Lyme Science Blog

The 22-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with cardiac problems. He suffered from morbid obesity and  complained of chest pain and lightheadedness for several days. During his examination, he was sweaty with a fast pulse of 115. He also reported having an erythema migrans (EM) rash. Clinicians initially suspected the patient had non-segment elevation […]

“Two days after noting this ankle lesion, the patient noticed an erythematous rash on his neck and chest,” the authors explain. He was prescribed an antihistamine and 7-day course of trimethoprim–sulfamethoxazole. The rash resolved after 5 days of antibiotic treatment, but the man continued to have pain and swelling in his ankle.  The pain spread

Until recently, India has been considered a non-endemic region for Lyme disease, the authors point out. And, “Although it had been considered extremely rare in India, a recent study conducted in Nagarahole and Bandipur in South India surprisingly revealed a high seroprevalence (19.9%) of Borrelia burgdorferi infection in a population at risk (forest workers and

In a 2003 case report, “Bone marrow manifestation of Lyme disease (Lyme Borreliosis),” Kvasnicka et al.² describe a 35-year-old man, who presented with fever, night sweats, inguinal lymph node enlargement and splenomegaly. He also exhibited neurologic symptoms including hyperkinesis and ataxia. Based on results from a lumbar puncture, doctors initially suspected the patient had infectious

The authors analyzed charts of pediatric and adult patients with heart block and a positive Western Blot test for Lyme disease, who were hospitalized at Maine Medical Center. The study included 10 children and 20 adults who were admitted for Lyme carditis between January 2010 and December 2018.¹ The children’s mean age was 12.4 years.

The authors collected data via an online questionnaire from 252 Lyme disease patients and a control group of 267 healthy individuals living in Germany to examine the clinical presentation, including neuropsychiatric and psychological symptoms. The findings revealed that “Lyme disease can cause diverse psychological and neuropsychiatric symptoms. These include limitations in quality of life, sleep,

In a recent study entitled “Detecting Borrelia Spirochetes: A Case Study With Validation Among Autopsy Specimens,” researchers describe a woman with Lyme disease who was later diagnosed with Lewy body dementia.² Lyme disease diagnosed at age 54 At age 54, the woman was diagnosed with Lyme disease based upon a well-documented erythema migrans rash, along

Borrelia miyamotoi (B. miyamotoi) was first reported in the United States in 2013 but has become increasingly more common. The tick-borne illness can be transmitted by the same tick that carries Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease pathogen. In their article, Della-Giustina and colleagues² address the question, “What is Borrelia miyamotoi?” and concerns surrounding this growing

In his article, Wormser discusses the case of a 61-year-old woman who went untreated for a Babesia infection, despite positive test results. The patient, who lives in Westchester, NY, a highly endemic area for Lyme disease, reportedly removed an unidentified tick from her left wrist at the end of March 2020, wrote Wormser. In June,

Babesia odocoilei has been identified in two individuals based on PCR testing and DNA sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene, writes Scott and colleagues in the study “Detection of Babesia odocoilei in Humans with Babesiosis Symptoms.” ¹ According to the authors, “the same two human subjects had the hallmark symptoms of human Babesiosis, including night