Lyme Science Blog

The CDC previously recommended treatment for patients living in endemic states. “Fourteen states, all located in the Northeast, mid-Atlantic, and upper Midwest regions, met the criteria for classification as states with high incidence (Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Wisconsin),” writes Schwartz and […]

It is clear that more patients need to be involved in research and clinical trials if we are going to advance our understanding of Lyme disease and improve patient care. Only 4 clinical trials, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have included chronically ill Lyme disease patients. These trials were small and typically

Zomer and colleagues found that 1 in 5 Lyme disease patients presenting to the Lyme Center Apeldoorn in the Netherlands between January 2008 and December 2014 were diagnosed with depression and Lyme disease. [1] Depression was identified using the Dutch version of the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II) questionnaire. The BDI-II scale has been used

Individuals with pseudotumor cerebri have an increased intracranial pressure (pressure around the brain) without a tumor or other cause. The symptoms can include stroke-like headaches, nausea and vomiting. The disease can progress to swelling of the optic disc of the eye and vision loss. [2] “A 6-year-old female presented with a 4-day history of bi-frontal,

“Neurological manifestations are reported in up to 15% of adult patients with Lyme disease, while the frequency among children is higher,” writes Kortela and colleagues from the University of Turku, University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital in Finland. Painful radiculopathy, facial nerve paresis and lymphocytic meningitis are the most common symptoms of neurologic Lyme

There is increasing evidence of bacterial persistence in microbiology. “Though its applicability to B. burgdorferi has been controversial, persistence is a widely-accepted phenomenon in microbiology which in some instances can have therapeutic implications,” according to Cabello. [1] “While still a matter of dispute, there are numerous reports of antimicrobial treatment unable to completely eliminate B.

A team of researchers at Yale School of Medicine describe three premature infants — all in one neonatal intensive care unit — who contracted Babesia from a single 24-year-old blood donor. The report was published in the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Journal. [1] LISTEN TO PODCAST: Three premature babies who contract Babesia from blood transfusions Babesia is a

Alpha Gal is a sugar molecule that can be spread through the bite of a Lone Star tick. Once bitten, a person’s immune system begins making antibodies to a-Gal. Red meat is rife with it. So most patients become aware of the allergy or illness after they eat red meat. In an interview with National Geographic,

Congenital transmission has been described in 7 previous cases, in which the infants presented with fever, anemia, and thrombocytopenia, explains Saetre from Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York. “They all required a blood transfusion.” But these are the first cases, to the authors’ knowledge, in which the mother was diagnosed with

To determine the prevalence of the disease, specifically in Manitoba, Canada, Kadkhoda and his team tested randomly selected blood samples from 250 individuals living in that area, who had suspected or confirmed Lyme disease. Samples had been submitted to the Cadham Provincial Laboratory in Manitoba between 2011 and 2014. The authors found that 10% of