Lyme Science Blog

In 2014, a small study found that some people may, in fact, develop strain-specific immunity to Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria causing Lyme disease. “Once infected with a particular strain of the disease-causing bacteria, humans appear to develop immunity against that strain that can last six to nine years,” the authors wrote. [1] Ask the Lyme

The babesia incubation period can be much longer than expected—as this unusual case demonstrates. A 19-year-old man developed symptoms 10 weeks after traveling to New York, showing why Babesia can be missed when doctors focus only on recent tick exposure. The case was published in Cureus by Patel and colleagues. The Case: A 10-Week Babesia

After 37 years treating Lyme disease, I’ve learned that when a Lyme disease flare occurs, patients notice a return of symptoms they have experienced before or a worsening of existing symptoms. Some patients may also develop new symptoms. A flare-up can come and go and vary in intensity. Understanding what triggers these flares is essential

Can Lyme disease stay with you forever? Although many patients will improve with appropriate treatment, others will experience ongoing Lyme disease symptoms that may stay with them forever. A growing number of case studies continue to document patients with chronic illnesses associated with Lyme disease. Following are several examples: Chronic neurologic Lyme disease In the

In a recently published paper, Nykytyuk and colleagues describe the case of a 13-year-old boy with Lyme arthritis, a common manifestation of Lyme disease, who developed a Herxheimer reaction when treated with doxycycline. [1] “A 13-year-old boy was admitted to the regional hospital with complaints of left knee swelling, hip, ankle and cervical spine pain,”

The 40-year-old woman, who developed redness, swelling, pain, and a rash at the excision site, was treated with cephalexin and later switched to trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (TMP/SMX).  This case describes a case where Lyme disease mimics cellulitis. “Over the next 24 hours, there was a rapid expansion of abdominal redness and patchy areas of redness on her

There are several published papers that address the question: Can you have Lyme disease and not know it?  Logigian and colleagues described chronic neurologic Lyme disease patients who wThere are several published papers that address the question: Can you have Lyme disease and not know it? Logigian and colleagues described chronic neurologic Lyme disease patients

Geriatric babesia is becoming more common—and more dangerous. The annual number of cases per year climbed from 4 per 100,000 to 9 per 100,000 in the U.S. between 2006 and 2017. For individuals over the age of 85, the annual rate was 4 per 100,000. In comparison, Lyme disease cases among the elderly was 15.98

Powassan virus in children is not often reported, but it can cause serious illness. In this article, the authors describe Powassan virus in children involving two infants with tick bites who developed Powassan virus encephalitis. As the authors point out, their case report not only demonstrates that rapid transmission of POWV can occur, but it