCL13 ELISA. CXCL13 LFA results correlated strongly with CXCL13 ELISA results. CXCL13 LFA is a rapid and easy to perform test, which is suitable for routine point-of-care diagnostics of suspected LNB patients. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Thursday 22 February 2018
Borrelia burgdorferi infection is common in horses living in Lyme endemic areas and the geographic range for exposure is increasing. Morbidity after B. burgdorferi infection in horses is unknown. Documented, naturally occurring syndromes attributed to B. burgdorferi infection in horses include neuroborreliosis, uveitis, and cutaneous pseudolymphoma. Although other clinical signs such as lameness and stiffness are reported in horses, these are often not well documented. Diagnosis of Lyme disease is based on exposure to B. burgdorferi, cytology or histopathology of infected fluid or tissue and antigen detection. Treatment of Lyme disease in horses is similar to treatment of humans or small animals but treatment success might not be the same because of species differences in antimicrobial bio...
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Lyme borreliosis and depressive symptoms in patients aged 65 years and older referred to a tertiary Lyme centre. Eur J Intern Med. 2018 Feb 20;: Authors: Zomer TP, van Bemmel T, van Munster B, van Kooten B, Vermeeren YM PMID: 29475771 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: European Journal of Internal Medicine)
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Conclusions and Clinical ImportancePositive Lyme multiplex results were common in horses with neurologic diseases and did not adequately differentiate horses with neuroborreliosis from horses with other disorders. (Source: Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine)
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Conclusion: NFS is a unique tool that can be used universally to assess the condition of patients with LD. (Source: Journal of Global Infectious Diseases)
Tuesday 20 February 2018
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine,Volume 32, Issue 2, Page 832-838, March/April 2018. (Source: Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine)
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Sunday 18 February 2018
Authors: Boyer PH, Kieffer P, de Martino SJ, Zilliox L, Vogel JY, Jaulhac B, Hansmann Y PMID: 29449048 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medecine et Maladies Infectieuses)
Sunday 18 February 2018
It was an exercise session in a local park that almost became the mother-of-two Nell McAndrew's undoing – after a tiny tick bite led to her developing potentially life-changing Lyme disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Saturday 17 February 2018
(Natural News) A study, published in the journal Frontiers in Medicine, found that more than 50 percent of Lyme disease survivors still suffer from severe, persistent symptoms even after being clinically cleared of the infection. A team of researchers from John Hopkins University School of Medicine evaluated 61 individuals who were either self- or physician-referred... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Saturday 17 February 2018
In this study using 3956 control sera, we demonstrated that although this 2-tier testing algorithm does significantly improve diagnostic specificity compared with each of the EIAs individually, the WCS EIA and the C6 peptide EIA are not independent tests. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Saturday 17 February 2018
In this study using 3956 control sera, we demonstrated that although this two-tier testing algorithm does significantly improve diagnostic specificity compared with each of the EIAs individually, the WCS EIA and the C6 peptide EIA are not independent tests. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Friday 16 February 2018
(Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health) A new blood test called the Tick-Borne Disease Serochip (TBD Serochip) promises to revolutionize the diagnosis of tick-borne disease by offering a single test to identify and distinguish between Borrelia burgdorferi, the pathogen responsible for Lyme disease, and seven other tick-borne pathogens. Led by scientists at the Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, the research team report details on the new test in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
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Friday 16 February 2018
This study indicates that I. scapularis occurs throughout the southern-most portion of province, in close proximity to coastlines and major waterways. Milder winter conditions, as indicated by the number of degree days < 0 °C, was determined to be a strong predictor of tick occurrence, as was, to a lesser degree, rising levels of annual precipitation, leading to a final model with a predictive accuracy of 0.845 (range: 0.828-0.893). Both RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 climate projections predict that a significant proportion of the province (roughly a quarter to a third) will be highly suitable for I. scapularis by the 2080s. Comparison with cases of canine infection show good spatial agreement with baseline model predictions, but the presence of canine Borrelia infections beyond the clim...
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Friday 16 February 2018
Conclusions This study confirms that subclinical Borrelia seroconversion is common in south-eastern Sweden. The findings further suggest that male sex, younger age together with B. gariniii induced levels of IL-10, IL-17A and CCL20 may be associated with a subclinical course. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Friday 16 February 2018
Publication date: Available online 16 February 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Ana Cláudia Norte, David Costantini, Pedro Miguel Araújo, Marcel Eens, Jaime Albino Ramos, Dieter Heylen By draining resources, microparasites can negatively affect the host fitness, which in turn can result in reduced transmission when virulence leads to reductions in host population size. Therefore, for a microparasite to persist in nature, the level of harm it can do to its host is expected to be limited. We tested this hypothesis for tick-borne Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) infections in the blackbird Turdus merula, one of the most important avian reservoir hosts in Europe. Experimental and observational data were combined to examine the physiological effects caused by B. bur...
Thursday 15 February 2018
Nature 554, 7692 (2018). doi:10.1038/d41586-018-01809-5 Author: Barbara Kiser Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week’s best science picks. (Source: Nature)
Thursday 15 February 2018
With the resurgence of tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease and the emergence of new tick-borne pathogens such as Powassan virus, understanding what distinguishes vectors from non-vectors, and predicting u... (Source: BMC Ecology)
Wednesday 14 February 2018
When Kate Sheridan was 11 years old, a series of complications from Lyme Disease changed her life dramatically. (Source: mobihealthnews)
Wednesday 14 February 2018
In the summer of 2016, Jerome Goddard, a medical entomologist in Mississippi, received an email from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with a desperate ask. The agency was conducting an “urgent” search for insect scientists around the U.S. who could take up to a six-month paid leave from work to help the CDC fight the Zika outbreak in the U.S., and possibly respond to areas with local transmission if needed. “That’s how bad it is—they need to borrow someone,” says Goddard, an extension professor of medical entomology at Mississippi State University. “We can’t find people to investigate an outbreak.” Medical entomology—the study of insects and arthropods that impact human health—has been a shrinking f...
Tuesday 13 February 2018
(Source: BMJ News)
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Tuesday 13 February 2018
Publication date: Available online 13 February 2018 Source:Journal of Cardiology Cases Author(s): Anthony H. Kashou, Nabil Braiteh, Hisham E. Kashou Lyme carditis is an uncommon presentation of the early-disseminated phase of Lyme disease, although it is recognizable and often curable. Because of its rarity, diagnosing Lyme carditis requires a high level of suspicion, especially when young patients in certain endemic areas present with symptoms of bradycardia and/or evidence of high-degree atrioventricular (AV) block. Temporary cardiac pacing along with antibiotic therapy has been shown to aid in the management of Lyme carditis until symptoms and conduction blocks have resolved. Herein, we report two cases of Lyme carditis-induced AV block that were successfully managed and reversed with ...
Monday 12 February 2018
Authors: Kang JG, Chae JB, Cho YK, Jo YS, Shin NS, Lee H, Choi KS, Yu DH, Park J, Park BK, Chae JS Abstract Anaplasmosis, cat-scratch disease, and Lyme disease are emerging vector-borne infectious diseases in Korea. Although the prevalence of vector-borne pathogens (VBPs) in domestic animals and vector arthropods has been documented, there is limited information on the presence of VBPs in wild animals. The raccoon dog (Nyctereutes procyonoides), a wild canid found in East Asia and Europe, represents a potential wildlife reservoir for zoonotic diseases. To investigate the prevalence of VBPs in raccoon dogs, 142 carcasses and 51 blood samples from captured raccoon dogs were collected from 2003 to 2010 and from 2008 to 2009, respectively, in Korea. In addition, 105 Haemaphysalis flava...
Monday 12 February 2018
Zoonoses and Public Health,Volume 65, Issue 2, Page 227-229, March 2018. (Source: Zoonoses and Public Health)
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Monday 12 February 2018
Humanizing the digital revolution, the secret life of yeast and Lyme disease through a climate lens: Books in brief, Published online: 12 February 2018; doi:10.1038/d41586-018-01809-5Barbara Kiser reviews five of the week’s best science picks. (Source: Nature AOP)
Monday 12 February 2018
Summary Current surveillance methods have been useful to document geographic expansion of Lyme disease in the United States and to monitor the increasing incidence of this major public health problem. Nevertheless, these approaches are resource‐intensive, generate results that are difficult to compare across jurisdictions, and measure less than the total burden of disease. By adopting more efficient methods, resources could be diverted instead to education of at‐risk populations and new approaches to prevention. In this special issue of Zoonoses and Public Health, seven articles are presented that either evaluate traditional Lyme disease surveillance methods or explore alternatives that have the potential to be less costly, more reliable, and sustainable. Twenty‐five years have passe...
Thursday 8 February 2018
Red rash on your body? While this could be a symptom of Lyme disease, Dr Ranj Singh and Dr Zoe Williams revealed on This Morning it could be an indication of hives, and how to treat it. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Thursday 8 February 2018
Ashley L. Marcinkiewicz, Ilva Lieknina, Svetlana Kotelovica, Xiuli Yang, Peter Kraiczy, Utpal Pal, Yi-Pin Lin, Kaspars Tars (Source: Frontiers in Immunology)
Thursday 8 February 2018
Red rash on your body? While this could be a symptom of Lyme disease, Dr Ranj Singh and Dr Zoe Williams revealed on This Morning it could be an indication of hives, and how to treat it. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Thursday 8 February 2018
(University of Connecticut) The precise mechanisms of how humans become infected with Lyme disease are still unclear. Researchers from UConn Health are advancing the understanding of how the causative bacterial agent of Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb), survives in ticks and mammals. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
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Wednesday 7 February 2018
LYME disease symptoms include the characteristic rash, a fever, headaches and fatigue.You could treat the bacterial infection naturally by making these diet swaps. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Wednesday 7 February 2018
Conclusions: The clinical presentation of unilateral, posterior interstitial keratitis may be a rare manifestation of herpes simplex virus keratitis. (Source: Cornea)
Wednesday 7 February 2018
We report 5 recent cases presented over a 2-year period. The variation of nonspecific presentations requires a high index of suspicion for prompt diagnosis and correct management. Recognizing this early would curtail the progression of conduction disorders and potentially avoid permanent pacemaker implantation. (Source: The American Journal of Cardiology)
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Wednesday 7 February 2018
Conclusions: Additional education and modifications to LD test ordering and reporting systems would likely reduce errors and improve patient care. PMID: 29425271 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: American Journal of Clinical Pathology)
Wednesday 7 February 2018
We report 5 recent cases presented over a 2-year period. The variation of non-specific presentations requires a high index of suspicion for prompt diagnosis and correct management. Recognising this early would curtail the progression of conduction disorders and potentially avoid permanent pacemaker implantation. (Source: The American Journal of Cardiology)
Tuesday 6 February 2018
Juliet Rose, from Harrow, can no longer eat solid food because of her Lyme disease. She believes she has harboured the infection, spread by infected ticks, since childhood. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 6 February 2018
LYME DISEASE signs include a stiff neck and a fever - but it could also produce a red rash with a ring around the edge. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Tuesday 6 February 2018
Conclusion The Western blot/avidity Western blot with PLDA approach shows exciting potential for being able to predict disease stage in some patients with LB, which could improve patient management. (Source: Journal of Microbiological Methods)
Tuesday 6 February 2018
Zoonoses and Public Health,Volume 65, Issue 2, Page 254-259, March 2018. (Source: Zoonoses and Public Health)
Monday 5 February 2018
LYME DISEASE warning: tick season starts in March although you can suffer from bites at any time in the year. One Lyme disease symptom many miss is suffering with a stiff neck. Other signs of the life-altering tick-borne condition revealed here. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Monday 5 February 2018
(University of Utah Health) Scientists at University of Utah Health believe they identified a mechanism that activates T cells, a key component of the immune system, which could explain the elusive link between a tick bite and persistent Lyme arthritis. The results are published online in the February 5th issue of The Journal of Immunology. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
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Monday 5 February 2018
AbstractIn the original version of this article, the word “flagellin” is not correct. The correct word should be “P66” throughout the body of the article. (Source: European Journal of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases)
Monday 5 February 2018
Authors: Rocchigiani G, Ebani VV, Nardoni S, Bertelloni F, Bascherini A, Leoni A, Mancianti F, Poli A Abstract Data about the spreading of arthropod-borne pathogens among hare populations are very scant, so the aim of the present preliminary study was to investigate, through molecular analysis, the occurrence of Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Bartonella sp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Coxiella burnetii, Francisella tularensis, Leishmania spp. and piroplasms DNA in blood of 51 wild hares (Lepus europaeus) living in protected areas in Tuscany. All hares resulted negative for A. phagocytophilum, Bartonella sp., B. burgdorferi s.l., C. burnetii and F. tularensis. Five animals (9.8%) were positive for Leishmania and one hare (1.9%) tested positive for piroplasms. Sequencing of this sa...
Sunday 4 February 2018
In conclusion, these results suggested that NF‑κB serves an important stimulatory role in the signaling pathway of rBmpA‑induced inflammatory chemokines in BV2 cells. PMID: 29393443 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Molecular Medicine Reports)
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Saturday 3 February 2018
We report here the most recent assays developed over the last 10 years, for detection of Lyme borreliosis in body fluids. (Source: Clinica Chimica Acta)
Saturday 3 February 2018
Doxycycline is highly effective treatment for early neurologic Lyme borreliosis (NLB). 19 studies were reviewed to determine if treatment of patients with erythema migrans with other oral antibiotics would increase the risk for developing NLB. In the 8 studies that directly compared doxycycline to another antibiotic, the pooled difference indicated a 0.2% greater risk of developing NLB in doxycycline treated patients (95% CI: -1.0%, +1.4%; p=0.77), with an estimated heterogeneity of 0.0%, p=0.58. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Saturday 3 February 2018
This study provides important baseline information to rethink communication channels for education and more effectively guide future tick-borne disease awareness campaigns. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Saturday 3 February 2018
Publication date: Available online 3 February 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Benjamin Cull, Maaike E. Pietzsch, Kayleigh M. Hansford, Emma L. Gillingham, Jolyon M. Medlock Public Health England’s passive Tick Surveillance Scheme (TSS) records the distribution, seasonality and host associations of ticks submitted from across the United Kingdom (UK), and helps to inform the UK government on emerging tick-borne disease risks. Here we summarise data collected through surveillance during 2010–2016, and compare with previous TSS data from 2005 to 2009, particularly in relation to the primary Lyme borreliosis vector Ixodes ricinus. 4173 records were submitted, constituting >14,000 ticks; 97% were endemic tick records (13,833 ticks of 11 species), with an addition...
