Lyme Science Blog

Updated: April 22, 2019 In a study by Shannon and colleagues, 160 ticks and blood samples were collected from 70 healthy cats brought to the Mid Atlantic Cat Hospital in Queenstown, Maryland. [1] The authors found that the cats were carrying 3 species of ticks including 83 Lone Star ticks (Amblyomma americanum), 7 American dog ticks (Dermacentor […]

In the United States, as many as 15.4% of the blacklegged ticks were found to be infected with B. miyamotoi, compared with up to 4% in Europe and Japan, according to Koetsveld from the Center for Experimental and Molecular Medicine, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. [1] Meanwhile, “Seroprevalence studies in New England suggest that

The study looked at 325 children with Lyme disease who were evaluated at six different emergency medicine departments located in Lyme endemic regions. The patients all had an available tick bite history. “Our goal was to report the frequency of a known tick bite in children with Lyme disease overall and by stage,” the authors

The study, by Roaldsnes and colleagues, describes 110 patients with muscular and joint pain, fatigue, memory and concentration impairments, who were assessed for possible Lyme neuroborreliosis. These patients had non-specific neurological symptoms. “Only one patient was diagnosed with possible Lyme neuroborreliosis. Altogether 27% had high levels of Borrelia-IgG serum antibodies,” the authors write. Many of

In the case report “Latent Lyme Disease Resulting in Chronic Arthritis and Early Career Termination in a United States Army Officer,” Weiss et al. describe a 24-year-old Second Lieutenant, trained at the U.S. Military Academy, whose career was terminated due to Lyme disease. [1] The young man had unexplained knee swelling after successfully completing hip

A 43-year-old woman initially presented to an oncology clinic with symptoms of lymphadenopathy, a disease of the lymph nodes. She complained of low-grade fever, generalized swelling of lymph nodes, migrating aches in joints of arms and legs, dryness in mouth and eyes, weight loss, and fatigue for the past 6 months, writes Smiyan and colleagues.

Unlike Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, female ticks infected with Borrelia miyamotoi can pass the bacteria to their offspring. “Therefore, in addition to nymphs and adults, larvae can vector B. miyamotoi to wildlife and human hosts,” write the authors of a new study, “Vertical transmission rates of Borrelia miyamotoi in Ixodes scapularis

Premature injection of these steroids “has been reported as a potential risk factor for the development of ARLA [antibiotic-refractory Lyme arthritis] in children and adults,” writes Horton et al. in the Journal of Rheumatology. [1] “This risk is attributed to impairment of the body’s response to infection due to local immune suppression within an infected

The authors of a new review soundly dismiss patients’ concerns regarding chronic manifestations of Lyme disease stating, “The infection annual incidence is modest (< 30,000 cases) and is not supposed to be fatal.” [2] In dismissing the possible severity of Lyme disease, Peretti-Watel and colleagues failed to take an evidence-based medicine approach (EBM), which integrates

Between 2006 and 2016, researchers received 8,608 ticks from 22 states in the U.S. [1] However, most of the ticks were collected in Monmouth County, New Jersey, where the investigators were located. Monmouth County has long been recognized as endemic for Lyme disease. Researchers found that lone star ticks accounted for nearly half (48.1%) of