Lyme Science Blog

Scientists are increasingly focusing their attention on identifying tick-borne pathogens present in the Southeastern United States. In 2015, Lantos and colleagues released a paper which reviewed the geographic expansion of Lyme disease in the Southeast over the past 14 years. They found “a marked increase in Lyme disease cases in Virginia, particularly from 2007 onwards […]

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD, MPH “We need more national and international debates on Lyme disease, complemented by a solid research agenda and a focus on cutting edge biological technologies,” writes Borgermans and colleagues. “The medical community has been collectively forced out of its comfort zone on Lyme disease by increasing evidence of the complexity

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH In an article entitled “New-onset Panic, Depression with Suicidal Thoughts and Somatic Symptoms in a Patient with a History of Lyme Disease,” researchers highlight the complexity of evaluating and treating a patient with a history of suspected Lyme disease who presented with neuropsychiatric symptoms. [1] The authors, Amir Garakani

Although much attention has been focused on the dangers blacklegged ticks pose in the Northeast in transmitting Lyme disease, there are multiple tick species in the South that carry a host of diseases travelers should be aware of. The number of tick-borne cases has been steadily rising in the South and tick populations have been

  The goal is to move away from a model of care where the doctor is the sole voice with treatment decisions toward a patient-centered practice that fully involves the patient in each decision at every stage of care. Slowly but steadily, the medical community has responded, adopting a shared decision-making process with a broad

There are doctors who continue to question the existence and severity of chronic manifestations of Lyme disease (LD), despite a growing number of cases described in leading medical journals. [1,2]  The cases include chronic neurologic Lyme disease, [3] Lyme encephalopathy, [4,5] neuropsychiatric LD, [6] post-treatment chronic Lyme disease, [7] post-Lyme disease [8] and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome. [9] The

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH The importance of clinicians considering other tick-borne diseases, such as Babesia, when evaluating patients with Lyme disease has been addressed in the literature. Surprisingly, however, physicians may actually not consider Borrelia burgdorferi (the Lyme pathogen) as a “co-infection” in patients diagnosed with a tick-borne disease. Such was the case for an elderly man

by Daniel J. Cameron, MD MPH Persistent infection of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) has been proven experimentally in Peromyscus mice, laboratory mice, rats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, dogs and non-human primates. [1-8] Some researchers and clinicians argue, the existence of a persistent Bb infection explains why some Lyme disease patients remain sick even after treatment. According to one study, as many

The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) has long insisted that a maximum antibiotic course of 21 days is sufficient to eradicate the Lyme bacterium, while the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) recommends a longer course of therapy with duration dependent on response to therapy. [1] So, what treatment approach are physicians adopting in their