Lyme Science Blog

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

The retrospective study included 10 patients diagnosed with post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, who had autonomic testing performed between 2016 and 2018 at the Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital Autonomic laboratory. [1] The authors aimed to identify SFN as a possible biomarker of “PTLDS,” in addition to evaluating autonomic dysfunction associated with presumed small fiber neuropathy

“While questing, ticks hold onto leaves and grass by their third and fourth pair of legs. They hold the first pair of legs outstretched, waiting to climb onto the host,” according to researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “When a host brushes the spot where a tick is waiting, it quickly

According to the authors, the 14-day course effectively cleared the patients’ erythema migrans rashes and “prevented the development of objective neurologic, cardiac, or rheumatologic manifestations.” One patient was retreated with amoxicillin. Two others could not be evaluated at 1-year follow-up due to a recurrent erythema migrans (EM) rash. But 4 out of the 24 patients

The existence of Borrelia burgdorferi s.s. in Brazil was recently confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, writes Miziara in the journal Clinics (Sao Paulo). [1] The Amblyomma and Rhipicephalus genera ticks can transmit the bacteria to humans through the bite of an infected tick. In the U.S., Borrelia burgdorferi s.s. is transmitted by Ixodes scapularis

Acute transverse myelitis is a rare neurologic condition that leaves one-third of patients with severe neurologic disability. It is characterized by varying degrees of bilateral motor, sensory, and autonomic dysfunction. Symptoms can progress rapidly within hours or within days, explains Dumic, from Mayo Clinic and lead author of the case report “Acute transverse myelitis: A