Saturday 3 February 2018
Doxycycline is highly effective treatment for early neurologic Lyme borreliosis (NLB). Nineteen studies were reviewed to determine if treatment of patients with erythema migrans with other oral antibiotics would increase the risk for developing NLB. In the eight studies that directly compared doxycycline to another antibiotic, the pooled difference indicated a 0.2% greater risk of developing NLB in doxycycline-treated patients (95% CI: −1.0%, +1.4%; P = 0.77), with an estimated heterogeneity of 0.0%, P = 0.58. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
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Friday 2 February 2018
Lyme disease is the most commonly reported tick-borneillness in the United States. Thecausative spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted by 4 species of Ixodes tick species. Over 90% of US cases occur in northeasternstates from Maine to Virginia, and in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan. Infection also takes place in northern California and Oregon. Lyme borreliosis is also diagnosed in parts of Europe, China, and Japan. The white-footed mouse is the primary animal reservoir for B. burgdorferi in the U.S. (Source: Disease a Month)
Thursday 1 February 2018
(Johns Hopkins Medicine) In a study of 61 people treated for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Johns Hopkins researchers conclude that fatigue, pain, insomnia and depression do indeed persist over long periods of time for some people, despite largely normal physical exams and clinical laboratory testing. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Thursday 1 February 2018
Summary In Maryland, Lyme disease (LD) is a reportable disease and all laboratories and healthcare providers are required to report to the local health department. Given the volume of LD reports and effort required for investigation, surveillance for LD is burdensome and subject to underreporting. We explored the utility of International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (administrative) codes for use with LD surveillance. We aimed to collect the administrative codes for a 10% sample of 2009 LD reports (n = 474) from 292 facilities stratified by case classification (confirmed, probable, suspected and not a case). Sixty‐three per cent (n = 184) of facilities responded to the survey, and 341 different administrative codes were obtained for 91% (n = 430) ...
Thursday 1 February 2018
Lyme arthritis: Bystander-activated T cells contribute to Lyme arthritis, Published online: 01 February 2018; doi:10.1038/nrrheum.2018.12Lyme arthritis: Bystander-activated T cells contribute to Lyme arthritis (Source: Nature Reviews Rheumatology)
Wednesday 31 January 2018
There is no evidence of central nervous system (CNS) infection in patients with neurobehavioral symptoms of Lyme disease, researchers report.Reuters Health Information (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Wednesday 31 January 2018
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31, 2018 -- Contrary to what many people believe, the lone star tick does not spread Lyme disease, researchers report. But it can transmit other diseases. The researchers came to that conclusion after reviewing more than 60 studies... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Wednesday 31 January 2018
(Entomological Society of America) The bacteria that cause Lyme disease are transmitted to humans primarily by the blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis). Often presumed guilty by association is the lone star tick (Amblyomma americanum). However, a new review of three decades' worth of research concludes the latter should be exonerated: While lone star ticks are guilty of transmitting bacteria that cause several human illnesses, the scientific evidence says Lyme disease is not one of them. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Wednesday 31 January 2018
Publication date: Available online 31 January 2018 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Lars Eisen The blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is the primary vector to humans in the eastern United States of the deer tick virus lineage of Powassan virus (Powassan virus disease); the protozoan parasite Babesia microti (babesiosis); and multiple bacterial disease agents including Anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis), Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia mayonii (Lyme disease), Borrelia miyamotoi (relapsing fever-like illness, named Borrelia miyamotoi disease), and Ehrlichia muris eauclairensis (a minor causative agent of ehrlichiosis). With the notable exception of Powassan virus, which can be transmitted within minutes after attachment by an infected tick, there is no doubt that th...
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Monday 29 January 2018
ConclusionsThe 14 day oral doxycycline was not inferior to the 14 day intravenous ceftriaxone in treatment of adult European patients with early disseminated Lyme borreliosis manifested as multiple EM. The frequency of non-specific symptoms in patients was similar to that in controls without a history of Lyme bo rreliosis. (Source: Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy)
Saturday 27 January 2018
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The presence of cholesterol glycolipids in the membranes of Borrelia burgdorferi was detected and characterized by biophysical and biochemical approaches. Cholesterol glycolipids are present in both the outer and inner membranes, but are different in composition and their ability to form lipid rafts and in their associated proteins. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Tuesday 23 January 2018
Forests in urban landscapes differ from their rural counterparts in ways that may alter vector-borne disease dynamics. In urban forest fragments, tick-borne pathogen prevalence is not well characterized; mitig... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Monday 22 January 2018
Borrelia burgdorferi is a causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common arthropod-borne disease in the United States. B. burgdorferi evades host immune defenses to establish a persistent, disseminated infection. Previous work showed that P66-deficient B. burgdorferi (p66) is cleared quickly after inoculation in mice. We demonstrate that the p66 strain is rapidly cleared from the skin inoculation site prior to dissemination. The rapid clearance of p66 bacteria is not due to inherent defects in multiple properties that might affect infectivity: bacterial outer membrane integrity, motility, chemotactic response, or nutrient acquisition. This led us to the hypothesis that P66 has a role in mouse cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (mCRAMP; a major skin antimicrobial peptide) and/or n...
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Monday 22 January 2018
The Lyme disease-causing organism Borrelia burgdorferi is transmitted into the mammalian host by an infected-tick bite. Successful infection relies on the ability of this extracellular pathogen to persist and colonize different tissues. B. burgdorferi encodes a large number of adhesins that are able to interact with host ligands to facilitate adherence and tissue colonization. Multiple glycosaminoglycan binding proteins present in B. burgdorferi offer a degree of redundancy of function during infection, and this highlights the importance of glycosaminoglycans as host cell receptors for spirochete adherence. Of particular interest in this study is Borrelia glycosaminoglycan binding protein (Bgp), which binds to heparin-related glycosaminoglycans. The properties of a bgp transposon mutant an...
Saturday 20 January 2018
We report here the most recent assays developed over the last 10 years, for detection of Lyme borreliosis in body fluids. PMID: 29366833 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: International Journal of Clinical Chemistry)
Thursday 18 January 2018
Authors: Okła H, Sosnowska M, Jasik KP, Słodki J, Wojtyczka RD Abstract Ixodes ricinus and other representatives of the order Ixodida are vectors of typical pathogens: Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, Anaplasma phagocytophilium, Babesia spp., a tick-borne encephalitis virus, and other microorganisms which are important from a medical and veterinary point of view. The presented study focuses on the verification of nonspecific bacterial flora of I. ricinus. We analyzed ticks collected in a forest region in Silesia, an industrial district in Poland. Methods of classical microbiology and biochemical assays (API 20 NE test, API Staph test and MICRONAUT System) were used for isolation and identification of microorganisms living on the body surface of I. ricinus and inside ticks. The re...
Thursday 18 January 2018
Reading the recent letter from Stone et al1 reminded us of a subject from our previous galactose-α-1,3-galactose (alpha-gal) study. Indeed, she may well be the same 76-year-old lady found in the letter (Table E1) who was reported as negative to alpha-gal. Her first reaction to meat started 45 minutes after eating barbecue, only a few months following her recovery from Lyme disease.2,3 Since then she has had multiple reactions of varying severity, some of which started less than 1 hour after ingestion of red meat. (Source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology)
Wednesday 17 January 2018
This study aims to estimate the incidence of LB among children with a clinical suspicion for Lyme in a tertiary referral center in the Netherlands. Patient chart data on medical history, clinical signs and symptoms, diagnostic test results and diagnoses were collected using standardized case record forms. Patients were categorized based on clinical and laboratory findings using a modified, previously published classification system. We included 325 children, with a median age of 11.9 years, of whom 61.8% were female. LB was diagnosed in 38 of the referred children (11.7%). However, of the 85 patients who were specifically referred to the Lyme clinic, 28 (32.9%) were diagnosed with LB. Of the specifically referred Lyme-positive patients, 11 (39.3%) had a definitive LB diagnosis. Twelve chil...
Wednesday 17 January 2018
Lyme disease is an affection caused by a spirochete infection called Borrelia Burgdorferi which may harbor a varied and misleading clinical symptomatology. The serology tests commonly used for diagnosis show a wide sensitivity varying from 34% to 70,5%, leaving many infected patients with false negative tests. Alternative techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) could be helpful but not conclusive enough. Using biofilm busters, such as stevia and serratiopeptidase, could lead to bacterial blood release, thus increasing the spirochete load, making PCR test more sensitive, thus improving the patient ’s diagnosis and management. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
Monday 15 January 2018
Zoonosis or zoonotic diseases are conditions that can be passed from animals to humans. These include rabies, malaria, and Lyme disease. Learn more. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
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Friday 12 January 2018
This study aims to estimate the incidence of LB among children with a clinical suspicion for Lyme in a tertiary referral center in the Netherlands. Patient chart data on medical history, clinical signs and symptoms, diagnostic test results and diagnoses were collected using standardized case record forms. Patients were categorized based on clinical and laboratory findings using a modified, previously published classification system. We included 325 children, with a median age of 11.9 years, of whom 61.8% were female. LB was diagnosed in 38 of the referred children (11.7%). However, of the 85 patients who were specifically referred to the Lyme clinic, 28 (32.9%) were diagnosed with LB. Of the specifically referred Lyme-positive patients, 11 (39.3%) had a definitive LB diagnosis. Twelve chil...
Thursday 11 January 2018
Authors: Madsen KB, Wallménius K, Fridman Å, Påhlson C, Nilsson K Abstract Vector-borne diseases such as Lyme borreliosis and rickettsioses have been associated with ocular inflammation. Our aim was to study patients with diagnosed uveitis to evaluate serological signs of infection or exposure to these tick-borne agents. Forty-eight patients were prospectively examined with serology together with medical records and a questionnaire concerning previous exposure, diseases, and treatments. Seven patients (14.6%) showed seroconversion to Rickettsia spp. between acute and convalescent phase sera, which provides support for a positive Rickettsia diagnosis according to guidelines. The specificity was confirmed by Western blot. Additional 28 patients had stationary titres of which eight...
Thursday 11 January 2018
Authors: Eisen RJ, Eisen L Abstract In the United States, the blacklegged tick, Ixodes scapularis, is a vector of seven human pathogens, including those causing Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, Borrelia miyamotoi disease, Powassan virus disease, and ehrlichiosis associated with Ehrlichia muris eauclarensis. In addition to an accelerated rate of discovery of I. scapularis-borne pathogens over the past two decades, the geographic range of the tick, and incidence and range of I. scapularis-borne disease cases, have increased. Despite knowledge of when and where humans are most at risk of exposure to infected ticks, control of I. scapularis-borne diseases remains a challenge. Human vaccines are not available, and we lack solid evidence for other prevention and control methods to...
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Tuesday 9 January 2018
Publication date: Available online 8 January 2018 Source:Microbial Pathogenesis Author(s): Sanjeev Kumar Shukla, Govind Singh, Shahzad Ahmad, Prabhat Pant In Autoimmune disease a combination of infection, genetic and environmental factors causes an autoimmune response to the thyroid gland (characterized by lymphocytic infiltrations), thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) and different thyroid antigens. Graves' and Hashimoto disease are autoimmune disorders with genetic predisposition. CD40 that stimulates the proliferation and differentiation of lymphocytes is an essential immunomodulatory component for follicular cells in the thyroid and the cell that present the antigen. CD40, PTPN22 and thyroid-specific genes are immunomodulating genes for the TSH receptor and thyroglobulin. CD40...
Monday 8 January 2018
We report a case of difficult acute pain management in a patient with PTLDS who underwent dental extractions and required admission to an intensive care unit for pain control. (Source: Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia)
Thursday 4 January 2018
M. E. Herman-Giddens (Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal)
Tuesday 2 January 2018
Journal of Cutaneous Pathology,Volume 45, Issue 4, Page 274-277, April 2018. (Source: Journal of Cutaneous Pathology)
Monday 1 January 2018
We present such a case in a patient who was initially treated for cellulitis as well as neck and radicular leg pain, thereby expanding the cutaneous spectrum of Lyme disease. (Source: Journal of Cutaneous Pathology)
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Monday 1 January 2018
Monday 1 January 2018
ConclusionsPatients diagnosed with Lyme disease in Australia display a symptomology similar to ‘medically unexplained physical symptoms’ syndromes, experience social and financial harms, and are at risk of nosocomial harms. Negative medical interactions and the media may contribute to patients seeking alternative and potentially non‐evidence based diagnoses and treatments. (Source: Internal Medicine Journal)
Wednesday 27 December 2017
Authors: Halperin JJ Abstract INTRODUCTION: The nervous system is involved in 10-15% of patients infected with B. burgdorferi, B. afzelii and B. garinii. This review will address widespread misconceptions about the clinical phenomenology, diagnostic approach and response to treatment of neuroborreliosis. Areas covered: Improvements in diagnostic testing have allowed better definition of the clinical spectrum of neuroborreliosis, with lymphocytic meningitis and uni- or multifocal inflammation of peripheral/cranial nerves predominating. Despite widespread concern that post-treatment cognitive/behavioral symptoms might be attributable to persisting infection or aberrant inflammation within the central nervous system a large body of evidence indicates this is extremely improbable. Impo...
