Lyme Science Blog

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

In their article, “Contrast Sensitivity Loss in Patients With Posttreatment Lyme Disease,” Rebman and colleagues report that Lyme disease can cause eye problems, specifically a loss in contrast sensitivity.¹ Contrast sensitivity (CS) is most important when the contrast between objects and their background often is reduced such as low light, fog or glare. For example,

There are multiple studies indicating that Lyme disease can result in a persistent infection, causing chronic symptoms that may require treatment with extended courses of antibiotics. The National Institute of Health (NIH) conducted three Lyme disease trials, which validated the existence and severity of chronic manifestations of Lyme disease.2-4  The study’s patients were ill for

Babesia symptoms can be wide-ranging and difficult to recognize by clinicians and a missed or delayed diagnosis can be deadly. In hopes of raising awareness, one family shares their story of a Babesia diagnosis that came just a little too late. Jeff, a 51-year-old husband and father, was hospitalized with symptoms of jaundice, agitation and

A 42-year-old man from New York City received a Lyme carditis diagnosis after quarantining in upstate New York during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case is discussed in the article “A curious case of Lyme carditis in an urban hospital,” by Brissett et al. 1 “Lyme carditis was a surprise diagnosis in our hospital due to the