Lyme Science Blog

In an earlier study by Woolf and colleagues, nearly 1 in 5 children (19.6%) children with an erythema migrans (EM) rash or a positive two-tier Lyme serology had EKG evidence of carditis. Twenty-four of the children had atrioventricular (11.2%). Their study did not report troponin levels.¹ High-sensitivity cardiac troponin assays have been used to identify […]

As more individuals begin to venture outside with warmer weather, there are often concerns over how to protect yourself from ticks. Researchers have examined not only the effectiveness of various repellents and protective clothing but also the behavior of individuals who are more likely to encounter ticks. Researchers in Indiana looked at the protective measures

In their study, “Transmission patterns of tick-borne pathogens among birds and rodents in a forested park in southeastern Canada,” Dumas et al. “investigated and compared the role of breeding birds to rodents in local transmission dynamics of B. burgdorferi s.s., A. phagocytophilum and B. miyamotoi, which are emerging pathogens in southeastern Canada.”¹ Researchers collected ticks and rodents from the Mont Saint-Bruno National Park

In their article, “Neuroborreliosis with involvement of rhombencephalon: A case report,” ¹ Svingen and colleagues describe a unique presentation in which Lyme disease triggered inflammation of the rhombencephalon, a region of the brain also referred to as the hindbrain. Over an 8-month period, the patient experienced intermittent fevers, dry cough, fatigue, headaches, night sweats, unintentional

The 37-year-old man developed Lyme myocarditis without displaying any clinical symptoms of Lyme disease. He did not recall a tick bite or rash. He resided in Germany and had been receiving immunosuppressive treatment for MPA. The man initially presented to the emergency department with fatigue, palpitations and shortness of breath, which had been ongoing for

Cases of Lyme Disease and COVID-19 Case 1: A 45-year-old white woman with a partial college education was working as a groundskeeper. She had a history of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, irritable bowel syndrome, and viral meningitis. She had been ill for 37 years. There was not a history of a deer tick bite or erythema migrans.

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