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Dental surgery triggers full body pain in patient with severe post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome
In an article published in Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia, doctors describe the case of a 23-year-old woman who suffered from severe chronic pain for 9 years due to post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). Her pain intensified and became more difficult to manage after she underwent dental extractions and required hospitalization.
Study identifies ticks that are most dangerous to humans
What makes a tick more likely to transmit an infection from animals to humans? In the journal BMC Ecology, researchers answer that question using a machine learning method known as generalized boosted regression. [1] This type of algorithm helps identify features that are most important in predicting “a response variable (here, a binary variable designating whether the Ixodes tick species is a zoonotic vector) by building thousands of linked classification trees that successively improve upon the predictions of the previous tree,” the authors explain.
Can Lyme disease trigger obsessive compulsive symptoms?
A number of psychiatric disorders have been reported to occur after an infection with Lyme disease (LD). “Conditions including depression, mania, delirium, dementia, psychosis, obsessions and compulsions, and panic attacks have all been reported to occur after infection with LD,” state the authors of a new study entitled “Obsessive-compulsive symptoms in adults with Lyme disease.” [1]
More than 50% of mice in Kentucky infected with Lyme bacteria
In their study, Buchholz and colleagues, from Western Kentucky University, found that more than half of the mice in Kentucky tested positive for Borrelia burgdorferi. They also discovered that the prevalence of B. burgdorferi was higher in tissue than in blood – a finding consistent with other studies.
“Overall prevalence of B. burgdorferi in mammals examined by blood sampling was 21.8%, while prevalence in tissues was 63.5%,” writes Buchholz.
The prevalence rates of infected mammals was similar to those in other southeastern U.S. states. Studies in Georgia, Florida and South Carolina [2] have reported the prevalence to be 6.5% and 41.8%. ...
Another cardiac manifestation of Lyme myocarditis
The list of cardiac complications from Lyme disease continues to grow. Now, you can add another manifestation to the list -- isolated left bundle branch block (LBBB), according to Cunha from the Infectious Disease Division at Winthrop-University Hospital. [1]
When Lyme disease mimics a heart attack
Lyme disease has earned a reputation as the great imitator, because its symptoms can mimic many other illnesses. In a case report, presented by Gilson and colleagues from Easton Hospital in Pennsylvania, a 45-year-old woman was believed to be suffering from a heart attack when, in fact, her symptoms were due to Lyme disease. [1]
What are the symptoms of Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome?
Doctors have known for years that they cannot rely on a physical exam to diagnose early Lyme disease unless they find an erythema migrans rash, Bell’s palsy, or heart block. Now, Rebman and colleagues from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine acknowledge that doctors also cannot count on a physical exam to diagnose Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS). [1]
Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome is a serious problem
More than 300,000 people contract Lyme disease in the USA every year with many continuing to suffer from long-term illness. In some cases, those persistent symptoms have been dismissed by physicians as being psychosomatic, or caused by something other than Lyme disease. But now, researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine acknowledge the existence of what is called Post-treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS).
6-year-old girl with a rare cutaneous presentation of Lyme disease
The authors of a case report published in Pediatric Dermatology discuss a rare cutaneous presentation of Lyme disease in a young child. “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,” writes Ogimi from the University of Washington and Seattle Children’s Hospital. [1]
Study shows doctors can misdiagnose Lyme disease
Diagnosing Lyme disease can be extremely challenging as the disease mimics many other illnesses and testing is not always accurate. The authors of a new study, Accuracy of Clinician Suspicion of Lyme Disease in the Emergency Department, discovered this firsthand as they examined “the accuracy of clinician suspicion for Lyme disease in children undergoing evaluation for Lyme disease.” [1]
