Saturday, June 27, 2015

Upcoming radio show about Lyme disease - July 8, 2015

It's Lyme Disease Season: What To Know About Contracting, Diagnosing And Treating The Disease -

The Diane Rehm Show http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-07-08/its-lyme-disease-season-what-to-know-about-contracting-diagnosing-and-treating-the-disease  

Around 300,000 people contract the tick borne disease every year. We discuss what you should know about contracting, diagnosing and treating Lyme disease.

This should be an interesting show.  Neil Spector, author of "Gone In A Heartbeat: A Physician's Search For True Healing," and Dr. John Aucott should have some interesting commentary. 

Dr. Spector's heart was so badly damaged by Lyme disease that a heart transplant was required to save his life. Dr. Aucott is a leading researcher, whose groundbreaking SLICE study focuses on the realities of treating chronic Lyme patients.  

Around 300,000 new cases of Lyme Disease are reported every year. And experts say the areas the tick borne disease is found is expanding. An update on contracting, diagnosing and treating Lyme disease.

Guests

  • Dr. John Aucott director, Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. He is the president of the Lyme Disease Research Foundation. 
  • Dr. Sunil Sood chairman of pediatrics, Southside Hospital North Shore-LIJ Health System; attending, Infectious Diseases at Cohen Children's Medical Center of New York; professor of pediatrics and family medicine, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine.           
  • Paul Roepe co-director, the Center for Infectious Disease at Georgetown University; professor of chemistry at Georgetown University Medical Center. 
  •  Dr. Neil Spector author, "Gone In A Heartbeat: A Physician's Search For True Healing". He is associate professor for the departments of medicine and pharmacology and cancer biology at the Duke University School of Medicine.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Australia (slowly) beginning a conversation about Lyme

An investigation into the existence of Lyme disease across Australia will be debated in State Parliament before the end of the year with Maitland MP Jenny Aitchison calling for the ­government to consider recognition of the illness.

With the debate surrounding the controversial tick-borne illness ­gathering momentum, Ms. Aitchison has moved a three-point motion ­imploring the government to listen to the plight of sufferers.   

Read the rest of the story:

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Lyme bill passes in Maine!





Today, LD422, An Act To Improve Access to Treatments for Lyme Disease, silently passed into law. The Governor took no action on it and it has passed its required waiting period since Enactment by the House and Senate. Yes, indeed, it is law. It still needs to wait its required 90 days from the adjournment of the Legislature before it fully takes effect.
I want you to fully absorb what this means. The very first time we introduced a doctor protection bill in Maine, this group was able to shepherd that bill through Committee (boy, was that a battle), through the House, and through the Senate with overwhelming victories in both bodies of the Legislature. 
The Legislative Working Group, made up of 8 women from around the state, along with tremendous help from our bill's primary sponsor, Rep. Deb Sanderson, a tremendous idea from Rep. Ryan Michael Fecteau, in consultation with Rep. Sanderson, to get the bill out of Committee, and with help from our lobbyist friend, Bill Whitten, passed this bill into law by overcoming MaineHealth (the Maine consortium of hospitals), Maine Medical Association (loosely speaking, Maine doctors "union"), Infectious Disease doctors in Maine (effectively, IDSA of Maine) and Maine Board of Licensure in Medicine. We appreciate all the contact that the public made with your legislators. You most certainly made a difference. 

Today, David beat Goliath!

-The Legislative Working Group

Here is the language that was in the final draft.......ND's, PA's and NP's were negotiated out of the language.

http://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/bills/getPDF.asp?paper=HP0289&item=4&snum=127

2. Lyme disease treatment. A physician licensed under this chapter may prescribe, administer or dispense long-term antibiotic therapy for a therapeutic purpose to eliminate infection or to control a patient's symptoms upon making a clinical diagnosis that the patient has Lyme disease or displays symptoms consistent with a clinical diagnosis of Lyme disease. The physician shall document the clinical diagnosis and treatment in the patient's medical record. The clinical diagnosis must be based on knowledge obtained through medical history and physical examination only or in conjunction with testing that provides supportive data for the clinical diagnosis.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

How To Get Rid of Bugs & Pests

A list of various pests (bed bugs, snakes, chiggers, fruit flies, ticks and more) and how to get rid of them.  Includes some videos on what doesn't work when tested.  Most are DIY projects that are either low-cost or free when using normal household items.  Many are non-toxic and safe for the household and environment.





Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Air pollution causing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease ?

There is a finding that children in Mexico City are developing Alzheimer's and Parkinson's brain pathology due to the air pollution there:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23509683

And here is an article by the same author on how dark chocolate may be able to prevent it:

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Dr Horowitz to be on Today show, June 17, 2015

I was just alerted that:

Dr Horowitz  will be on the NBC Today Show on Wednesday morning (tomorrow) at 10 am EST discussing Lyme disease. Parents magazine will be there with him discussing the warning signs of tick-borne diseases, and how we can protect our families from the spreading risk of tick-borne infections. Hope you can tune in!

-Bob

Monday, June 15, 2015

Widespread Borrelia miyamotoi Tick-borne Fever Found in US

Janis C. Kelly

June 12, 2015

Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD), a tick-borne infection that can cause more severe symptoms than Lyme disease, was first reported in the northeastern United States in 2013 but is becoming more common and should be considered in all areas where deer tick–transmitted infections are endemic, according to a case-series published online June 9 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The researchers suggest that BMD might be almost as common as human anaplasmosis among tick-exposed patients who present with fevers in the endemic areas, and they recommend that it be included in routine differential diagnosis protocols.

The timing of BMD peak incidence suggests that, unlike the transmission of Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi, the new infection might be transmitted by unfed larval ticks, who acquire it by transovarial transmission from the infected female tick. This has immediate clinical and public health implications.
In an accompanying editorial, Peter J. Krause, MD, from the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine, New HavenConnecticut, and Alan G. Barbour, MD, from the University of CaliforniaIrvine, write, "Bites from larval deer ticks have not been considered as a health threat, but this needs to be reevaluated. Larval transmission of B. miyamotoi has implications for checking for ticks and continuing tick precautions even after the risk for Lyme disease has abated."

The case series report was prepared by a research team led by Philip J. Molloy, MD, medical director of IMUGEN, a commercial laboratory that performs specialized testing of clinical specimens for tick-borne diseases. Cases were acutely febrile patients from the northeastern United States who presented to primary care offices, emergency departments, or urgent care clinics and for whom clinicians ordered testing for tick-transmitted infections. Between April 1, 2013, and October 31, 2014, the researchers identified 97 patients whose blood samples contained B miyamotoi DNA. Clinical information was available for 51 of the 97.

Patients Appeared "Toxic," Were Suspected of Having Sepsis

Presenting symptoms typically included fever, myalgia, influenza-like illness, headache, or rash. The authors write, "Patients presented with acute headache, fever, and chills and were often found to have leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, and elevated aminotransferase levels, mimicking human anaplasmosis infection. Patients were commonly described as appearing 'toxic'; more than 50% were suspected of having sepsis, and 24% required hospitalization. The headaches were most commonly described as severe, resulting in head computed tomography scans and spinal taps in 5 patients."

Initial screening used a whole-blood polymerase chain reaction for specific DNA sequences of a number of common tick-borne infections, including BMD. Because there is not yet an established test for BMD, the researchers used a recombinant B miyamotoi glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to detect antibody to B miyamotoi. Interestingly, only 16% of patients (8/51) had a detectably immune response to recombinant B miyamotoi glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase during the acute disease phase, but 86% of the case patients for whom convalescent sera (drawn 5 or more days after the beginning of treatment) were available demonstrated seroconversion.

The authors recommend that, in cases where BMD is suspected but the index specimen is negative by polymerase chain reaction, blood samples from the convalescent period should be tested. In this series, two such cases were identified.

