Laurie Martin

The 83-year-old man, from Pennsylvania, was admitted to the hospital, reporting pain in his knee, erythema and fever for 3 days. Upon examination, physicians noted he had “a moderate effusion and limited range of motion,” explains Collins. The patient had a total knee replacement, involving the same knee, 6 years earlier. Culture tests were negative […]

Doctors diagnosed and treated a 67-year-old woman for early Lyme disease with a 21-day course of amoxicillin after she presented with an erythema migrans rash. (The woman was allergic to doxycycline.) Near the end of her treatment, the woman developed fevers (102.92°F), myalgias, dizziness, and fatigue. Due to concerns that she may be septic or have an

These conditions are typically thought to occur separately with several published reports describing each illness as mimicking the other. But a new article by Koester and colleagues details the first cases of acute Lyme and EBV infections reportedly occurring concurrently. “We describe the clinical presentation of two children with confirmed early Lyme disease and features

A recent article, “Assessment of the Public Health Threats Posed by Vector-Borne Disease in the United Kingdom,” by Medlock and colleagues explores the growing concern Lyme disease poses to residents in the UK. [1] “There has been an increase in the numbers of reported human cases of Lyme disease,” writes Medlock in the International Journal

Typically, doxycycline is the go-to antibiotic for practitioners. It has become the favorite first-line drug for treating tick-borne illnesses. But, it’s not effective for all tick-related diseases such as Babesia. In these instances, a combination of antibiotics and/or anti-viral medications may be required. In a recent article, published in The Nurse Practitioner, Paparone discusses the

Identifying patients with high-degree AV block caused by Lyme carditis is imperative “to prevent the inherent risks of pacemaker implantation, such as periprocedural infections, lead dislodgement, and erosions,” the author writes. Recognizing these patients is particularly important given that Lyme carditis often impacts younger individuals, who may be at a greater risk of experiencing complications

So, what do we actually know about this potentially deadly virus? Symptoms are similar to those seen with other tick-borne illnesses. Patients may experience fever, headaches, joint and muscle aches, fatigue, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. Individuals with the virus have reported becoming ill about two weeks after being bitten by a tick. There is

“Despite being a top international tourist destination, few sources describe the spectrum of infectious diseases acquired among travellers to the USA,” writes Stoney in the Journal Travel Medicine. [1] Stoney, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and colleagues analyzed travel history and clinical diagnoses for non-US-resident travellers who visited GeoSentinel clinics between

An article by Nieto and colleagues, published in PLoS One, describes a study using citizen science to gather data on human exposure to ticks and tick-borne diseases. The study was conducted on a national scale between January 2016 and August 2017. “This study offers a unique and valuable perspective because it looks at risk to

Borrelia miyamotoi, the bacteria which causes relapsing fever, is one of the latest threats. The disease was first reported in the United States in 2013 but has become increasingly more common. B. miyamotoi is carried by black-legged ticks, the same ticks that can transmit Lyme disease. One study found that 2% of nymphal ticks collected in