Lyme Science Blog

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Physicians who prescribe no more than a three-week course of antibiotics will typically recommend watchful waiting rather than prescribing additional antibiotic treatment for patients suffering with persistent symptoms. However, two leading research groups have described the dangers in not taking action. Investigators at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH The study by Krause and colleagues, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, did not break down the time of day the patients exhibited sweats. [2] The authors noted, however, additional symptoms their patients suffered including fatigue (81%), headaches (77%), fevers (58%), chills (42%), myalgias (38%), anorexia

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Differing genotypes of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) that help explain strain virulence have been described by researchers. [8] Each genotype expresses a different Outer Surface Protein C (OspC) on the surface of the spirochete, each with differing virulence. [7] “We define three categories of major OspC groups: one that is

This expansion into new geographic territories includes regions in the South, often thought to be free of ticks carrying Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease. Investigators, for instance, have identified blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis) or western blacklegged ticks (Ixodes pacificus) ticks in 71 (28%) of the 254 counties in Texas. [1] Both of

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH The cases were identified based on the physicians’ determination in the medical record, patients’ clinical findings, tick exposure, and other relevant details (e.g., laboratory results). The mean costs of early Lyme disease consisted of $801 for direct medical costs, $259 for indirect medical costs, $52 for non-medical costs, and

In an accidental discovery, Professor George Poinar, Jr., a palaeoentomologist and parasitologist, identified ticks preserved in a piece of amber estimated to be between 15 and 20 million years old. The scientist, from Oregon State University, had acquired the amber while visiting the Dominican Republic 25 years earlier. But just recently examined it with a

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Lantos and colleagues from Duke University Medical Center recently questioned the accuracy of the IgM immunoblot for Lyme disease (LD) in children and adolescents by reviewing a series of patients admitted to Boston Children’s Hospital during a 7-year period. The study, False Positive Lyme Disease IgM Immunoblots in Children,

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH In a study entitled “A Drug Combination Screen Identifies Drugs Active against Amoxicillin-Induced Round Bodies of In Vitro Borrelia burgdorferi Persisters from an FDA Drug Library,” Feng and colleagues hypothesize that when Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme bacterium, is confronted with certain stressors, such as starvation or exposure to antibiotics,

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH The study focuses on the similarities and differences in male and female Lyme disease patients. However, the authors give little attention to the fact that both the male and female participants suffered from Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome a decade after treatment. A growing number of studies describe individuals sick

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH As early as 1990, Logigian and colleagues hypothesized that a two-week course of intravenous ceftriaxone would not successfully eradicate the Lyme bacterium. “The likely reason for relapse is failure to eradicate the spirochete completely with a two-week course of intravenous ceftriaxone therapy.” [3] A recently published clinical trial from