Most cases began in July and August. The authors comment, "[O]ur findings suggest that it may not be a rare infection in the northeastern United States. The months during which cases were identified are consistent with transmission of B. miyamotoiby deer ticks. However, unlike acute Lyme disease, the majority of cases occurred in July and August, perhaps suggesting transmission by larval ticks, which have their peak activity during these months.... These considerations should prompt enhanced public education about the need to continue personal protection measures during the late summer, which is usually believed to be a less risky period because the agents of Lyme disease, babesiosis, and human anaplasmosis are not transmitted by larval deer ticks."

Doxycycline Recommended as First-line Treatment of Suspected BMD

Forty of the 51 patients had received 2- to 4-week courses of oral doxycycline, seven had received amoxicillin (including three patients treated with one or two doses of ceftriaxone beforehand), and one received levofloxacin. Symptoms resolved in from 2 days to 1 week in 40 of the 42 patients for whom outcomes information was available.

In the editorial, Dr Krause and Dr Barbour write, "Doxycycline, amoxicillin, and ceftriaxone seem to be effective in alleviating symptoms and preventing complications. Such therapy would also be effective against co-infection with B. burgdorferi. Doxycycline is the preferred initial therapy in patients with suspected B. miyamotoi infection because it effectively treats Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis, which may be the cause of illness or co-infection with B. miyamotoi."

Laboratory investigations showed that 14% of the patients with BMD were coinfected with B burgdorferi. The study authors comment that although sera from patients with acute BMD often show reactivity to B burgdorferi on enzyme immunoassay testing, this is rarely confirmed by immunoblot. They write, "This finding is clinically relevant because a patient presenting with an acute 'summer fever' and no rash and testing positive by whole cell antigen serologic test for Lyme disease could actually be infected with B. burgdorferi, B. miyamotoi, or both. However, sera from patients with BMD generally do not react to B. burgdorferi antigens in [immunoglobulin G or immunoglobulin A] tests, which is partly consistent with what has been previously reported for a small number of case patients with BMD."

Since many cases presented in July and August, when transmission by larval ticks is suspected because of their peak activity during these months, the authors conclude that infection with BMD should be considered in areas where deer tick–transmitted infections are endemic.

The study was funded by IMUGEN. Dr Molloy is the paid medical director of IMUGEN. One coauthor has disclosed receiving personal fees from IMUGEN, Immunetics, Meridian Bioscience, and Fuller Laboratories. Five coauthors are employees of, board members of, or own stock in IMUGEN. The other authors, Dr Krause, and Dr Barbour have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Ann Intern Med. 2015; Published online June 9, 2015. Article abstract, Editorial extract
Comments

Carl Tuttle
Hudson, NH 03051

 

Petitions: 

 



Sunday, June 14, 2015

How many people are dying from Lyme-caused heart failure?

This is a letter to the editors of a scientific journal. It was CCed to some legislators. The letter was written by Lyme activist Carl Tuttle. I am reposting it here in my blog because I believe the author raises some important questions about the likely underrorting of fatal cases of Lyme carditis (heart failure caused by Lyme infection).  There are also some useful links about Lyme carditis at the bottom.  -Bob



Subject: Lyme Carditis, Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc.

Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2015 Jun;29(2):255-268. doi: 10.1016/j.idc.2015.02.003.

Lyme Carditis.

Robinson ML1, Kobayashi T2, Higgins Y2, Calkins H3, Melia MT4.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25999222

Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

 

May 26, 2015

 

Infectious Disease Clinics

Consulting Editor:
Helen W. Boucher, MD, FIDSA, FACP

 

To the Editors:

 

There are serious concerns regarding a number of comments found in the Johns Hopkins abstract on Lyme Carditis:

 

Johns Hopkins Comment #1 "Lyme disease is a common disease that uncommonly affects the heart."

