Lyme Science Blog

Birds vs. rodents in transmitting tick-borne pathogens In their study, “Transmission patterns of tick-borne pathogens among birds and rodents in a forested park in southeastern Canada,” Dumas et al. “investigated and compared the role of breeding birds to rodents in local transmission dynamics of B. burgdorferi s.s., A. phagocytophilum and B. miyamotoi, which are emerging pathogens in southeastern Canada.”¹ Researchers collected ticks and […]

Lyme disease triggers inflammation in “hindbrain” In their article, “Neuroborreliosis with involvement of rhombencephalon: A case report,” ¹ Svingen and colleagues describe a unique presentation in which Lyme disease triggered inflammation of the rhombencephalon, a region of the brain also referred to as the hindbrain. Over an 8-month period, the patient experienced intermittent fevers, dry

Lyme myocarditis in patient with no other signs of Lyme disease The 37-year-old man developed Lyme myocarditis without displaying any clinical symptoms of Lyme disease. He did not recall a tick bite or rash. He resided in Germany and had been receiving immunosuppressive treatment for MPA. The man initially presented to the emergency department with

Severity of Lyme disease even without contracting COVID-19 Cases The burden of illness for individuals with a history of Lyme disease can be high Case 1: A 68-year-old woman with a history of a deer tick bite, but no rash or a swollen knee. She is not sure which tests were positive. She had been

Concerns individuals with a history of Lyme disease have with the COVID-19 vaccine. Cases of Lyme Disease and COVID-19 Case 1: A 45-year-old white woman with a partial college education was working as a groundskeeper. She had a history of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, irritable bowel syndrome, and viral meningitis. She had been ill for 37 years.

Clinical presentation of individuals with a history of Lyme-disease-and-covid-19/ Cases of Lyme Disease and COVID-19 Case 1: A 45-year-old white woman with a partial college education was working as a groundskeeper. She had a history of Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, irritable bowel syndrome, and viral meningitis. She had been ill for 37 years. There was not a

Are Military Family Members at Risk for Lyme Disease? Lyme disease risk for military families may be higher than previously recognized. A study by Schubert and Melanson examined exposure to the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis), the primary vector for Lyme disease, among military personnel and their families at West Point, New York. The study, entitled

Diagnosing Lyme arthritis of the hip in children “The clinical presentation of Lyme arthritis (LA) of the hip can be similar to both acute bacterial septic arthritis (SA) and transient synovitis (TS),” explains Cruz and colleagues. ¹ “Differentiating between SA, LA, and TS of the hip can be challenging, even for the most discerning clinician.”

Case review: 80-year-old with Lyme encephalopathy instead of dementia “While mostly vigilant and awake, he intermittently lacked full orientation, had reduced attention, concentration, short-term memory function, increased motor activity, mild formal thought disorder (incl. some tangential thinking), but no frank psychotic symptoms,” the authors explain. The man was diagnosed with delirium, potentially related to dementia.