Dr. Daniel Cameron

Lyme Disease Public Health Failure: Why Tick Control Lags Behind Malaria While there are many differences between disease vectors and the infections they transmit, the authors seek to answer a critical public health question: Why did malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases elicit effective interventions, while Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses have not? Lyme disease […]

“Besides the rise in the number of cases of Lyme disease, caused by genospecies of the Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. complex, important tick-borne diseases also include anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassan virus, and babesiosis,” writes Benelli. [1] Ticks can also be frustrating if your child, livestock, or pet becomes infected. Have you found ticks

Peri and colleagues reviewed the medical records of children admitted to a hospital in Italy between January 2016 and December 2018. They identified 26 children who had a diagnosis of Lyme disease. Seven fit the criteria for chronic Lyme disease. But the authors disputed these findings, suspecting instead that the patients suffered from a somatic

POTS: Autonomic Dysfunction, Overlapping Conditions, and Lyme Disease The cause of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) is not fully understood, but researchers believe it is multifactorial. According to Wells and colleagues, “moderate autonomic dysfunction, increased sympathetic tone, severe deconditioning, inadequate venous return, or excessive venous pooling may contribute to POTS symptoms.” In addition, “autoimmunity and

Lyme carditis atrial fibrillation represents an unusual initial presentation that can mislead clinicians. A 23-year-old man’s case demonstrates why atrial fibrillation in young patients from endemic areas deserves immediate Lyme disease consideration — even though classic Lyme carditis typically presents with heart block, not supraventricular arrhythmias. By Dr. Daniel Cameron Initial Presentation: Atrial Fibrillation in

The authors examined the incidence of tick bites among military personnel specifically occurring during field training and the rate of complications resulting from the bite. They found that “One out of 17.5 recruits suffered a tick bite during basic training.” [1] “It turns out that there is a rather low but relevant risk of being

1H-MRS Early Lyme Neuroborreliosis Reveals Hidden Brain Injury The authors conducted a study to determine whether 1H-MRS early Lyme neuroborreliosis could identify neurologic damage in patients when a standard MRI failed to do so. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-MRS) was evaluated as a tool to detect subtle brain changes in early Lyme disease that may