 

In reference to the Johns Hopkins propaganda piece on Lyme Carditis I would like to call attention to the following studies:

 

In August of 2012 the CDC announced that the number of Lyme disease cases could be off by a factor of ten adjusting the number to 300,000 new cases annually. The results of the 2014 Lyme Carditis study below was based on 30,000 annual cases from 2001-2010 and must also be off by a factor of ten. The numbers presented in this CDC report are not likely to be representative of the true extent of the problem.

 

Update on Lyme Carditis, Groups at High Risk, and Frequency of Associated Sudden Cardiac Death — United States

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/834162

 

Here's what the numbers look like when considering the miscalculation over the same nine year period: (2001–2010)

 

18,760 cases of Lyme carditis.

  7,020 died from all causes within a year of Lyme disease diagnosis.

       50 were classified as suspected cases of Lyme carditis–associated mortality.

 

This study also reports 42% of patients had an accompanying erythema migrans (bulls-eye rash). That's substantially less than the CDC's 60%-80% claim as found on the CDC's 2011 Case Definition page:

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/NNDSS/script/casedef.aspx?CondYrID=752&DatePub=1/1/2011%2012:00:00%20AM

 

The following study reports the deaths of three seemingly healthy individuals who dropped dead from Lyme Carditis. It is important to recognize here that the cause of death was only identified due to the fact that the three Lyme patients were potential organ donors otherwise these cases would not have been identified or reported. We have to ask the question, "How many seemingly healthy Lyme patients have donated blood?" (Our blood supply is not screened for Lyme disease)

 

Three Sudden Cardiac Deaths Associated with Lyme Carditis — United States,

December 13, 2013 / 62(49);993-996

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6249a1.htm

 

Additional study:

 

Lyme disease: A case report of a 17-year old male with fatal Lyme carditis

E. Yoon correspondence, E. Vail, G. Kleinman, P.A. Lento, S. Li, G. Wang, R. Limberger, J.T. Fallon

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25864163

 

 Johns Hopkins Comment #2  "Like other manifestations of Lyme disease, carditis can readily be managed with antibiotic therapy and supportive care measures, such that affected patients almost always completely recover."

 

Since we do not have a lab test to gauge treatment failure or success how do we know for certain that those who do not recover aren't dealing with antibiotic resistant infection?

 

There appears to be a deliberate and coordinated downplay of the seriousness of Lyme disease with its life altering consequences. The Johns Hopkins article is no exception to the ongoing deception. 

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Carl Tuttle

Hudson, NH 03051

Website: New Hampshire Lyme Misdiagnosis

 

Petition: Calling for a Congressional investigation of the CDC, IDSA and ALDF

 

Letter to the Editor, The Lancet Infectious Diseases Published May 2012

 

 

Additional References:

 

1. Undetected Lyme disease nearly killed Duke researcher
http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/healthteam/story/8331364/

 

Fatal Lyme carditis and endodermal heterotopia of the atrioventricular node.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2429516/

 

2. Fatal pancarditis in a patient with coexistent Lyme disease and babesiosis. Demonstration of spirochetes in the myocardium.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/4040723

 

3. Lyme borreliosis as a cause of myocarditis and heart muscle disease.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1915460

 

4. Cardiac Lyme disease - case report - A Fatality confirmed with Autopsy PCR study

Postmortem confirmation of Lyme carditis with polymerase chain reaction.

http://umaryland.pure.elsevier.com/en/publications/postmortem-confirmation-of-lyme-carditis-with-polymerase-chain-reaction%2896d9181d-9d52-4fc7-9149-287cd0123f84%29.html

 

5. Unclassified cardiomyopathy or Lyme carditis? A three year follow-up.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23575786

 

Infectious causes of stroke - The Lancet Infectious Diseases

Here's a good one! 