Wednesday 27 December 2017
AbstractLaboratory diagnosis of Lyme disease is difficult and presently dependent on detectingBorrelia burgdorferi-specific antibodies in patient serum with the disadvantage that the immune response toB. burgdorferi can be weak or variable, or alternatively, the slow and inefficient culture confirmation ofB. burgdorferi. PCR tests have previously shown poor sensitivity and are not routinely used for diagnosis. We developed a sensitive and specific Lyme Multiplex PCR-dot blot assay (LM-PCR assay) applicable to blood and urine samples to supplement western blot (WB) serological tests for detectingB. burgdorferi infection. The LM-PCR assay utilizes specific DNA hybridization to purifyB. burgdorferi DNA followed by PCR amplification offlagellin andOspA gene fragments and their detection by sou...
Wednesday 27 December 2017
We present case studies on the role of rodents in the cycles of Bartonella spp., of wild ungulates in the cycle of Babesia spp., and of various wildlife species in the life cycle of Leishmania infantum, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp. These examples highlight the usefulness of surveillance strategies focused on neglected zoonotic agents in wildlife as a source of valuable information for health professionals, nature managers and (local) decision-makers. These benefits could be further enhanced by increased collaboration between researchers and stakeholders across Europe and a more harmonised and coordinated approach for data collection. (Source: Veterinary Parasitology)
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Tuesday 26 December 2017
Lyme disease, spread via the bite of an infected tick, has expanded into states that border those with a historically high incidence, according to a recent CDCreport on surveillance data for 2008-2015. (Source: JAMA)
Monday 25 December 2017
Four years ago, we noted an example of irresponsible reporting on Lyme disease by an investigative television news team (1). Consequently, when we learned that this same group was airing a new five part series entitled, “The Lyme Wars: Investigating a Public Health Crisis”, we were most interested to see if they had done a better job this time in providing the public with more accurate and reliable information about Lyme disease. Sadly, that was not the case (2). Once again, the media failed to act responsibly and in the best interest of the public health. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Sunday 24 December 2017
In conclusion, at IgG levels of 200 IU/ml and higher, an ELISA was sufficient to detect antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. At those IgG levels, a confirmatory immunoblot may be omitted in patients referred to a tertiary Lyme centre. Before these results can be implemented in routine LB diagnosis, confirmation of the results is necessary in other patient populations and using other quantitative ELISAs and immunoblots. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Saturday 23 December 2017
CONCLUSIONS: The combination of specific B-cell epitopes from OspA and OspC proteins may improve the diagnostic accuracy of serologic assays, but further studies are required to address this hypothesis. PMID: 29284249 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine : AAEM)
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Friday 22 December 2017
We report the case of a 51-year-old woman presenting with a targetoid rash and pancytopenia after a tick bite. Initial evaluation was notable for severe neutropenia on the complete blood cell count differential, a positive Lyme IgM antibody, and a peripheral blood smear demonstrating atypical lymphocytes. While her pancytopenia was initially attributed to tick-borne illness, peripheral flow cytometry showed 7% myeloblasts, and a bone marrow biopsy confirmed 60% blasts. The patient was ultimately diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, in addition to early, localized Lyme disease. This case highlights the differential diagnosis for pancytopenia, cytopenia patterns for different tick-borne illnesses, the risk of premature closure in internal medicine, and management of Lyme disease in hos...
Wednesday 20 December 2017
Ixodes ricinus, the predominant tick species in Europe, can transmit the causative agents of important human diseases such as Lyme borreliosis (LB), caused by Borrelia spirochetes. In ... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
Wednesday 20 December 2017
In this report, we discussed the diagnosis, electrodiagnostic progression, pain management, goals for inpatient rehabilitation and overall prognosis of NA. (Source: PMandR)
Tuesday 19 December 2017
In this report, we discuss the diagnosis, electrodiagnostic progression, pain management, goals for inpatient rehabilitation, and overall prognosis of NA. (Source: PM and R)
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Tuesday 19 December 2017
In this report, we discussed the diagnosis, electrodiagnostic progression, pain management, goals for inpatient rehabilitation and overall prognosis of NA. (Source: PM and R)
Saturday 16 December 2017
We present an interesting case of a young male whose main manifestation of Lyme carditis was isolated LBBB. He also had mild Lyme myocarditis. The patient was successfully treated with oral doxycycline, and his isolated LBBB and myocarditis rapidly resolved. (Source: IDCases)
Saturday 16 December 2017
Publication date: Available online 15 December 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Katherine L. Moon, Steven L. Chown, Siew-May Loh, Charlotte L. Oskam, Ceridwen I. Fraser Lyme borreliosis (or Lyme Disease) is an emerging threat to human health in the Northern Hemisphere caused by tick-borne bacteria from the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (Bbsl) complex. Seabirds are important reservoir hosts of some members of the Bbsl complex in the Northern Hemisphere, and some evidence suggests this may be true of penguins in the Southern Hemisphere. While the Bbsl complex has not been detected in Australia, a novel Borrelia species (‘Candidatus Borrelia tachyglossi’) was recently sequenced from native ticks (Ixodes holocyclus and Bothriocroton concolor) parasitising echidnas (T...
Saturday 16 December 2017
Publication date: Available online 15 December 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Artem Rogovskyy, Maliha Batool, David C. Gillis, Patricia J. Holman, Igor V. Nebogatkin, Yuliya V. Rogovska, Maksym S. Rogovskyy Lyme borreliosis (LB) is caused by tick-borne spirochetes of the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato complex. LB is the most prevalent vector-borne illness in Ukraine, but current data on the prevalence of LB pathogens in their tick vector, Ixodes ricinus, are lacking. I. ricinus ticks may also carry Borrelia miyamotoi, an emerging relapsing fever group spirochete that has been implicated in human illness. Despite its zoonotic potential, the prevalence of B. miyamotoi in ticks has not been examined in Ukraine. Similarly, data on the prevalence of other important tick-...
Friday 15 December 2017
Authors: Treviño Castellano M, Navarro de la Cruz D, Trastoy Pena R PMID: 29233538 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Medicina Clinica)
Friday 15 December 2017
Publication date: Available online 15 December 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Andrea Egizi, Vivien Roegner, Ary Faraji, Sean P. Healy, Terry L. Schulze, Robert A. Jordan Historical specimens, when available, can provide new insight into the distribution and evolution of pathogens that may not be discernible from more recent samples. We used ticks collected from hunter-killed white-tailed deer in New Jersey in 2002 to examine the prevalence and distribution of four pathogens transmitted by Ixodes scapularis, the blacklegged tick. Infection with Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum (the agents of Lyme disease, human babesiosis, and human granulocytic anaplasmosis, respectively) was highest in the Coastal Plain and lowest in...
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Wednesday 13 December 2017
Nature 552, 7684 (2017). doi:10.1038/d41586-017-08442-8 Author: James G. Logan James G. Logan hails a study of the controversial tick-borne condition. (Source: Nature)
Wednesday 13 December 2017
The patients said they wanted better tools for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, but also recognition of Lyme as a chronic condition.Medscape Medical News (Source: Medscape Medical News Headlines)
Wednesday 13 December 2017
(Duke University Medical Center) Researchers at Duke Health are working to expand the medical toolkit for treating Lyme disease by identifying vulnerable areas of disease-causing bacteria that could lead to innovative therapies. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Wednesday 13 December 2017
(Tulane University) Lyme bacteria can survive a 28-day course of antibiotic treatment four months following infection by tick bite, according to a new study using a primate model for the disease. Despite testing negative for Lyme disease, some subjects were infected with Lyme bacteria in heart, brain and other organs. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Wednesday 13 December 2017
Lyme carditis is an uncommon manifestation of early disseminated Lyme disease. This case illustrates a 66-year-old male with complaints of fatigue, myalgias, and fever after a tick bite 3days earlier. A large erythema migrans was found on the chest wall. Initial electrocardiogram showed sinus rhythm with second degree 2:1 atrioventricular (AV) block, which progressed to intermittent complete AV block rapidly. He was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone. Over the course of 2-weeks of antibiotic therapy, the intermittent high-grade AV block improved slowly and progressively. (Source: Journal of Electrocardiology)
Wednesday 13 December 2017
Lyme disease laid bare, Published online: 13 December 2017; doi:10.1038/d41586-017-08442-8James G. Logan hails a study of the controversial tick-borne condition. (Source: Nature AOP)
Wednesday 13 December 2017
Lyme carditis is an uncommon manifestation of early disseminated Lyme disease. This case illustrates a 66-year-old male with complaints of fatigue, myalgias, and fever after a tick bite 3days earlier. A large erythema migrans was found on the chest wall. Initial electrocardiogram showed sinus rhythm with second degree 2:1 atrioventricular (AV) block, which progressed to intermittent complete AV block rapidly. He was treated with intravenous ceftriaxone. Over the course of 2-weeks of antibiotic therapy, the intermittent high-grade AV block improved slowly and progressively. (Source: Journal of Electrocardiology)
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Wednesday 13 December 2017
Authors: Keilp JG, Fallon BA PMID: 29244055 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology)
Tuesday 12 December 2017
We report the case of an 80-year-old patient with acute onset confusion initially suspected to reflect delirium in incipient Alzheimer’s disease. Cerebrospinal fluid tests revealed an unusually severe form of neuroborreliosis, which resolved following antibiotic treatment. This was mirrored in the measurement of CXCL13, which is suggested as a complementary biomarker. Clinical implications for screening, differential diagnosis and treatment are discussed. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
Monday 11 December 2017
Publication date: Available online 10 December 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Christine B. Graham, Sarah E. Maes, Andrias Hojgaard, Amy C. Fleshman, Sarah W. Sheldon, Rebecca J. Eisen The incidence and geographic range of tick-borne illness associated with Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus have dramatically increased in recent decades. Anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Borrelia spirochete infections, including Lyme borreliosis, account for tens of thousands of reported cases of tick-borne disease every year. Assays that reliably detect pathogens in ticks allow investigators and public health agencies to estimate the geographic distribution of human pathogens, assess geographic variation in their prevalence, and evaluate the effectiveness of prevention strategies. As...
Monday 11 December 2017
Nonhuman primates currently serve as the best experimental model for Lyme disease because of their close genetic homology with humans and demonstration of all three phases of disease after infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. We investigated the pathology associated with late disseminated Lyme disease (12 to 13 months after tick inoculation) in doxycycline-treated (28 days; 5 mg/kg, oral, twice daily) and untreated rhesus macaques. Minimal to moderate lymphoplasmacytic inflammation, with a predilection for perivascular spaces and collagenous tissues, was observed in multiple tissues, including the cerebral leptomeninges, brainstem, peripheral nerves from both fore and hind limbs, stifle synovium and perisynovial adipose tissue, urinary bladder, skeletal muscle, myocardium, and visceral per...
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Monday 11 December 2017
Non-human primates currently serve as the best experimental model for Lyme disease due to their close genetic homology with humans and demonstration of all three phases of disease following infection with Borreliella (Borrelia) burgdorferi (Bb). We investigated the pathology associated with late disseminated Lyme disease (12 to 13 months following tick inoculation) in doxycycline-treated (28 days; 5mg/kg, oral, 2x/day) and untreated rhesus macaques (Rm). Minimal to moderate lymphoplasmacytic inflammation, with a predilection for perivascular spaces and collagenous tissues, was observed in multiple tissues including the cerebral leptomeninges, brainstem, peripheral nerves from both fore and hind limbs, stifle synovium and perisynovial adipose tissue, urinary bladder, skeletal muscle, myocar...
Monday 11 December 2017
Authors: Crossland NA, Alvarez X, Embers ME Abstract Non-human primates currently serve as the best experimental model for Lyme disease due to their close genetic homology with humans and demonstration of all three phases of disease following infection with Borreliella (Borrelia) burgdorferi (Bb). We investigated the pathology associated with late disseminated Lyme disease (12 to 13 months following tick inoculation) in doxycycline-treated (28 days; 5mg/kg, oral, 2x/day) and untreated rhesus macaques (Rm). Minimal to moderate lymphoplasmacytic inflammation, with a predilection for perivascular spaces and collagenous tissues, was observed in multiple tissues including the cerebral leptomeninges, brainstem, peripheral nerves from both fore and hind limbs, stifle synovium and perisyno...
Sunday 10 December 2017
Authors: Masters EJ Abstract Preview Because disseminated Lyme disease can be devastating, early recognition and treatment are important. The presence of erythema migrans offers the best opportunity for early diagnosis. Therefore, public awareness and patient education about the rash of Lyme disease are critical. Dr Masters gives practical pointers from his own experience in evaluation of erythema migrans and reviews current treatment recommendations. PMID: 29219679 [PubMed] (Source: Postgraduate Medicine)
Sunday 10 December 2017
Authors: Paparone PW Abstract Preview The presentation of Lyme disease may resemble that of polymyalgia rheumatica. What's more, the latter may occur in patients who have positive serologic findings for the former. In this case report, the author describes differential diagnosis in an elderly patient whose rheumatic complaints and blood chemistry profile alone could easily have led to misdiagnosis. Important points in evaluation and treatment are discussed. PMID: 29219773 [PubMed] (Source: Postgraduate Medicine)
Saturday 9 December 2017
(MedPage Today) -- CDC surveillance report lists top 7 states (Source: MedPage Today Infectious Disease)
Thursday 7 December 2017
Check out some of the recent highlights from NEJM Group: NEJM: Perspective: Dr. Margot Kushel examines the root cause of a hepatitis A outbreak in... (Source: Physician's First Watch current issue)
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Thursday 7 December 2017
(Rutgers University) New diagnostic methods offer a better chance for more accurate detection of the infection from the Lyme bacteria, the most common tick-borne infection in North America and Europe. (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Wednesday 6 December 2017
Authors: Alasel M, Dassinger N, Vornicescu D, Keusgen M Abstract Rapid diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis has been carried out on chemically modified porous polyethylene sinter bodies. Photografting of 2-propenol on sinter body's surface was performed as a first step, introducing active hydroxyl groups as a result of polyalcohol formation. The hydroxyl groups were used for further immobilization and could be linked via 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to polysaccharides like mannan. Prone to coupling, mannan was activated using N, N'-disuccinimidyl carbonate (DSC) to allow smooth reaction with the primary amine groups of the silane layer. In a final preparation step, a recombinant fusion protein consisting of the mannan-binding domain of the lectin Concanavalin A (ConA) and a specif...
