Covid and Lyme Blog

Welcome to another edition of Inside Lyme Podcast with Dr. Daniel Cameron. I will be discussing autonomic dysfunction in a 64-year-old woman where COVID-19 or Lyme disease triggered autoimmune dysfunction. By Dr. Daniel Cameron This case was featured in the journal eNeurologicalSci in 2020. According to the author, a 60-year-old woman was diagnosed with Lyme […]

Some individuals with Lyme disease do not trust the COVID-19 vaccine. They are not alone. As the author points out, a December poll by the Pew Research Center reported that 71% of Black respondents knew someone who had been hospitalized or died from Covid-19, yet fewer than 50% of Black Americans polled would get the

Lyme disease patients have described brain fog for decades. When COVID-19 emerged, millions of new patients began reporting the same symptoms — slowed thinking, memory lapses, word-finding problems, and mental fatigue that persisted long after the acute infection resolved. The overlap is striking. And it’s not a coincidence. Both conditions appear to trigger neuroinflammation and

COVID and Lyme disease symptoms overlap. The authors described complications reported in 153 COVID-19 patients in the UK, who had been admitted to the hospital with acute neurologic or psychiatric complications. Treating clinicians included specialists in neurology, stroke, psychiatry, and intensive care. More than 9 out of 10 patients had a positive COVID-19 test. The

Changes in smell have been described in COVID-19 and Lyme disease. According to Parma and colleagues, “A sudden loss of smell [and] taste is consistent with the now typical presentation of COVID-19 symptoms, it is highly probable that COVID-19 infection is the main reason of their smell and taste change.” [2]Patients with other illnesses, including

A broad range of factors associated with mental health problems in COVID-19 that have been seen in individuals with Lyme disease were identified in an epidemiologic review. “Age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, income, place of living, close contact with people with COVID-19, comorbid physical and mental health problems, exposure to COVID-19 related news and

COVID-19 long-haulers can individuals with Lyme disease can share frustrations.  “I have all the symptoms of a COVID-19 long-hauler — but I’m hesitant to identify myself as one,” writes Pooja Yerramilli in StatNews.¹ His symptoms were typical of patients with COVID-19. “The relentless dry cough and fatigue were followed by shortness of breath.” But his

Neurologic symptoms from Lyme disease and COVID-19 show striking overlap, creating diagnostic confusion when patients develop headaches, brain fog, encephalopathy, and dizziness after infection. More than 80% of COVID-19 patients suffered neurologic complications in a 509-patient study — the same symptoms Lyme disease patients have reported for decades. This overlap means some Lyme disease cases

Cortiula and colleagues express concern that the diversion of resources might stretch an already fragile system. The diversion might lead to worse outcomes. “It is well established that delayed oncologic surgery may lead to disease progressions and result in tumors no longer resectable, leading to worse survival outcomes,” the authors wrote.  Could Lyme disease in