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(15)00020-1/fulltext?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=1473-3099_201506_15_6_&elsca4=Public%20Health%7CInfectious%20Diseases%7CInternal%2FFamily%20Medicine%7CNeuropsychiatry%7CNeurology%7CLancet

Infectious causes of stroke

Adam Garkowskiemail, Joanna Zajkowska, Anna Moniuszko, Piotr Czupryna, SÅ‚awomir Pancewicz

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00020-1

    Summary
   
We read with great interest the excellent Review by Jennifer Fugate and colleagues1 about the infectious causes of stroke. Their Review is useful for daily practice, since physicians often focus excessively on autoimmune causes of central nervous system vasculitis causing stroke, while forgetting about infectious causes. However, we think that apart from neurosyphilis, which is mentioned in great detail, an additional comment on stroke caused by another spirochetal disease, Lyme neuroborreliosis, is needed. This rare form of Lyme neuroborreliosis is seldom mentioned in the medical literature.

About 60 cases of vasculitis and subsequent stroke due to Lyme neuroborreliosis have been described. Additionally, we have seen this form of Lyme neuroborreliosis in four patients in our department over the past 7 years. In a study of patients from eastern Saxony (Germany) done by Back and colleagues,2 the same form was seen in 11 patients between 1997 and 2011, with the estimated proportion of cerebral vasculitis in patients with Lyme borreliosis being 0·3%. Almost all cases reported in the literature have been described by European authors, which relates to the higher prevalence of Borrelia garinii in Europe, the most neurotropic genospecies of Borrelia.

The most common clinical manifestation of vasculitis due to Lyme neuroborreliosis is ischaemic stroke with pathological changes resembling those occurring in vasculitis induced by infection with Treponema pallidum.2, 3 Most patients are relatively young.2 The vasculitis caused by Lyme neuroborreliosis is usually associated with a prodromal clinical course suggesting Lyme neuroborreliosis with symptoms of meningitis, cranial neuritis, or radiculoneuritis weeks to months before the onset of symptoms of stroke.

Medical history might also reveal a past history of tick bites or erythema migrans. MRI usually shows multiple and bilateral ischaemic lesions, and sometimes meningeal enhancement.2, 4 In this case, cerebral angiography and transcranial Doppler often detect different degrees and location of segmental stenosis suggestive of vasculitis.2, 4 Patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis associated vasculitis need immediate diagnosis and antibiotic treatment because the condition is potentially life-threatening.2, 5 A high index of suspicion is needed in patients who live in or have come from areas with high prevalence of tick-borne diseases, and in those without cardiovascular risk factors, but with stroke-like symptoms of unknown cause.

We declare no competing interests.

References

    Fugate, JE, Lyons, JL, Thakur, KT, Smith, BR, Hedley-Whyte, ET, and Mateen, FJ. Infectious causes of stroke. Lancet Infect Dis. 2014; 14: 869–880
        View in Article | Summary | Full Text | Full Text PDF | PubMed | Scopus (2)
    Back, T, Grünig, S, Winter, Y et al. Neuroborreliosis-associated cerebral vasculitis: long-term outcome and health-related quality of life. J Neurol. 2013; 260: 1569–1575
        View in Article | CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (6)
    Miklossy, J, Kuntzer, T, Bogousslavsky, J et al. Meningovascular form of neuroborreliosis: similarities between neuropathological findings in a case of Lyme disease and those occurring in tertiary neurosyphilis. Acta Neuropathol. 1990; 80: 568–572
        View in Article | CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (27)
    Topakian, R, Stieglbauer, K, Nussbaumer, K et al. Cerebral vasculitis and stroke in Lyme neuroborreliosis. Two case reports and review of current knowledge. Cerebrovasc Dis. 2008; 26: 455–461
        View in Article | CrossRef | PubMed | Scopus (38)
    Buchwald, F, Abul-Kasim, K, Tham, J et al. Fatal course of cerebral vasculitis induced by neuroborreliosis. Neurol India. 2010; 5: 139–141
        View in Article | CrossRef | Scopus (1)