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Wednesday 6 December 2017
Publication date: Available online 6 December 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Nanna Skaarup Andersen, Sigurdur Skarphédinsson, Fredrikke C Knudtzen, Carsten Riis Olesen, Thøger Gorm Jensen, Per Moestrup Jensen Lyme neuroborreliosis is the most severe clinical manifestation of Lyme borreliosis. In most of Denmark, and also Europe, the overall prevalence of Lyme borreliosis seems to be stabilising. This is not the case on the island of Funen, Denmark, where the number of human Lyme neuroborreliosis cases has markedly declined throughout the last decade. We propose the reason for the decline is a major epidemic among roe deer, killing almost half of their population, resulting in a reduction in the tick population which make it less likely to get a tick bite and theref...
Wednesday 6 December 2017
The objective of the present study was to examine the interaction of skin fibroblasts withB. burgdorferi sensu stricto B31 (BB) andB. afzelii (BA) in vitro by electron microscopy. We also determined the expression of collagen type I, TGF- β, FGF-1, calreticulin (CALR), decorin (DCN), and PDGF-α at the mRNA level inBorrelia/fibroblast co-cultures. IntactBorrelia attach to and transmigrate fibroblasts, and undergo cystic transformation outside the fibroblasts. Fibroblasts preserve their vitality and express a prominent granular endoplasmic reticulum, suggesting activated protein synthesis. On two different semi-quantitative real-time PCR assays, BB- and BA/fibroblast co-cultures showed a significant induction of type I collagen mRNA after 2 days compared to fibroblasts (fourfold for BA a...
Tuesday 5 December 2017
As several studies indicated an increase in Lyme disease (LD), notably in neighbouring countries, concerns have arisen regarding the evolution of Lyme disease in Belgium. In order to confirm or infirm the incr... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
Monday 4 December 2017
Lyme borreliosis (LB) is the most common reported tick-borne infection in Europe, and involves transmission of Borrelia by ticks. As long as a vaccine is not available and effective measures for controlling tick ... (Source: BMC Infectious Diseases)
Friday 1 December 2017
BY ANUMEHA SINGH, MD, & ANDREJ KIELTYKA, PASymptomatic bradycardia is usually reserved for the over-the-hill crowd, but it is not entirely unheard of in the young and healthy. A 21-year-old African American man was sent to the emergency department by his primary care provider. The patient had no previous medical issues, normal vital signs, and was fine until about a week prior. He had quickly worsening shortness of breath while climbing the stairs to get to his dorm bedroom. The young man denied having been out in the woods or noting tick bites. He had no family history of cardiomyopathy or early cardiac events.The patient had negative toxicology and social history screens. When pressed further, he recalled malaise, stiff neck, low-grade temperature, and muscle aches for about tw...
Friday 1 December 2017
The facial paralysis and drooping is caused by nerve inflammation, but the cause of that inflammation “ is a question for the ages ” says one expert. (Source: NYT Health)
Friday 1 December 2017
Authors: PMID: 29237635 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Canadian Family Physician Medecin de Famille Canadien)
Friday 1 December 2017
Paralysie de Bell récente et maladie de Lyme. Can Fam Physician. 2017 Dec;63(12):e509 Authors: PMID: 29237645 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Canadian Family Physician Medecin de Famille Canadien)
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Thursday 30 November 2017
by Simon Pollett, Benjamin M. Althouse, Brett Forshey, George W. Rutherford, Richard G. Jarman Internet-based surveillance methods for vector-borne diseases (VBDs) using “big data” sources such as Google, Twitter, and internet newswire scraping have recently been developed, yet reviews on such “digital disease detection” methods have focused on respiratory pathogens, particularly in high-income regions. Here, we present a narrative review of the literature that has examined the performance of internet-based biosurveillance for diseases caused by vector-borne viruses, parasites, and other pathogens, including Zika, dengue, other arthropod-borne viruses, malaria, leishmaniasis, and Lyme disease across a range of settings, including low- and middle-income countries. The fundamental f...
Tuesday 28 November 2017
ConclusionsThere was a very high prevalence of D. immitis, hookworm and external parasites in Samoan dogs, and prophylactic medication is rarely administered. This is the first report confirming A. platys in Samoa and the South Pacific islands. The public health implications of poor management of the dogs should be considered and investigated further. (Source: Australian Veterinary Journal)
Saturday 25 November 2017
Publication date: Available online 22 November 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Micah B. Hahn, Jenna K.H. Bjork, David F. Neitzel, Frances M. Dorr, Tessa Whitemarsh, Karen A. Boegler, Christine B. Graham, Tammi L. Johnson, Sarah E. Maes, Rebecca J. Eisen The distribution of I. scapularis, the tick vector of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, has been expanding over the last two decades in the north-central United States in parallel with increasing incidence of human cases of Lyme disease in that region. However, assessments of residential risk for exposure to ticks are lacking from this region. Here, we measured the density of host-seeking I. scapularis nymphs in two suburban and two rural public recreational sites located in Washington County, Minnesota as well as ...
Saturday 25 November 2017
Publication date: Available online 21 November 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): P. Mead, S. Hook, S. Niesobecki, J. Ray, J. Meek, M. Delorey, C. Prue, A. Hinckley Prevention of tick-borne diseases requires an understanding of when and where exposure to ticks is most likely. We used an epidemiologic approach to define these parameters for residents of a Lyme-endemic region. Two persons in each of 500 Connecticut households were asked to complete a log each night for one week during June, 2013. Participants recorded their whereabouts in 15min increments (indoors, outdoors in their yard, outdoors on others’ private property, or outdoors in public spaces) and noted each day whether they found a tick on themselves. Demographic and household information was also collected....
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Saturday 25 November 2017
Performing a tick check after visiting nature is considered the most important preventive measure to avoid contracting Lyme disease. Checking the body for ticks after visiting nature is the only measure that c... (Source: BMC Public Health)
Friday 24 November 2017
CONCLUSIONS: Lyme Neuroborreliosis accounts for a small proportion of paediatric stroke even in an endemic country. The strong predilection towards posterior cerebral circulation with clinical occurrence of brainstem signs associated with meningeal symptoms and CSF lymphocytosis are suggestive features that should rapidly point to the diagnosis. This can confirmed by appropriate serological testing in the serum and CSF. Clinicians must be aware of this rare neurological complication of Lyme disease that demands specific antibiotic treatment. PMID: 29208342 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: European Journal of Paediatric Neurology)
Wednesday 22 November 2017
The bacterial spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of the most commonly reported arthropod-borne illness in the United States, Lyme disease. A family of proteins containing von Willebrand Factor... (Source: BMC Microbiology)
Wednesday 22 November 2017
In the present study, we sought to evaluate the feasibility of targeting vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP-1) by positron emission tomography (PET) for the longitudinal quantitative assessment of Borrelia burgdorf... (Source: Arthritis Research and Therapy)
Tuesday 21 November 2017
ConclusionOur results indicate that horizontal striae distensae of the lower back in adolescent boys is associated with a rapid growth spurt, tall stature, and family history of striae distensae. There is no association between this type of striae distensae and any chronic medical condition, bacterial infection, or exogenous steroid use. Thus a careful review of systems and counseling without further medical testing is reasonable management. (Source: Pediatric Dermatology)
Tuesday 21 November 2017
Schwameis M et al. Topical azithromycin for the prevention of Lyme borreliosis: a randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 effi cacy trial. Lancet Infect Dis 2017; 17: 322 –29—In the affiliations, L Meinel's qualification should have been PhD. In the Outcomes section of the Methods, the second sentence of the second paragraph should have read “Treatment failure was defined as seroconversion (IgM, IgG, or both), appearance of erythema migrans throughout the study participants seronegative at baseline (IgM, IgG, or both), or both seroconversion and erythema migrans throughout the study. (Source: The Lancet Infectious Diseases)
Tuesday 21 November 2017
Ixodes ricinus ticks are commonly encountered in either natural or urban areas, contributing to Lyme disease agents Borreliella [(Borrelia burgdorferi (sensu lato)] spp. and Borrelia m... (Source: Parasites and Vectors)
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Monday 20 November 2017
Despite weeks of symptoms, a patient did not seek treatment until his illness rendered him unconscious. The 66-year-old man presented after an episode of witnessed syncope. He had been walking across the room towards his grandchild when he suddenly felt lightheaded and tried to hold on to the wall for support. He then passed out and fell to the floor. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Friday 17 November 2017
Conclusion: CSF CXCL13 is a sensitive marker of LNB in children. The specificity to discriminate LNB from non-Lyme aseptic meningitis may be more moderate, suggesting that CSF CXCL13 should be used together with other variables in diagnosing LNB in children. (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Thursday 16 November 2017
An unusual increase in suspected Lyme disease cases in Arkansas underscores the importance of Lyme disease surveillance in this and other states which have been considered low-risk.Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Monday 13 November 2017
We describe the only reported cases of peri ocular tick bite from India that presented to us within a span of 3 days and its management. Due suspicion and magnification of the lesions revealed the ticks which otherwise masqueraded as small skin tags/moles on gross examination. The ticks were firmly latched on to the skin and careful removal prevented incarceration of the mouth parts. Rickettsial diseases that were believed to have disappeared from India are reemerging and their presence has recently been documented in at least 11 states in the country. Among vector borne diseases, the most common, Lyme disease, also known as the great mimicker, can present with rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, multiple sclerosis, chronic fatigue synd...
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Sunday 12 November 2017
The objectives of this study were to determine the Bb-sl seroprevalence among the general Finnish adult population and to identify risk factors associated with Bb-sl-seropositive status. Two thousand sera from a nationwide health survey from 2011 were tested by whole-cell sonicate IgG ELISA, C6 peptide ELISA, and recomBead IgG 2.0 and test results were linked to a general health questionnaire. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors. The median age of the study population was 56 years (range 29–97) and the Bb-sl weighted seroprevalence was 3.9% (95% confidence interval (CI) 3.03–5.08). The weighted seroprevalence was significantly higher among males than females (adjusted odds ratio 1.91, 95%CI 1.21–3.04). The seroprevalence was highest in Southern...
Sunday 12 November 2017
Publication date: Available online 12 November 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Sandra J. Raffel, Brandi N. Williamson, Tom G. Schwan, Frank C. Gherardini Relapsing fever (RF) in North America is caused primarily by the spirochete Borrelia hermsii and is associated with the bite of its tick vector Ornithodoros hermsi. Although this spirochete was known long before the discovery of the Lyme disease (LD) spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, basic methods to facilitate the study of B. hermsii have lagged behind. One important technique to expedite the study of the molecular biology and pathogenesis of B. hermsii would be a reliable method to grow and clone these bacteria in solid medium, which we now describe. We have defined the solidifying agent, plating temperature, oxyge...
Friday 10 November 2017
This report highlights the continuing public health challenge of Lyme disease in states with high incidence and demonstrates its emergence in neighboring states that previously experienced few cases. (Source: PHPartners.org)
Friday 10 November 2017
This report highlights the continuing public health challenge of Lyme disease in states with high incidence and demonstrates its emergence in neighboring states that previously experienced few cases. Educational efforts should be directed accordingly to facilitate prevention, early diagnosis, and appropriate treatment. As Lyme disease emerges in neighboring states, clinical suspicion of Lyme disease in a patient should be based on local experience rather than incidence cutoffs used for surveillance purposes. A diagnosis of Lyme disease should be considered in patients with compatible clinical signs and a history of potential exposure to infected ticks, not only in states with high incidence but also in areas where Lyme disease is known to be emerging. These findings underscore the ongoing ...
Friday 10 November 2017
. (Source: Infectious Diseases)
Thursday 9 November 2017
Six year old Adam Mitchell contracted Lyme's disease after bitten by a tick which carries infectious bacteria. The disease spread and caused an outbreak of Meningitis which gave Adam brain damage (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Thursday 9 November 2017
(Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Wednesday 8 November 2017
Authors: Budhram A, Le C, Jenkins ME PMID: 29115676 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Headache)
Wednesday 8 November 2017
Authors: Lin YP, Li L, Zhang F, Linhardt RJ Abstract The spirochete bacterium Borrelia burgdorferisensu lato is the causative agent of Lyme disease, the most common vector-borne disease in Europe and the United States. The spirochetes can be transmitted to humans via ticks, and then spread to different tissues, leading to arthritis, carditis and neuroborreliosis. Although antibiotics have commonly been used to treat infected individuals, some treated patients do not respond to antibiotics and experience persistent, long-term arthritis. Thus, there is a need to investigate alternative therapeutics against Lyme disease. The spirochete bacterium colonization is partly attributed to the binding of the bacterial outer-surface proteins to the glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains of host proteo...
