Lyme Science Blog

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Fatal Lyme carditis is rarely identified. In reviewing five post mortem cases, Muehlenbach and colleagues found that Lyme disease was not suspected for one patient who complained of episodic shortness of breath, while the second patient tested negative for Lyme disease. Two other patients did not seek medical care. […]

The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) published evidence-based treatment guidelines in 2006 which states, “Considerable confusion and controversy exist over the frequency and cause of this process [chronic Lyme disease] and even over its existence.” Furthermore, any “[ongoing] symptoms appear to be more related to the aches and pains of daily living rather than

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH There are at least 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease every year in the United States. As this patient group requires antibiotic therapy to treat Lyme and other tick-borne illnesses, there is a chance they can develop C. difficile. However, a rush decision to not prescribe or to discontinue

In 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) described three cases of sudden deaths associated with Lyme-induced myocarditis. “During November 2012 and July 2013, one woman and two men (ranging in age from 26 to 38 years) from high-incidence Lyme disease states experienced sudden cardiac death and, on postmortem examination, were found to

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Study examines doxycycline as cause of acute pancreatitis in patient initially treated for suspected Lyme disease. A 51-year-old man was admitted to the hospital with a one-week history of extreme fatigue, malaise, and confusion. Three days prior to admittance, the man had started oral doxycycline for presumed Lyme disease

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH A recent discovery by researchers at Mayo Clinic demonstrates the complexity of tick-borne organisms. Pathologists at the institution have described a new Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato genospecies in six patients. The new species, provisionally named Borrelia mayonii, was found in the Upper Midwest but it may be elsewhere. Symptoms are

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH According to a paper published this week in Parasites & Vectors, “larval bites on humans, which easily go unnoticed, can cause Lyme borreliosis and Borrelia miyamotoi disease.” Researchers found that larvae of Ixodes ricinus can transmit Borrelia afzelii and B. miyamotoi to rodents. [1] Individuals living in the Netherlands

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Although Lyme disease and the Zika virus are transmitted by different types of vectors, both illnesses can cause severe, long-term health damage and are of enormous concern to the general public. The response by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to each threat, however, has been decidedly

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH A study by Nimgaonkar and colleagues examines the relationship between cognitive deficits and infectious agents. The authors found a temporal cognitive decline in patients with exposure to infectious agents in a population-based, aging cohort. [1] The authors reported that exposure to cytomegalovirus (CMV), Herpes Simplex virus, type 1 (HSV-1),

As many as one-third of patients with Lyme disease are ill on long-term follow-up. A population-based, retrospective cohort study in Massachusetts found 34% of patients suffered from arthritis or recurrent arthralgias, neurocognitive impairment, and neuropathy or myelopathy, an average of 6 years after treatment for Lyme disease. [1] Meanwhile, 62% of a cohort of 215 consecutively treated Lyme disease patients in