A new tick-transmitted bacterium from patients in northern China

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(15)70097-6/fulltext?elsca1=etoc&elsca2=email&elsca3=1473-3099_201506_15_6_&elsca4=Public%20Health%7CInfectious%20Diseases%7CInternal%2FFamily%20Medicine%7CNeuropsychiatry%7CNeurology%7CLancet

Of goats and men: rethinking anaplasmoses as zoonotic infections

Andrea R Beyer, Jason A Carlyonemail
Published Online: 29 March 2015

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(15)70097-6

   Summary

Ticks transmit the widest variety of pathogens among arthropod vectors, leading to substantial public health threats and economic loss in livestock industries. Novel tick-transmitted microbes with links to human disease continue to be discovered. In The Lancet Infectious Diseases, Hao Li and colleagues describe a new tick-transmitted bacterium from patients in northern China. PCR and sequencing showed nucleotide variations signifying a phylogenetically distinct Anaplasma species. The provisionally nominated "Anaplasma capra"—so named for its discovery in goats (Capra aegagrus hircus)—joins the growing list of human anaplasmosis pathogens with pastoral origins.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

At-home Parkinson's treatment fits like a cap - Futurity

Check this out if you are looking for alternative Parkinson's disease treatment. It seems very promising.

-Bob

http://www.futurity.org/parkinsons-device-940572/

Friday, June 12, 2015

2-min animation explains Improperly-folded proteins and Parkinson's disease, Diabetes


DID YOU KNOW? A single biological process is related to Parkinson's, diabetes and cancer. It's called the unfolded protein response, and it helps cells deal with problematic proteins.

Bonus: This 2-minute video won a 2015 CASE award for News & Research videos. Hooray for whiteboard science!

(Animation by Mark Wooding)


-Bob

Blumenthal, Ayotte, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Strengthen Lyme Disease Prevention....

 Mon Jun 8, 2015 5:29 pm (PDT) . Posted by: 

Blumenthal, Ayotte, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Strengthen Lyme Disease Prevention, Education, and Research, Following Lyme Awareness Month 

Press Release: 
Richard Blumenthal, United States Senator for Connecticut 
Thursday, June 4, 2015 

http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-ayotte-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-strengthen-lyme-disease-prevention-education-and-research-following-lyme-awareness-monthhttp://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/blumenthal-ayotte-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-strengthen-lyme-disease-prevention-education-and-research-following-lyme-awareness-month 
or http://goo.gl/pa3cYw http://goo.gl/pa3cYw 


CDC estimates nearly 300,000 Americans contract Lyme disease annually 

95% of Lyme disease cases occur in Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, Delaware, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Vermont, Virginia, New Jersey, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin 

(Washington, DC) – Today, Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Kelly Ayotte (R.-N.H.) introduced legislation to increase public awareness and strengthen efforts to combat tick-borne diseases - a significant threat to public health. The Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Prevention, Education, and Research Act of 2015 would help ensure the necessary resources are dedicated to fighting tick-borne diseases. 

Blumenthal said, 
"Now that the weather is warmer, people will be spending much more time outdoors. Unfortunately, more time outside – especially in wooded areas that are so common in my home state of Connecticut – also means more exposure to tick-borne illnesses, like Lyme disease – a pernicious and insidious public health threat. I am proud of re-introduce a measure that will address the need for a strong national effort to fight these diseases as they become more rampant in the warmer months. By making improvements to reporting methods and diagnostic tools, as well as creating a national advisory body that brings together patients, scientists, and policymakers, this legislation will make critical improvements to prevention and treatment methods." 

Ayotte said, 
"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2013, New Hampshire had the second highest incidence rate of Lyme disease in the country. Our legislation will help address this troubling statistic by creating a strong national effort to fight this disease, which is dangerous if untreated. Our bill would create a Tick-Borne Diseases Committee comprised of physicians, scientific experts, patients, and Lyme advocates to focus on improving reporting methods, developing better diagnostic tools, ensuring better coordination of efforts, and working to improve prevention and treatment methods related to Lyme and other tick-borne diseases." 