Wednesday 8 November 2017
Conclusions Non-specific symptoms after tick bite may be caused by uncommon pathogens or co-infection, therefore it should be considered in differential diagnosis after tick bite. (Source: Advances in Medical Sciences)
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Tuesday 7 November 2017
In conclusion, tick-mediated infections can trigger GA in some cases, while correlation of either Borrelia or Chlamydiales with morphea is unlikely. PMID: 29110020 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Acta Dermato-Venereologica)
Tuesday 7 November 2017
CONCLUSIONS: Non-specific symptoms after tick bite may be caused by uncommon pathogens or co-infection, therefore it should be considered in differential diagnosis after tick bite. PMID: 29120859 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Advances in Medical Sciences)
Sunday 5 November 2017
Conclusion The TBE increase that occurred in France in 2016 highlights the need to improve our knowledge about the true burden of TBEV infection and subsequent long-term outcomes. (Source: Ticks and Tick borne Diseases)
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Saturday 4 November 2017
Authors: Hartmann D, Šíma R, Konvičková J, Perner J, Kopáček P, Sojka D Abstract By searching nucleotide databases for the North American Lyme disease vector, Ixodes scapularis, we have complemented the previously characterized European Ixodes ricinus legumain IrAE1 with a full set of nine analogous genes (isae1-9). Six of these were PCR confirmed as genes present in all tick genomes tested. The absolute mRNA copy number examined by quantitative (q)PCR enabled expression profiling and an absolute comparison of mRNA levels for individual I. scapularis (Is)AEs in tick tissues. Four IsAEs (1, 2, 4, 9) were expressed solely in the gut and thus are proposed to be involved in host blood digestion. Expression qPCR profiling over developmental stages confirmed IsAE1, the direct analo...
Saturday 4 November 2017
This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. The Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, can evade the host immune system by a process known as antigenic variation. The spirochete continually changes the sequence of a major surface protein, vlsE, to escape antibodies that would eliminate it. In this study we use next generation sequencing and novel software to study the DNA rearrangements that drive antigenic variability. (Source: Molecular Microbiology)
Wednesday 1 November 2017
Abstract Lyme disease is a common tick‐borne infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi in the United States, where infection is most prevalent in the northeastern and mid‐Atlantic states. Although classically associated with erythema migrans, Lyme disease caused by Borrelia species found in Europe may also present with other cutaneous findings. Here we report the case of a girl who was clinically diagnosed with Lyme disease based on her history of recent travel and the appearance of an areolar lymphocytoma; this was confirmed by testing. Testing for European Lyme disease does not follow the testing algorithm that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends and may be easily missed. Our case serves as an important reminder that common infections can have varying presentatio...
Wednesday 1 November 2017
Conclusions and Clinical ImportanceBartonella spp. exposure was documented throughout North America and at any time of year. Male intact dogs, mixed breed dogs, and dogs exposed to other CVBD have higher seroreactivity to multiple Bartonella species. (Source: Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine)
Tuesday 31 October 2017
Sarah Jackson, 29, from Colchester,, who was struck down when she visited Australia in 2013, said: 'One of the GP's actually compared me to Stephen Hawking.' (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 30 October 2017
The Environmental Protection Agency barred two agency scientists and an EPA contractor from speaking at a conference on the health of Narragansett Bay. Agency spokesperson John Konkus said, "EPA scientists are attending, they simply are not presenting, it is not an EPA conference." One of the scientists was scheduled to deliver the keynote address. The Association of Ecosystem Research Centers held a science briefing for policymakers on Capitol Hill on 24 October 2017. The event highlighted how ecosystem research is helping to combat emerging infectious diseases, such as Ebola and Lyme disease. Copies of the presentations are available online at https://www.aibs.org/rsvp/aerc.html. Members of the Association also received a half-day of communications training from AIBS. &...
Monday 30 October 2017
(Natural News) Sometimes the traditional medical community is so zoned in on certain treatments and conditions they miss the big picture, and usually to the patient’s detriment. That’s what happened big-time recently when doctors in England misdiagnosed a patient with Lyme disease. As reported by the U.K.’s Daily Mail, a hair stylist who became bedridden... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Monday 30 October 2017
Summary The value of using diagnostic codes in Lyme disease (LD) surveillance in highly endemic states has not been well studied. Surveys of healthcare facilities in Maryland (MD) and New York (NY) regarding coding practices were conducted to evaluate the feasibility of using diagnostic codes as a potential method for LD surveillance. Most respondents indicated that their practice utilized electronic medical records (53%) and processed medical/billing claims electronically (74%). Most facilities were able to search office visits associated with specific ICD‐9‐CM and CPT codes (74% and 73%, respectively); no discernible differences existed between the healthcare facilities in both states. These codes were most commonly assigned by the practitioner (82%), and approximately 70% of respond...
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Sunday 29 October 2017
is the most common tick-borne illness in the USA and Europe. Pathogens involved are Borrelia burgdorferi in the USA and B. afzelii and B. garinii in Europe. The characteristic rash of erythema migrans occurs in approximately 75% of patients. Neurological disease, including facial palsy, meningoencephalitis, aseptic meningitis and polyradiculopathy, occurs in 10 –15%. Cardiac disease, primarily manifest as heart block, is seen in 1–2%. Arthritis is seen as a late complication in about 30%. (Source: Medicine)
Friday 27 October 2017
Sarah Jackson, 29, from Essex, was struck ill when she visited Australia 4 years ago. She suffers seizures, eye problems, pain, memory loss and fatigue and needs £40,000 for US treatment. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Friday 27 October 2017
Authors: Kwit NA, Dietrich EA, Nelson C, Taffner R, Petersen J, Schriefer M, Mead P, Weinstein S, Haselow D PMID: 29073126 [PubMed - in process] (Source: MMWR Morb Mortal Wkl...)
Thursday 26 October 2017
(Source: CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report)
Thursday 26 October 2017
Authors: Stevenson B, Seshu J Abstract The infectious cycle of Borrelia burgdorferi necessitates persistent infection of both vertebrates and ticks, and efficient means of transmission between those two very different types of hosts. The Lyme disease spirochete has evolved mechanisms to sense its location in the infectious cycle, and use that information to control production of the proteins and other factors required for each step. Numerous components of borrelial regulatory pathways have been characterized to date. Their effects are being pieced together, thereby providing glimpses into a complex web of cooperative and antagonistic interactions. In this chapter, we present a broad overview of B. burgdorferi gene and protein regulation during the natural infectious cycle, discussi...
Wednesday 25 October 2017
We present the case of a patient with evidence of exposure to Borrelia burgdorferi sl and a long history of debilitating fatigue, cognitive abnormalities and autonomic nervous system issues. (Source: Medical Hypotheses)
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Wednesday 25 October 2017
Disseminated Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose, as it begins with nonspecific signs and symptoms, which, if not treated correctly, can lead to atrioventricular conduction blocks and meningitis. In addition, the diagnosis can be further complicated by potentially false-positive test results. (Source: The Journal of Emergency Medicine)
Tuesday 24 October 2017
(Source: Journal of Clinical Microbiology)
Monday 23 October 2017
ConclusionsIncreased awareness may explain the increase in requests. There is no indication of an increase in incidence. As many GPs treat suspected Lyme borreliosis empirically without testing and as antibody may be undetectable early in the course of illness, the true incidence of infection is likely to exceed the number of laboratory-confirmed cases. (Source: Irish Journal of Medical Science)
Friday 20 October 2017
Authors: Urbanová V, Hajdušek O, Šíma R, Franta Z, Hönig-Mondeková H, Grunclová L, Bartošová-Sojková P, Jalovecká M, Kopáček P Abstract Ticks possess components of a primordial complement system that presumably play a role in the interaction of the tick immune system with tick-borne pathogens and affect their transmission. Here we characterized a novel complement component, tagged as IrC2/Bf, from the hard tick Ixodes ricinus, the principal vector of Lyme disease in Europe. IrC2/Bf is a multi-domain molecule composed of 5-7 CCP modules, varied by alternative splicing, followed by a von Willebrand factor A domain and a C-terminal trypsin-like domain. The primary structure and molecular architecture of IrC2/Bf displays the closest homology to the C3-complement component ...
Friday 20 October 2017
This article aims to describe manifestations of Lyme disease in children with an emphasis on Lyme neuroborreliosis. Clinical scenarios will be presented and discussed. Finally, recommendations for clinical psychiatrists who encounter children with possible Lyme disease are presented. (Source: Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America)
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Friday 20 October 2017
Linked Article: Bauvin et al. Br J Dermatol 2017; 177:1127–1130. (Source: British Journal of Dermatology)
Thursday 19 October 2017
This article discusses case presentations showing the wide range of symptoms and presentations that are possible with babesiosis. (Source: The Nurse Practitioner)
Wednesday 18 October 2017
When the doctor told me I had Lyme disease, I cried — not because I was scared, but because I finally had an answer. (Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post)
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Toledo A, Huang Z, Benach JL, London E Abstract Lipid rafts are membrane microdomains that are involved in cellular processes such as protein trafficking and signaling processes, and which play a fundamental role in membrane fluidity and budding. The lipid composition of the membrane and the biochemical characteristics of the lipids found within rafts define the ability of cells to form microdomains and compartmentalize the membrane. In this chapter, we describe the biophysical, biochemical, and molecular approaches used to define and characterize lipid rafts in the Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi. PMID: 29032537 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Mol Biol Cell)
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Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Gomes-Solecki M, Richer L Abstract Escherichia coli is the mainstay tool for fundamental microbiology research due to its ease of cultivation and safety. Auxotrophic strains of the K-12 and B lineages of E. coli are the organisms of choice to produce recombinant proteins. Components present in the cell envelope of bacteria are also potent immune modulators and have been used to develop adjuvants. We used live E. coli, after induction of recombinant protein expression, to develop a vehicle which has a dualistic function of producing vaccine while presenting itself as the adjuvant to deliver oral vaccines against a number of infectious diseases, including Lyme disease. Here, we give an example using E. coli expressing B. burgdorferi Outer Surface Protein A, which was proven ...
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Li X, Wang P, Lutton A, Olesik J Abstract Transition metal ions play important structural, regulatory, and catalytic roles in all biological systems by serving as cofactors for proteins. Due to their relatively low levels in the cell compared to abundant metal ions such as potassium and magnesium, transition metals are often considered micronutrients and referred to as trace elements. Manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), and zinc (Zn) are the most prevalent transition metals in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Here, we describe a method for the accurate measurement of these trace elements in B. burgdorferi utilizing inductively coupled plasma-sector field mass spectrometry (ICP-SFMS). PMID: 29032538 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Mol Biol Cell)
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Kraiczy P Abstract Acquisition of host-derived proteins possessing key regulatory function is a hallmark of Borrelia burgdorferi, and an important step to successfully infect the human host, inhibiting activation of complement as innate immunity's first line of defense. Hence, the identification and characterization of interacting ligands is a prerequisite to gain deeper insights into the molecular principles of how spirochetes overcome the detrimental effects of complement. Far western blotting enables the detection of protein-protein interactions in vitro using cell lysates containing the prey proteins and purified complement proteins or human serum as a source for soluble complement proteins as bait proteins. Here, the methodology for the detection and characterization ...
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Mason LMK, Hovius JWR Abstract Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen-presenting cells that recognize and phagocytose pathogens, and help to orchestrate adaptive immune responses to combat them. DCs are abundant in the skin where Borrelia burgdorferi first enters the body during a tick bite, and are thus critical in determining the initial stages of the innate and adaptive immune responses against Borrelia. Here, we describe two methods to study the response of DCs to Borrelia; an in vitro approach using monocyte-derived DCs (moDCs) and an ex vivo approach using a human skin model. PMID: 29032552 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Mol Biol Cell)
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Zhang K, Li C Abstract Swimming plate, cell motion tracking, and capillary tube assays are very useful tools to quantitatively measure bacterial motility and chemotaxis. These methods were modified and applied to study Borrelia burgdorferi motility and chemotaxis. By using these methods, numerous motility and chemotaxis mutants have been characterized and several chemoattractants were identified. With the assistance of these tools, the role of motility and chemotaxis in the pathogenicity of B. burgdorferi has been established. In addition, these tools also facilitate the study of motility and chemotaxis in other spirochetes. PMID: 29032554 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Mol Biol Cell)
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Bernard Q, Jaulhac B, Boulanger N Abstract The skin plays an essential role in the transmission of Lyme borreliosis since it is the first interface between the Ixodes tick and the host during the inoculation of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato. A better understanding of the inflammatory reaction at this location is key to develop better strategies (e.g., vaccine and diagnosis) to fight this disease. In vitro cell culture of resident skin cells might constitute an approach to decipher the complex interplay between the tick, the pathogen, and the vertebrate host. PMID: 29032555 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Mol Biol Cell)
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Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Iqbal H, Akins DR, Kenedy MR Abstract Co-immunoprecipitation can be utilized to study protein-protein interactions from various environments, cell types, or tissues. Herein, we describe a co-immunoprecipitation protocol that can be used to examine protein complexes found in the pathogenic spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The method outlined here has successfully identified known and unknown members of borrelial protein complexes and is an efficient method for studying protein interactions in this pathogenic spirochete. PMID: 29032535 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Mol Biol Cell)
Wednesday 18 October 2017
Authors: Petnicki-Ocwieja T, Hu LT Abstract Phagosomal compartments are critical in microbial defense as vesicles that degrade invading organisms. In a broader context, vesicular trafficking plays an important role in shuttling many different types of cargo that are critical for proper function of the cell. Endosomal and phagosomal vesicles are thus important locations for the assembly of intracellular signaling platforms that mediate host responses to invasive pathogens such as Borrelia burgdorferi. Isolation of phagosomes from cells is an important technique that allows for a detailed study of phagosomal components and signaling complex assembly. However, purification of phagosomes had previously been challenging and it has been difficult to obtain sufficient purity of the phago...
