Lyme Science Blog

Borrelia Mayonii: Atypical Lyme Disease in the Midwest Borrelia mayonii is a recently discovered species that causes Lyme disease with atypical features. Since the species was first identified 7 years ago, there have been only 7 reported cases of Lyme disease caused by Borrelia mayonii. In Open Forum Infectious Diseases Correspondence, McGowan and colleagues describe […]

Lyme disease causes cardiac complications The case involved a 46-year-old man with Lyme disease who presented to the clinic with cardiac complications, which initially manifest as palpitations. The patient lived in a Lyme endemic region and reported that one month earlier, he had a “pinching sensation in his right thigh with an associated macular erythematous

Bartonella Psychiatric Symptoms: Anxiety, Mood Changes, and Misdiagnosis Bartonella psychiatric symptoms can look like primary mental illness before anyone considers infection. Sudden panic attacks, rage, agitation, depression, or personality change may be treated as psychiatric disease alone—especially when the connection to tick bites, flea exposure, rashes, or swollen lymph nodes is missed. That is one

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: When Symptoms Don’t Look Typical RMSF doesn’t always present with a rash. Fever may come and go. Delayed treatment can be fatal. Rocky Mountain spotted fever symptoms can vary—and atypical presentations may delay diagnosis. Although RMSF is most commonly reported in Missouri, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Carolina, cases occur across

Lyme Disease Co-Infections and Combination Antibiotics: What a Study Found Lyme disease often doesn’t occur alone. Co-infections are common. And treatment may need to reflect that. Lyme disease co-infections antibiotics were evaluated in a longitudinal study of 140 patients with confirmed tick-borne infections. In a study by Xi and colleagues, 33% of patients were found

Anaplasmosis and Lyme Disease: Cardiac Complications Anaplasmosis and Lyme disease co-infection can lead to serious cardiac complications. Over the last several years, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of anaplasmosis cases in the United States. The tick-borne illness can be transmitted through the bite of an infected blacklegged (deer) tick and causes

Can Lyme Disease Cause Complete Heart Block in Just 2 Weeks? COMPLETE HEART BLOCK IN JUST 2 WEEKS? ACUTE LYME CARDITIS CAN PROGRESS RAPIDLY Complete heart block from Lyme disease can develop far earlier than most clinicians expect. A 21-year-old man was found unresponsive with complete heart block just 14 days after visiting a Lyme-endemic

Can Lyme Disease Mimic Guillain-Barré Syndrome? A Missed Diagnosis Can Lyme disease look like Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS)? Yes. In some cases, Lyme neuroborreliosis can cause progressive weakness, numbness, and even paralysis—closely resembling GBS. When treatment for GBS fails, an underlying infection such as Lyme disease may be the missing diagnosis. Key Insight: Lyme disease can

Borrelia burgdorferi causes prosthetic joint infection The 68-year-old woman presented to the orthopedic clinic with pain and swelling in her right knee, which had been ongoing for 2 weeks. Eight years earlier, she had a total knee replacement but lived pain free following the surgery. One month prior to her knee pain, the patient had

Can a Tick Bite Cause Confusion? Anaplasmosis and Encephalitis Explained Can a tick bite cause sudden confusion or altered mental status? Anaplasma encephalitis can present with fever and confusion—even when brain imaging is normal—making diagnosis easy to miss without high clinical suspicion. Key Insight: Sudden confusion after a tick bite is a medical emergency. Tick-borne