Lyme Science Blog

So, how prepared are medical students to properly diagnose patients of all races and ethnicities? Do they have the diagnostic ability and confidence in making a diagnosis, such as Lyme disease, for individuals with non-white skin color? In the study, “The impact of patient skin colour on diagnostic ability and confidence of medical students,” Dodd […]

Alpha-gal syndrome typically presents with abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. But it can also lead to swelling of the face or throat, voice changes, difficulty breathing, hives, or fainting, according to recent article “AGA Clinical Practice Update on Alpha-Gal Syndrome for the GI Clinician: Commentary,” by McGill and colleagues.¹ According to the authors, the

In their article “Case report: Subacute transverse myelitis with gait preservation secondary to Lyme disease and a review of the literature,” Colot and colleagues describe a 10-year-old boy who suffered from neck pain with irradiation in the upper limbs for 13 days. Transverse myelitis (TM) is an inflammation of both sides of one section of

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Orbital myositis is typically caused by systemic disease, such as Grave’s disease, or haematological disorders like lymphomas, the authors explain. In these cases, myositis is often bilateral. It has been reported, as well, as a rare manifestation of Lyme disease. In these two cases, myositis was confirmed by MRI findings. Patient #1: 68-year-old female “The

The authors describe a 70-year-old male who presented to the hospital without any typical Lyme disease symptoms, but exhibited generalized symptoms of progressive orthopnea and dyspnea on exertion. The man had a medical history of hypertension and calcific aortic stenosis. His lab results were “significant for an increased erythrocyte sedimentation rate of 136, white blood

In an effort to better understand their significance, Corak and colleagues “grew B. burgdorferi spirochete, round body, bleb, and biofilm-dominated cultures and recovered their transcriptomes by RNAseq profiling.” Their non-spirochete morphotypes were induced by simple changes in growth conditions. The authors described three pleomorphic forms as follows: “Spherical B. burgdorferi cells with intact and flexible

In their study “Efficacy and safety of antibiotic therapy for post-Lyme disease? A systematic review and network meta-analysis,” Zhang and colleagues described a meta-analysis review of four Randomized Clinical Trials (RCT) addressing Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome.¹ The four randomized controlled trials included 485 subjects who met the following inclusion criteria: Randomized controlled trials Patients with

The authors explain, “Immunocompetent, and otherwise healthy, patients present with milder, flu-like symptoms: fever, fatigue, sleepiness, chills, muscle and joint stiffness, aches and pains, and nausea.” And, “While uncommon, relapses of febrile episodes can occur.” In fact, the symptoms may be mild enough that an individual with Borrelia miyamotoi disease may not seek medical care. However,

Now, investigators have identified the Heartland virus in the Maryland and Virginia region – an area where the virus is not widely recognized. In their article “Fatal Case of Heartland Virus Disease Acquired in the Mid-Atlantic Region, United States,”¹ Liu and colleagues describe the fatal case of a man in his 60’s who acquired the