Tuesday 17 October 2017
We report such a case of bilateral rickettsial retinitis proven by serology which worsened on systemic steroids and responded dramatically to therapy with oral doxycycline and steroid taper. We thus believe that direct bacterial invasion plays a major role in the pathogenesis of rickettsial retinitis. (Source: Indian Journal of Ophthalmology)
Friday 13 October 2017
Background: Borrelia burgdorferi is a common cause of bacterial meningitis, but there are very few studies on incidence in Europe. The aim of this study was to report the incidence and symptoms of neuroborreliosis in Swedish children. Methods: Medical records of children ( (Source: The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal)
Friday 13 October 2017
Rhiannon Collins, 23, from Erith, south-east London, was bitten by a tick when she was just four years old. For 19 years she suffered joint dislocation, severe muscle pain and crushing fatigue. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Thursday 12 October 2017
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases , Vol. 0, No. 0. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Saturday 7 October 2017
A LYME disease patient has urged the NHS to invest in treatments for the rare condition, after going seven years with the killer disease undiagnosed. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Friday 6 October 2017
In this study, we show that mAb blockade revealed a unique role for IFN-β in Lyme arthritis development in B6.C3-Bbaa1 mice. Genetic control of IFN-β expression was also identified in bone marrow-derived macrophages stimulated with B. burgdorferi, and it was responsible for feed-forward amplification of IFN-stimulated genes. Reciprocal radiation chimeras between B6.C3-Bbaa1 and C57BL/6 mice revealed that arthritis is initiated by radiation-sensitive cells, but orchestrated by radiation-resistant components of joint tissue. Advanced congenic lines were developed to reduce the physical size of the Bbaa1 interval, and confirmed the contribution of type I IFN genes to Lyme arthritis. RNA sequencing of resident CD45(-) joint cells from advanced interval-specific recombinant congenic lines ide...
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Thursday 5 October 2017
Authors: Ogden NH, AbdelMalik P, Pulliam J Abstract Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs), including West Nile virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Lyme disease, have had a direct effect within Canada, while many more EIDs such as Zika, chikungunya and Ebola are a threat to Canadians while travelling. Over 75% of EIDs affecting humans are, or were originally, zoonoses (infectious diseases transmitted from animals to humans). There are two main ways by which infectious diseases can emerge: by changes in their geographical ranges and by adaptive emergence, a genetic change in a microorganism that results in it becoming capable of invading a new niche, often by jumping to a new host species such as humans. Diseases can appear to emerge simply because we become capable of ...
Thursday 5 October 2017
Conclusion: Lyme disease incidence continues to increase in Canada as does the geographic range of ticks that carry the Lyme disease bacteria. Ongoing surveillance, preventive strategies as well as early disease recognition and treatment will continue to minimize the impact of Lyme disease in Canada. PMID: 29770045 [PubMed] (Source: Can Commun Dis Rep)
Thursday 5 October 2017
Authors: Centre for Food-borne, Environmental and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases Abstract The Federal Framework on Lyme Disease Act required the federal government to develop a Federal Framework on Lyme Disease. To do this, the Public Health Agency of Canada held a conference with a wide variety of stakeholders who shared their experiences with Lyme disease, and discussed current knowledge and research. A draft version of the Framework was publicly posted on Canada.ca for a 30-day public consultation period. The final report, Lyme Disease in Canada: A Federal Framework was released in May 2017. The Framework includes the three pillars of surveillance; education and awareness; and guidelines and best practices. Implementation will require the involvement and collaboration of all stake...
Wednesday 4 October 2017
Publication date: 2017 Source:Handbook of Clinical Neurology, Volume 145 Author(s): Istvan Katona, Joachim Weis This chapter reviews the diseases of the peripheral nerves from a neuropathologic point of view, with a special focus on specific morphologic changes, and includes a summary of the histopathologic methods available for their diagnosis. As the rate of obesity and the prevalence of type 2 diabetes increase, diabetic neuropathy is the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy. Many systemic disorders with metabolic origin, like amyloidosis, hepatic failure, vitamin deficiencies, uremia, lipid metabolism disorders, and others, can also cause axonal or myelin alterations in the peripheral nervous system. The most notable causes of toxic neuropathies are chemotherapeutic agents, alco...
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Wednesday 4 October 2017
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases , Vol. 0, No. 0. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Tuesday 3 October 2017
Journal of Interferon& Cytokine Research , Vol. 0, No. 0. (Source: Journal of Interferon)
Sunday 1 October 2017
To assess cost-effectiveness of a vaccine that would protect against both Lyme Borreliosis (LB) and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in a highly endemic setting in Slovenia. (Source: Value in Health)
Sunday 1 October 2017
The incidence of Lyme disease (LD) in Slovak Republic is assumed about 2000- 3000 cases per year with about 100 cases of encephalitis as its complication. No study was published about the impact of LD on quality of life (QoL) and work ability (WA) in Slovak Republic. (Source: Value in Health)
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Sunday 1 October 2017
Journal of Interferon& Cytokine Research Oct 2017, Vol. 37, No. 10: 433-439. (Source: Journal of Interferon)
Sunday 1 October 2017
(Source: Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain)
Saturday 30 September 2017
Publication date: 30 September 2017 Source:New Scientist, Volume 235, Issue 3145 (Source: New Scientist)
Friday 29 September 2017
Daniel P. Dulebohn, Crystal L. Richards, Hua Su, Kevin A. Lawrence, Frank C. Gherardini (Source: Frontiers in Microbiology)
Friday 29 September 2017
Lyme disease in humans is predominantly treated with tetracycline, macrolides or beta lactam antibiotics that have low minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) against Borrelia burgdorferi. Horses with Lyme diseas... (Source: BMC Veterinary Research)
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Thursday 28 September 2017
Authors: Brown C PMID: 28947551 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal)
Wednesday 27 September 2017
Authors: Hofmann H, Fingerle V, Hunfeld KP, Huppertz HI, Krause A, Rauer S, Ruf B, Consensus group Abstract This guideline of the German Dermatology Society primarily focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of cutaneous manifestations of Lyme borreliosis. It has received consensus from 22 German medical societies and 2 German patient organisations. It is the first part of an AWMF (Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Wissenschaftlichen Medizinischen Fachgesellschaften e.V.) interdisciplinary guideline: "Lyme Borreliosis - Diagnosis and Treatment, development stage S3". The guideline is directed at physicians in private practices and clinics who treat Lyme borreliosis. Objectives of this guideline are recommendations for confirming a clinical diagnosis, recommendations for a stage-related laborat...
Tuesday 26 September 2017
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released draft guidelines on how to spot and treat Lyme disease. (Source: The Pharmaceutical Journal)
Tuesday 26 September 2017
The UK's medical advisory body has warned that there are high concentrations of ticks infected with Lyme disease in the South of England and the Scottish Highlands. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Tuesday 26 September 2017
Scientists in the US have developed a new injection which offers promising hope to sufferers of the tick-borne condition. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 25 September 2017
Scientists in the US have developed a new injection which offers promising hope to sufferers of the tick-borne condition. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 25 September 2017
South England and Scottish Highlands have higher prevalence of infected ticks which cause the disease, says health bodyThe south of England and the Scottish Highlands have been earmarked as high risk areas for Lyme disease.The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said some areas appear to havehigher prevalence of infected ticks which cause the disease. But the health body said prevalence data is incomplete as it called for a large study into the condition in the UK.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Monday 25 September 2017
The South of England and Scottish Highlands have been named as high risk areas for Lyme disease, but infection can occur in many parts of the UK (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Monday 25 September 2017
Guidelines have been drawn up to provide “clear advice” to support clinicians in diagnosing and treating patients with Lyme disease, which is spread by ticks. (Source: Nursing Times)
Monday 25 September 2017
GPs should consider Lyme disease in patients presenting with flu-like symptoms alongside neck or joint pain, cognitive impairment and paraesthesia, according to NICE draft guidance. (Source: GP Online News)
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Monday 25 September 2017
This study describes the selection of two Borrelia burgdorferi recombinant proteins and evaluation of their performance in a simple 1-tier test for the serological confirmation of LD. These two proteins were generated from (i) the full-length dbpA gene combined with the invariable region 6 of the vlsE gene (DbpA/C6) and (b) the full-length ospC gene (OspC). The expressed DbpA/C6 and OspC proteins were useful in detecting anti-Borrelia IgG and IgM antibodies, respectively. A blind study was conducted on a well-characterized panel of 279 human sera from the CDC, comparing ELISAs using these two recombinant antigens with the 2-tier test method. The two methods (DbpA/C6-OspC versus 2-tier test) were equivalent in identifying sera from negative-control subjects (99% and 100% specificity, respec...
Monday 25 September 2017
NICE guidance on rare but treatable condition (Source: OnMedica Latest News)
Sunday 24 September 2017
SUNDAY, Sept. 24, 2017 -- As tick populations and the threats they pose increase across the United States, people need to know how to deal with them, a skin doctor suggests. Ticks can cause serious illnesses such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Thursday 21 September 2017
(Natural News) According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported yearly. As only a small fraction of cases actually gets reported, the agency adds that the actual incidence of this disease in likely much higher. On top of that, emerging studies show that Bartonella disease,... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Wednesday 20 September 2017
Conclusion Through relatively small amounts of grant support over the last 6 y, CRSCI has helped local public health agencies in sixteen states and two cities—whose combined population reaches half of the U.S. total—identify critical climate impacts and vulnerable populations. In the process, the program has helped to integrate health more fully into local climate change efforts. As a result of CRSCI support, these local public health agencies—the backbone of public health climate response capacity—have tools to enhance real-life adaptive capacity and increase the effectiveness of existing interventions, such as heat response plans. They are also better prepared to take the next steps toward developing climate and health adaptation plans. However, the CRSCI program is only a start;...
Wednesday 20 September 2017
Phagocytosis of the Lyme disease-causing pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi has been shown to be important for generating an inflammatory response to the pathogen. As a result, understanding the mechanisms of phagocytosis has been an area of great interest in the field of Lyme disease. Several cell surface receptors that participate in B. burgdorferi phagocytosis have been reported, including the scavenger receptor MARCO and integrin α3β1. We sought to define the mechanisms by which these receptors mediate phagocytosis and to identify signaling pathways activated downstream of these receptors upon contact with B. burgdorferi. We identified both Syk and Src signaling pathways as ones that participate in B. burgdorferi phagocytosis and the resulting cytokine activation. In our studies,...
Tuesday 19 September 2017
(NEW YORK) — One-time pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne has beaten superstar Beyonce at something, but she may not be totally happy with her victory — she’s been named the most dangerous celebrity on the internet. Cybersecurity firm McAfee said Tuesday that Lavigne, whose last album came out in 2013, was the most likely celebrity to land users on websites that carry viruses or malware. Searches for Lavigne have a 14.5% chance of landing on a web page with the potential for online threats, a number that increases to 22% if users type her name and search for free MP3s. Bruno Mars was second in his debut on the list, followed closely behind by Carly Rae Jepsen. Zayn Malik (No. 4), Celine Dion (No. 5), Calvin Harris (No. 6), Justin Bieber (No. 7), Sean “Diddy” Comb...
Tuesday 19 September 2017
Authors: Drecktrah D, Samuels DS Abstract The spirochetes Borrelia (Borreliella) burgdorferi and Borrelia hermsii, the etiologic agents of Lyme disease and relapsing fever, respectively, cycle in nature between an arthropod vector and a vertebrate host. They have extraordinarily unusual genomes that are highly segmented and predominantly linear. The genetic analyses of Lyme disease spirochetes have become increasingly more sophisticated, while the age of genetic investigation in the relapsing fever spirochetes is just dawning. Molecular tools available for B. burgdorferi and related species range from simple selectable markers and gene reporters to state-of-the-art inducible gene expression systems that function in the animal model and high-throughput mutagenesis methodologies, des...
Tuesday 19 September 2017
Publication date: Available online 17 September 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Scott J. Layzell, Daniel Bailey, Mick Peacey, Patricia A. Nuttall Borrelia miyamotoi is a spirochete bacterium related to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the cause of Lyme borreliosis, and vectored by ticks. In 2014, B. miyamotoi was identified in three questing Ixodes ricinus collected in the UK. We sought to confirm the presence of B. miyamotoi in the UK. Ticks were collected from four locations not previously investigated for B. miyamotoi or B. burgdorferi s.l. and of which two are considered as Lyme borreliosis “hotspots” based on hospital records of the disease. We independently confirm that B. miyamotoi is present in the UK and support the view that B. miyamotoi is likely to hav...
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Monday 18 September 2017
The Dutch model, 53, who lives in New York, reveals that her six-year battle with Lyme disease began with a misdiagnosis of ME. Yolanda reveals all in her new book, Believe Me, which is out next month. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
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Monday 18 September 2017
Whether age at time of diagnosis impacts the clinical presentation or long-term outcome of early Lyme disease is unknown. Subjects enrolled in this study had culture-confirmed early Lyme disease and were followed annually in a long-term prospective study. Subjects ≤50years of age were compared with those who were ≥51years of age at time of study entry. Of the 283 enrolled subjects, the ≥51year old age group was significantly more likely to be female (p=0.0095) and to be compliant with long-term follow-up of at least 11years duration (p=0.0119). (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Friday 15 September 2017
Future Microbiology, Ahead of Print. (Source: Future Microbiology)
Tuesday 12 September 2017
Sam, Lotte and Caroline Parenting is a messy adventure – it tests our patience, our will and our energy, but never our concern, love or passion for our children. With three kids under 10, my wife, Caroline, and I have managed broken noses, split lips, cuts and bruises too numerous to count … even Lyme disease, skin disorders, and serious fevers – most seem to come with the territory. But there have been rare moments when one of our kids was sick and we didn’t know what was wrong or how to ease the pain, and in those moments, we felt pretty desperate. One of those times was when our 4-year-old daughter Charlotte or “Lotte” came down with a high fever when she was 10 months old. While this was not a new experience for us, the part that made us nervous was that the fever, despite ...
Tuesday 12 September 2017
Publication date: Available online 11 September 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Mónica Nunes, Ricardo Parreira, Teresa Carreira, João Inácio, Maria Luísa Vieira Nowadays, at least four clinically important B. burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) genospecies (B. afzelii, B. garinii, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto (s.s.) and B. lusitaniae) circulate in Portugal. Each genospecies have different tropism that result in a diverse array of clinical manifestations. The standard diagnostic procedure used is normally simple, nevertheless, during the “window-period” phase, in which specific antibodies cannot yet be detected, diagnosis becomes difficult, and calls for reliable, sensitive and specific laboratory methods, such as molecular tests. The aim of this study was to develop...
