Lyme Science Blog

A study by Schubert and Melanson, entitled “Prevalence of Lyme Disease Attributable to Military Service at the USMA, West Point NY: FY2016–2018,” looks at the exposure of military personnel and their families to the Ixodes scapularis (or black-legged) tick, the vector of Lyme disease. [1] The authors examined cases of Lyme disease treated at a […]

“The clinical presentation of Lyme arthritis (LA) of the hip can be similar to both acute bacterial septic arthritis (SA) and transient synovitis (TS),” explains Cruz and colleagues. ¹ “Differentiating between SA, LA, and TS of the hip can be challenging, even for the most discerning clinician.” But, accurately diagnosing these conditions is important since

“While mostly vigilant and awake, he intermittently lacked full orientation, had reduced attention, concentration, short-term memory function, increased motor activity, mild formal thought disorder (incl. some tangential thinking), but no frank psychotic symptoms,” the authors explain. The man was diagnosed with delirium, potentially related to dementia. An abnormal F18-FDG-PET scan was interpreted as consistent with

Lyme disease can trigger various heart problems, including Lyme carditis, which typically occurs early on in the disease.  “Lyme carditis is an important reversible cause of heart block, especially in endemic areas,” wrote Aljadba et al. in their article, “Lyme carditis manifesting as Wenckebach heart block.”¹ “Prompt recognition of this potentially lethal condition, with appropriate initiation

The woman had a three-week history of a fever (maximum temperature, 104 F], chills, nausea, and productive cough of yellow sputum. Six weeks prior to her onset of symptoms, the woman had been vacationing in Connecticut, an area endemic for Lyme disease. She reported having 2 tick bites during the previous year. Her examination and

1.) Involuntary body movements due to Lyme disease dismissed as psychosomatic A man in his 70’s had an abrupt onset of involuntary body movements, including jerks in his left arm. Doctors initially dismissed him as having a functional disorder. However, his involuntary body movements were due to Lyme disease. 2.) Bannwarth syndrome in early disseminated Lyme

1.)  Should Lyme disease patients with an impaired immune system get the COVID-19 vaccine? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) posted mRNA COVID-19 vaccination considerations for people who have a weakened immune system. “People with HIV and those with weakened immune systems due to other illnesses or medication might be at increased risk

The study’s objective was to “evaluate the seasonality of pediatric Lyme disease in three endemic regions in the United States,” writes Sundheim. Participants had been treated at 8 different medical centers throughout the Northeast and UpperMidwest. Of the 690 children with Lyme disease, 77 (11.2%) had a single EM lesion, 247 (35.7%) had early disseminated

The authors looked at the perceptions, representations, and experiences of patients who had Lyme disease with nonspecific symptoms and no objective manifestations of the disease. This small study included 12 patients with confirmed and non-confirmed Lyme disease or unexplained symptoms. “Our study highlights that some physicians may also experience a lack of knowledge and information

In their article “The Impact of Operative Intervention in Pediatric Lyme Arthritis,” Tout et al. described 149 children admitted to a tertiary care children’s hospital in Pennsylvania who had been diagnosed with Lyme arthritis between 2008 and 2018.¹ All of the children met the CDC case definition, had Lyme arthritis, and were culture negative. The