Lyme Science Blog

The case involved a 46-year-old man with Lyme disease who presented to the clinic with cardiac complications, which initially manifest as palpitations. The patient lived in a Lyme endemic region and reported that one month earlier, he had a “pinching sensation in his right thigh with an associated macular erythematous rash,” according to the authors. […]

In their 2007 article, “Do Bartonella Infections Cause Agitation, Panic Disorder, and Treatment-Resistant Depression?” Schaller and colleagues describe 3 patients with acute psychiatric symptoms associated with Bartonella-like sign and symptoms.¹ Each of the patients was exposed to ticks or fleas and manifest symptoms consistent with Bartonella, i.e., an enlarged lymph node near an Ixodes tick bite and

Rocky Mountain spotted fever has primarily been reported in 5 states in the United States, according to the CDC. These include Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Carolina. However, RMSF has been documented in other states, as well. The disease can be transmitted by various ticks depending upon the region. In the eastern U.S., it’s

In their article “A Longitudinal Study of a Large Clinical Cohort of Patients with Lyme Disease and Tick-Borne Co-Infections Treated with Combination Antibiotics” Xi and colleagues looked at 140 individuals who tested positive for tick-borne infections (TBI) with 33% of those patients infected with multiple TBIs.¹ The authors found that out of the 140 participants:

Over the last several years, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of anaplasmosis cases in the United States. The tick-borne illness can be transmitted through the bite of an infected blacklegged (deer) tick and causes flu-like symptoms, similar to those seen in Lyme disease. Anaplasmosis has only rarely been associated with cardiac

“A suspected case of Lyme disease causing complete heart block,” by Isha and colleagues describes a unique case of Lyme carditis in a 21-year-old man, in which symptoms emerged early on in the disease. “Although such manifestations occur late, our case report describes an interesting case where the patient developed a complete heart block in

In this case report, the authors describe a 33-year-old man with Lyme neuroborreliosis, who was initially diagnosed with Guillain-Barré Syndrome based on his clinical, radiographic and neurodiagnostic test results. Guillain-Barré Syndrome “can range from a very mild case with brief weakness to nearly devastating paralysis, leaving you unable to breathe independently.”1 GBS typically develops after

The 68-year-old woman presented to the orthopedic clinic with pain and swelling in her right knee, which had been ongoing for 2 weeks. Eight years earlier, she had a total knee replacement but lived pain free following the surgery. One month prior to her knee pain, the patient had been treated with steroids for pain

Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne disease caused by the bacterium Anaplasma phagocytophilum. Symptoms typically start 1 to 2 weeks after a tick bite. And while some patients may be asymptomatic, others can experience life-threatening complications, including encephalitis. In fact, the mortality rate is higher in patients who do not immediately receive doxycycline treatment, who are immunocompromised

Powassan virus (POWV) can cause severe disease, including infection of the brain (encephalitis) or infection of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord (meningitis). Symptoms may include confusion, loss of coordination, difficulty speaking, and seizures. An estimated 1 out of 10 people with POWV encephalitis or POWV meningitis will die from the disease, according