Monday 11 September 2017
(Source: International Journal of General Medicine)
Friday 8 September 2017
(Natural News) Lyme disease cases are on the rise in the Western world, and pharmaceutical companies are hoping to cash in on the illness with the help of a new vaccine. In the U.S., the number of confirmed cases of the tick-borne illness in 2015 was nearly 29,000, compared to 23,000 ten years earlier. Lyme... (Source: NaturalNews.com)
Friday 8 September 2017
Publication date: Available online 7 September 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Kathleen LoGiudice, Kathryn Kurchena, Katherine Christopher, Natasha Scott Due to the problem of tick-borne diseases, there is a need to better understand the importance of different host species in maintaining enzootic disease cycles. We explored the utility of stable isotope analysis to identify the larval hosts of questing ixodid ticks. In laboratory experiments, we used Ixodes scapularis and two host species that are important in the Lyme disease system in eastern North America. First, we tested how effectively a short-term dietary tracer (13C in corn) was reflected in molted ticks. Second, we attempted to identify the host species (either white-footed mouse (Peromyscus leucopus) or eas...
Friday 8 September 2017
We report an atypical case of European LCLB, suggesting that ACA is not the only possible presentation of LCLB. The diagnosis of ACA is often clinically missed for months or years, and may be mistaken at the inflammation phase for vascular disorders, erysipelas or bursitis/arthritis, and at the atrophic phase for lichen sclerosus atrophicus, morphoea or anetoderma. To our knowledge, no such tumorous LCLB has previously been described. (Source: British Journal of Dermatology)
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Thursday 7 September 2017
Publication date: October 2017 Source:Microbial Pathogenesis, Volume 111 Author(s): Hua Zhao, Aihua Liu, Yuhui Cui, Zhang Liang, Bingxue Li, Fukai Bao Lyme neuroborreliosis is a nervous system infectious disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi (B. burgdorferi). It has been demonstrated that cytokines induced by B. burgdorferi are related to Lyme neuroborreliosis. Microglia is known as a key player in the immune responses that occur within the central nervous system. In response to inflammation, it will be activated and generate cytokines and chemokines. Experiments in vitro cells have showed that B. Burgdorferi membrane protein A (BmpA), a major immunogen of B. Burgdorferi, could induce Lyme arthritis and stimulate human and murine lymphocytes to produce inflammatory cytokines. In our ...
Wednesday 6 September 2017
Authors: Kadkhoda K, Dumouchel C, Brancato J, Gretchen A, Krause PJ Abstract BACKGROUND: Hard tick-borne relapsing fever caused by Borrelia miyamotoi has been reported in Russia, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan and the northeastern and upper midwestern United States. We sought to investigate the presence of B. miyamotoi infection in humans in Manitoba, Canada. METHODS: Two hundred fifty sera collected from residents of Manitoba with suspected Lyme disease between 2011 and 2014 were tested for Borrelia burgdorferi antibody using a C6 peptide enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) followed by Western blot. Residual sera were then anonymized, stored at -80°C and subsequently thawed and tested for B. miyamotoi antibody using a 2-step glycerosphosphodiester phosphodiesterase-bas...
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Wednesday 6 September 2017
The castor bean tick (Ixodes ricinus) transmits infectious diseases such as Lyme borreliosis, which constitutes an important ecosystem disservice. Despite many local studies, a comprehensive understanding of the ... (Source: BMC Ecology)
Wednesday 6 September 2017
In this study we looked at the availability and type of content represented in a (n = 700) selection of YouTube videos on the subject of Lyme disease. We classified video content into a small number of content areas, and studied the relationship between these content areas and 1) video views and 2) video likeability. We found very little content uploaded by government or academic institutions; the vast majority of content was uploaded by independent users. The most viewed videos tend to contain celebrity content and personal stories; videos with prevention information tend to be of less interest, and videos with science and medical information tend to be less liked. Our results suggest that important public health information on YouTube is very likely to be ignored unless it is made more...
Monday 4 September 2017
Authors: Stewart PE, Rosa PA Abstract Borrelia burgdorferi is a symbiont of ticks of the Ixodes ricinus complex. These ticks serve as vectors to disseminate the spirochete to a variety of susceptible vertebrate hosts, which, in turn, act as reservoirs for naïve ticks to become infected, perpetuating the infectious life cycle of B. burgdorferi. The pivotal role of ticks in this life cycle and tick-spirochete interactions are the focus of this chapter. Here, we describe the challenging physiological environment that spirochetes encounter within Ixodes ticks, and the genetic factors that B. burgdorferi uses to successfully infect, persist, and be transmitted from the vector. PMID: 28864829 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher] (Source: Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology)
Monday 4 September 2017
(Source: International Journal of General Medicine)
Saturday 2 September 2017
U.S. health officials warn that cases of the illness are on the rise Source: HealthDay Related MedlinePlus Pages: Lyme Disease, Pet Health (Source: MedlinePlus Health News)
Saturday 2 September 2017
In this study, we evaluated two mouse models - the C3H/N and Balb/c strains for susceptibility to infection and ability to transmit the pathogens via tick vector and to reveal the potential interactions between various bacterial tick-borne agents. Our results indicated that the C3H/N and Balb/c mice are well-accepted models of B. afzelii infection. However, they are not suitable for interaction studies with R. helvetica since the animals did not acquire rickettsiemia and do not transmit Rickettsia sp. to feeding ticks. PMID: 28854805 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Acta Virologica)
Saturday 2 September 2017
10 hours ago ... Boomers are skipping needed vaccines · Explore the full list of benefits available to you as an AARP Member · Should you record your next ... (Source: AARP.org News)
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Friday 1 September 2017
Abstract Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) is the causative agent of Lyme disease in the US, a disease that can result in carditis, and chronic and debilitating arthritis and/or neurologic symptoms if left untreated. Bb survives in the midgut of the Ixodes scapularis tick, or within tissues of immunocompetent hosts. In the early stages of infection, the bacteria are present in the bloodstream where they must resist clearance by the innate immune system of the host. We have found a novel role for OspC from B. burgdorferi and B. garinii in interactions with the complement component C4b and bloodstream survival in vivo. Our data show that OspC inhibits the classical and lectin complement pathways and competes with complement protein C2 for C4b binding. Resistance to complement is important for mainte...
Thursday 31 August 2017
Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) is a frequent manifestation of Lyme disease in children and its current diagnosis has limitations. The elevation of the chemokine CXCL13 in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of adult pa... (Source: Journal of Neuroinflammation)
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Tuesday 29 August 2017
Only four years ago, ex-Army fitness instructor Lorraine Murray, 46, from Montrose, Angus, had completed four Olympic-length triathlons, ran her own businesses and was raising two children. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 28 August 2017
Conclusions: Borrelia whole blood PCR was bundled to a pre-existing tick-borne panel to potentially account for unexplained fevers and other nonlocalizing symptoms in high-risk patients. Treatment recommendations for B. miyamotoi are based on case reports of successful treatments in other causes of relapsing fever, and the same antibiotics regimens are used for both. The utility of B. miyamotoi PCR in first-line screening of patients with unexplained fever may be minimal, given the low positivity rate observed and uniform effective empiric treatments prescribed. (Source: Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice)
Monday 28 August 2017
A team of researchers has found that the Lyme disease bacterium is ancient in North America, circulating silently in forests for at least 60,000 years. (Source: Yale Science and Health News)
Monday 28 August 2017
In this study, ticks were collected from dogs by veterinarians participating in a U.K.‐wide tick surveillance programme. The ticks were subjected to polymerase chain reaction and sequence analysis for detection of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and Babesia spp. pathogens, the distributions of which were mapped. DNA of B. burgdorferi s.l. and Babesia spp. was detected in 2.0% and 1.5% of the ticks analysed, respectively. The results map a widespread distribution of the two pathogens in the U.K. (Source: Medical and Veterinary Entomology)
Sunday 27 August 2017
Authors: Verhaegh D, Joosten LAB, Oosting M Abstract Lyme disease is a zoonosis caused by infection with bacteria belonging to the Borrelia burgdorferi species after the bite of an infected tick. Even though an infection by this bacterium can be effectively treated with antibiotics, when the infection stays unnoticed B. burgdorferi can persist and chronic post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome is able to develop. Although a cellular and humoral response is observed after an infection with the Borrelia bacteria, these pathogens are still capable to stay alive. Several immune evasive mechanisms have been revealed and explained and much work has been put into the understanding of the contribution of the innate and adaptive immune response. This review provides an overview with the late...
Sunday 27 August 2017
In 2015, there were more than 700 cases of Lyme disease reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada, up from roughly 130 in 2009. (Source: CBC | Health)
Saturday 26 August 2017
Publication date: 26 August 2017 Source:New Scientist, Volume 235, Issue 3140 (Source: New Scientist)
Saturday 26 August 2017
Publication date: Available online 26 August 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Sanne C. Ruyts, Wesley Tack, Evy Ampoorter, Elena C. Coipan, Erik Matthysen, Dieter Heylen, Hein Sprong, Kris Verheyen The human pathogens Borrelia afzelii, which causes Lyme borreliosis and B. miyamotoi, which causes relapsing fever, both circulate between Ixodes ricinus ticks and rodents. The spatiotemporal dynamics in the prevalence of these pathogens have not yet been fully elucidated, but probably depend on the spatiotemporal population dynamics of small rodents. We aimed to evaluate the effect of different forest types on the density of infected nymphs in different years and to obtain more knowledge about the spatial and temporal patterns of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. We analysed u...
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Friday 25 August 2017
Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne infection in the US. Recent studies have demonstrated that the incidence of human Lyme disease would have been even greater were it not for the presence of strain specific immunity, which protects previously infected patients against subsequent infections by the same B. burgdorferi strain. Here, spatial heterogeneity is incorporated into epidemiological models to accurately estimate the impact of strain specific immunity on human Lyme disease incidence. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Friday 25 August 2017
Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common tick-borne infection in the US. Recent studies have demonstrated that the incidence of human Lyme disease would have been even greater were it not for the presence of strain-specific immunity, which protects previously infected patients against subsequent infections by the same B. burgdorferi strain. Here, spatial heterogeneity is incorporated into epidemiological models to accurately estimate the impact of strain-specific immunity on human Lyme disease incidence. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Thursday 24 August 2017
Lyme disease is commonly caused by ticks. Another lesser known risk of tick bites is babesia, a dangerous microparasite that can infect human blood. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Thursday 24 August 2017
Lyme disease is on the rise. How can you prevent it? What are the symptoms, and what should you do if you think you or your pet have it? (Source: FDA Consumer Health Information Updates)
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Thursday 24 August 2017
-- Lyme disease, caused by the bacterium B. burgdorferi, is transmitted by biting deer ticks that are quite small and may be difficult to see. Within 30 days of a deer tick bite, a circular red patch of about five inches'diameter often appears. The... (Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews)
Wednesday 23 August 2017
The clip shows a doctor removing a tick embedded inside an unnamed patient's eardrum. Ticks can cause Lyme disease, caused Matt, 44, to need heart surgery after suffering complications. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 23 August 2017
The clip shows a doctor removing a tick embedded inside an unnamed patient's eardrum. Ticks can cause Lyme disease, caused Matt, 44, to need heart surgery after suffering complications. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 23 August 2017
Publication date: Available online 23 August 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Bruno Dall’Agnola, Thaís Michel, Bárbara Weck, Ugo Araújo Souza, Anelise Webster, Bruna Ferreira Leal, Guilherme Marcondes Klafke, João Ricardo Martins, Ricardo Ott, José Manuel Venzal, Carlos Alexandre Sanchez Ferreira, José Reck Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) complex includes the agents of Lyme disease/borreliosis in North America, Europe, and Asia, such Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto, Borrelia afzelii, Borrelia garinii, Borrelia bavariensis, Borrelia spielmanii, Borrelia bissettiae, and Borrelia mayonii. In 2013 B. burgdorferi s.l. was reported for the first time in the Neotropical region, from Ixodes aragaoi ticks in Uruguayan Pampa. In addition, from 2011 to 2016, 17 ...
Tuesday 22 August 2017
The recently published article by Shapiro et al1 hoped to be topical in this age of “alternative facts” but fell short, providing mainly biased viewpoints that prevent independent assessment of existing research in chronic Lyme disease. Defined here as “…patients with persistent, unexplained subjective symptoms with no documented his tory of Lyme disease and without credible laboratory evidence—past or present—of infection with Borrelia burgdorferi…,” this definition is a disservice to those who suffer from this affliction. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine)
Tuesday 22 August 2017
Rugby star Matt Dawson, 44, developed a rash and fever after being bitten by a tick while working out at a park in Chiswick, West London in July 2015. He was eventually diagnosed with Lyme Disease. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Monday 21 August 2017
INSECT bites are usually harmless but can sometimes require hospital treatment. These include ticks, which left former rugby player Matt Dawson with Lyme disease. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
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Monday 21 August 2017
A QUESTION of Sport team captain and former England rugby captain Matt Dawson has revealed how he underwent heart surgery after being bitten by a tick. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
Friday 18 August 2017
Researchers Developing Test For Lyme Disease (Source: WebMD Health)
Friday 18 August 2017
Publication date: Available online 18 August 2017 Source:Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases Author(s): Sándor Szekeres, Jenny Lügner, Volker Fingerle, Gabriele Margos, Gábor Földvári The hard tick Ixodes ricinus is the most important vector of tick-transmitted pathogens in Europe, frequently occurring in urban parks and greenbelts utilized for recreational activities. This species is the most common vector of the causative agents of Lyme borreliosis in Europe. Similarly, the species spreads Borrelia miyamotoi, causing a relapsing-fever like illness. A total of 1774 Ixodes ricinus (50 females, 68 males, 840 nymphs and 818 larvae) were collected with flagging between March and September 2014 in a coniferous forest patch in Niederkaina near the town of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany. To measure ...
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Thursday 17 August 2017
Scientists are developing a new way to test early for Lyme disease, using a "signature" of molecules in patients' blood (Source: Health News: CBSNews.com)
Thursday 17 August 2017
Dr. Jennifer Ashton brings all the details on a new study on Lyme disease that is creating a buzz within the medical community. (Source: ABC News: Health)
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Thursday 17 August 2017
Researchers differentiated Lyme disease from similar tick-borne illnesses. (Source: ABC News: Health)
Wednesday 16 August 2017
Lyme disease needs to be treated quickly, but it can be hard to tell it apart from other conditions. Now a test could help diagnose the infection (Source: New Scientist - Health)
Wednesday 16 August 2017
Diagnosing if a tick bite caused Lyme or something else can be difficult but scientists are developing a new way to catch the disease early _ using a "signature" of molecules in patients' blood (Source: ABC News: Health)
Wednesday 16 August 2017
(Colorado State University) A team of researchers led by Colorado State University has identified a way to distinguish Lyme disease from similar conditions. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Wednesday 16 August 2017
Lyme disease, the most commonly reported vector-borne disease in the United States, results from infection with Borrelia burgdorferi. Early clinical diagnosis of this disease is largely based on the presence of an erythematous skin lesion for individuals in high-risk regions. This, however, can be confused with other illnesses including southern tick–associated rash illness (STARI), an illness that lacks a defined etiological agent or laboratory diagnostic test, and is coprevalent with Lyme disease in portions of the eastern United States. By applying an unbiased metabolomics approach with sera retrospectively obtained from well-characterized patients, we defined biochemical and diagnostic differences between early Lyme disease and STARI. Specifically, a metabolic biosignature consis...
Tuesday 15 August 2017
Shedding Light on Health : Research Helps People and Pets Tick Talk : Block Tick Bites and Lyme Disease Exercise Brings Bone Benefits that Last Paralyzed Men Regain Movement Mental Health Topics (Source: NIH News in Health)
Thursday 10 August 2017
LYME Disease is a growing problem in the UK. (Source: Daily Express - Health)
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Thursday 10 August 2017
Lisa Vallo, 49, from Bradford, would fall asleep anywhere and moving left her gasping for breath. She first became 'fluey' after a bite from deer tick brought home by her cat in 2002. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Wednesday 9 August 2017
Publication date: 15 September 2017 Source:Veterinary Parasitology, Volume 244 Author(s): Saran Davies, Swaid Abdullah, Chris Helps, Séverine Tasker, Hannah Newbury, Richard Wall In a study of tick and tick-borne pathogen prevalence, between May and October 2016, 278 veterinary practices in Great Britain examined 1855 cats. Six-hundred and one cats were found to have attached ticks. The most frequently recorded tick species was Ixodes ricinus (57.1%), followed by Ixodes hexagonus (41.4%) and Ixodes trianguliceps (1.5%). Male cats, 4–6 years of age living in rural areas were most likely to be carrying a tick; hair length and tick treatment history had no significant association with attachment. For cats that were parasitized by ticks in large urban areas, I. hexagonus was the most frequ...
Monday 7 August 2017
Conclusions: The results of detection and attribution studies can inform evidence-based risk management to reduce current, and plan for future, changes in health risks associated with climate change. Gaining a better understanding of the size, timing, and distribution of the climate change burden of disease and injury requires reliable long-term data sets, more knowledge about the factors that confound and modify the effects of climate on health, and refinement of analytic techniques for detection and attribution. At the same time, significant advances are possible in the absence of complete data and statistical certainty: there is a place for well-informed judgments, based on understanding of underlying processes and matching of patterns of health, climate, and other determinants of human...
Monday 7 August 2017
This study aims to estimate the incidence of PTLDS in patients with Lyme borreliosis and to quantify the disease burden and economic costs associated with the different clinical mani festations of Lyme borreliosis in Belgium.MethodsThe project is a prospective cohort study in which about 600 patients with an erythema migrans and 100 patients with disseminated Lyme borreliosis will be followed up. Questionnaires, including the SF-36 vitality and pain subscale, the Cognitive Failure Questionnaire and the EQ-5D-5L, will be used to collect information on acute and persisting symptoms and the impact on quality of life. Symptom frequency and severity will be compared with self-reported pre-Lyme health status, a control group and existing Belgian population norms. Additionally, information on the...
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Friday 4 August 2017
The bacterium that causes Lyme disease may have some help from a gene found in the guts of infected ticks. (Source: Yale Science and Health News)
Friday 4 August 2017
Find out what there is to know about the ED management of patients with Lyme disease.The Journal of Emergency Medicine (Source: Medscape Today Headlines)
Friday 4 August 2017
Authors: Zhou W, Brisson D Abstract The population dynamics of pathogens within hosts result from interactions between host immune responses and mechanisms of the pathogen to evade or resist immune responses. Vertebrate hosts have evolved adaptive immune responses to eliminate the infection, while many pathogens evade immune clearance through altering surface antigens. Such interactions can result in a characteristic pattern of pathogen population dynamics within hosts consisting of population growth after infection, rapid population decline following specific immune responses, followed by persistence at low densities during a chronic infection stage. Despite the medical importance of chronic infections, little is known about the conditions of the interactions between variable anti...
Wednesday 2 August 2017
New data suggests the rise of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases may be tied to a scarcity of traditional mouse predators. (Source: NYT Health)
Wednesday 2 August 2017
An infectious disease specialist at the University of Alberta Hospital says the risk of contracting Lyme disease from a tick bite is overblown. (Source: CBC | Health)
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Tuesday 1 August 2017
A 23-year-old woman presented with a 2-week history of progressive blurring of vision in her left eye, associated with fever, fatigue, and myalgia. The patient had a pet cat and reported incidents of being scratched. Her fundus examination revealed optic disc edema and macular satellite exudates/star bilaterally (Figure). Laboratory test results revealed a normal complete blood count and liver enzymes. Screening results for human immunodeficiency virus, Lyme disease, syphilis, and tuberculosis were negative. (Source: Mayo Clinic Proceedings)
Saturday 29 July 2017
In this report we review the validity of three studies that reported the recovery of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from the blood of a high proportion of patients for whom no evidence was presented, and no claim was made, that the patients had untreated early Lyme disease. In two of the studies the patients had been treated extensively with antibiotics for Lyme disease before the cultures were obtained. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Saturday 29 July 2017
In this report we review the validity of three studies that reported the recovery of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato from the blood of a high proportion of patients for whom no evidence was presented, and no claim was made, that the patients had untreated early Lyme disease. In two of the studies the patients had been treated extensively with antibiotics for Lyme disease before the cultures were obtained. (Source: Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease)
Thursday 27 July 2017
(FAIR Health) Although Lyme disease historically has been concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest, our data suggest that it is spreading. In the United States in 2007 (as shown in the heat map below), claim lines with Lyme disease diagnoses as a percentage of all claim lines with all diagnoses in the state were highest in the Northeast. The states with the highest percentages of such claim lines were (in order from highest to lowest) New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Tuesday 25 July 2017
Zooloist Stacey Venzel, 29, from Seattle, suddenly became ill and too weak to lift her arms or stand but vowed to continue her animal sanctuary work after being spurred on by paralyzed sheep Rocky. (Source: the Mail online | Health)
Tuesday 25 July 2017
Authors: Tylewska-Wierzbanowska S, Rogulska U, Lewandowska G, Chmielewski T Abstract The aim of our studies was to invent a reliable method for detection of the bactericidal activity of disinfectants against Borrelia burgdorferi in suspension (in vitro) and in cell line cultures (in vivo). In the suspension method, 0.01% octenidine at 20°C and 35°C was bactericidal to Borrelia afzeli; Borrelia garini, B. burgdorferi sensu stricto after 5 minutes treatment. Increase of the temperature to 35°C speed up the bactericidal effect to 1 minute. The bactericidal action of octenidine towards B. burgdorferi spirochetes growing in fibroblasts was less effective and needed a longer time to kill them than in the suspension. PMID: 28735308 [PubMed - in process] (Source: Polish Journal of M...
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Tuesday 25 July 2017
The CDC is fieldingreports of serious bacterial infections resulting from treatments prescribed for “chronic Lyme disease”—a misleading diagnosis sometimes given for vague symptoms such as fatigue, generalized pain, or neurologic disorders. (Source: JAMA)
Tuesday 25 July 2017
In this study, we evaluated a novel assay for the direct detection of three species of Borrelia spirochetes in whole blood. The T2 magnetic resonance (T2MR) assay platform was used to amplify Borrelia DNA released from intact spirochetes and to detect amplicon. Analytical sensitivity was determined from blood spiked with known concentrations of spirochetes, and the assay's limit of detection was found to be in the single-cell-per-milliliter range: 5 cells/ml for B. afzelii and 8 cells/ml for Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia garinii. Clinical samples (n = 66) from confirmed or suspected early LD patients were also analyzed. B. burgdorferi was detected using T2MR in 2/2 (100%) of blood samples from patients with confirmed early LD, based on the presence of erythema migrans and documentation...
Monday 24 July 2017
This study is an extension of previous work published in 20141 showing the predicted expansion of the distribution of the Lyme disease tick vector into Canada,” says Maria Diuk-Wasser, a professor at Columbia University who focuses on the emergence of vector-borne diseases. “Although the results are not qualitatively different, it represents an improvement on the previous study by incorporating the full range of and most up-to-date climate models and emission scenarios.” Importantly, she says, the new study accounts for the inherent uncertainty in such models and scenarios but also indicates that an increased risk can be expected in any event. Canada’s public health officials track the leading edge of the tick’s range expansion in several ways: through laboratory identification o...
Monday 24 July 2017
The disease-carrying blood suckers are spreading more pathogens and putting more Americans at risk, even for more rare illnesses. (Source: NYT Health)
Monday 24 July 2017
(Source: Journal of Infection)
Thursday 20 July 2017
Nearly 16 years ago, a former co-worker of mine at the San Jose Mercury News was found dead in the back of her car. She had been shot in the head by her estranged husband. I remember being confused upon hearing the news and not quite believing what had happened. Luci Houston, who was 43 […]Related:Unapproved stem-cell treatments touted on federal database ClinicalTrials.gov, study says‘How did this happen to a 10-year-old?’: Child dies with heroin and fentanyl in his systemWhy this adorable mouse is to blame for the spread of Lyme disease (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Thursday 20 July 2017
ConclusionsAutonomic dysfunction may be responsible for additional morbidity in some infectious diseases. (Source: Clinical Autonomic Research)
Thursday 20 July 2017
Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases , Vol. 0, No. 0. (Source: Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases)
Thursday 20 July 2017
AbstractFor laboratory diagnostics of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), the recomBead Borrelia antibody index (AI) assay has shown promising results in a mixed age population, but has not previously been evaluated with specific focus on paediatric patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the recomBead Borrelia AI assay in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) for the laboratory diagnosis of LNB in children. We also wanted to explore whether early markers, such as CXCL13 in CSF and/or total IgM index could be useful as complementary diagnostic tools. Children being evaluated for LNB in a Swedish Lyme endemic area were included in the study (n = 146). Serum and CSF were collected on admission. Patients with other specific diagnoses were controls (n = 15). The recomBead Borrelia AI assay and the rec...
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Wednesday 19 July 2017
Stem cell clinics offering unapproved treatments for ailments from hip pains to autism to erectile dysfunction increasingly are using a federal clinical-trials database as a marketing tool — a strategy that confuses patients and exposes them to “unjustifiable” safety risks and high costs, according to a new study. At least 18 purported clinical trials — […]Related:‘How did this happen to a 10-year-old?’: Child dies with heroin and fentanyl in his systemWhy this adorable mouse is to blame for the spread of Lyme diseaseNew NIH report finds low morale, continued patient safety concerns (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
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Wednesday 19 July 2017
A gunshot wound to the face left a teenager with so much damage that for years doctors knew plastic surgery could only help so much to give her back a regular life. In May, the now-21-year-old woman joined the small but growing ranks of face transplant recipients, doctors announced Tuesday. For the woman, now the youngest to receive […]Related:‘How did this happen to a 10-year-old?’: Child dies with heroin and fentanyl in his systemDiet drinks are associated with weight gain, new research suggestsWhy this adorable mouse is to blame for the spread of Lyme disease (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Tuesday 18 July 2017
A Florida state attorney is voicing alarm after a 10-year-old boy died with a dangerous opioid mixture in his system — making him one of the state's youngest victims in the nationwide drug epidemic. The Miami Herald reported that Alton Banks started vomiting June 23 after he returned to his Miami home from a community pool. Authorities said the boy was later found […]Related:Why this adorable mouse is to blame for the spread of Lyme diseaseNew NIH report finds low morale, continued patient safety concernsHalf a million Medicare recipients were prescribed too many opioid drugs last year (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Tuesday 18 July 2017
A Florida state attorney is voicing alarm after a 10-year-old boy died last month with a dangerous opioid mixture in his system — making him one of the youngest victims in the state's drug epidemic. The Miami Herald reported that Alton Banks started vomiting June 23 after he returned to his Miami home from a community pool. Authorities said the boy was later […]Related:Why this adorable mouse is to blame for the spread of Lyme diseaseNew NIH report finds low morale, continued patient safety concernsHalf a million Medicare recipients were prescribed too many opioid drugs last year (Source: Washington Post: To Your Health)
Tuesday 18 July 2017
Over the past decade, Americans have soured on artificial sweeteners. Once heralded as sweet substitutes for sugar without as many belt-busting calories, people once couldn't get enough sucralose and aspartame. But recently, people have started looking at the molecules with