Joining Blumenthal and Ayotte as co-sponsors are U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Christopher Coons (D-Del.), Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Bob Casey (D-Penn.). 

Full text of the bill can be viewed here (pdf file, 47 KB): 
http://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/download/lyme-and-tick-borne-illness-prevention-acthttp://www.blumenthal.senate.gov/download/lyme-and-tick-borne-illness-prevention-act 

– – 
Contact: 
Senator Richard Blumenthal 706 Hart Senate Office Bldg. Washington, DC, 20510 
tel (202) 224-2823 
fax (202) 224-9673 

Changes in antibody reactivity to Bb three months after a tick

Mon Jun 8, 2015 4:38 pm (PDT) . Posted by: 

"Rick Laferriere" ri_lymeinfo 

*Changes in antibody reactivity to /Borrelia burgdorferi/ 
three months after a tick bite. A cohort of 1,886 persons. *
Dessau RB, Fryland L, Wilhelmsson P, Ekerfelt C, Nyman D, 
Forsberg P, Lindgren PE
Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, pii: CVI.00026-15. Online 
first, 2015 May 20.

http://doi.org/10.1128/CVI.00026-15 
<http://doi.org/10.1128/CVI.00026-15>

Abstract

Lyme borreliosis is a tick-borne disease caused by the 
bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. The most frequent clinical 
manifestation is a rash called erythema migrans. Changes in 
antibody reactivity to B. burgdorferi three months after a 
tick bite are measured using ELISA assays.

One assay is based on native purified flagella-antigen (IgG) 
and the other assay is based on a recombinant antigen called 
C6 (IgG or IgM). Paired samples were taken at the time of a 
tick bite and three months later from 1,886 persons in 
Sweden and the Ã…land Islands. The seroconversion or relative 
change is defined as the measurement units from the second 
sample divided by the first sample. Thresholds for the 
minimum level of significant change were defined as the 2.5% 
percentile to represent the random error level. The 
thresholds were 2.7 fold rises for the flagella IgG and 1.8 
fold rises for the C6 assays.

102/101 (5.4%) of 1,886 persons had a significant rise in 
antibody reactivity in the flagella or C6 assay. Among 40 
cases with a diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis the sensitivity 
of a rise in antibodies was 33% and 50% to the flagella 
antigen and the C6 antigen respectively. Graphical methods 
to display the antibody response and methods to choose 
thresholds for a rise in relative antibody reactivity are 
shown and discussed.

In conclusion, 5.4% of people with tick bites developed a 
rise in borrelia-specific antibodies above the 2.5% 
percentile in either ELISA assay, but only 40 (2.1%) 
developed clinical Lyme borreliosis.

http://doi.org/10.1128/CVI.00026-15

Abundance and infection rates of I. scapularis nymphs collecte

Mon Jun 8, 2015 6:52 am (PDT) . Posted by: 

"Rick Laferriere" ri_lymeinfo 

Abundance and infection rates of Ixodes scapularis nymphs collected from residential properties in Lyme disease-endemic areas of Connecticut, Maryland, and New York 
Katherine A. Feldman, Neeta P. Connally, Andrias Hojgaard, Erin H. Jones, Jennifer L. White and Alison F. Hinckley 
Journal of Vector Ecology, Volume 40, Issue 1, pages 198–201, June 2015 

http://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12153 http://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12153 

Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the blacklegged tick, is responsible for transmitting Lyme disease (caused by Borrelia burgdorferi), the most common vector-borne disease in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2014). The blacklegged tick can also transmit Anaplasma phagocytophilum (the etiologic agent of human granulocytic anaplasmosis), Babesia microti (the causative agent of babesiosis), Borrelia miyamotoi (a relapsing fever Borrelia), and deer tick virus. In the northeastern U.S., the highest risk of exposure to the blacklegged tick is likely peridomestic, due to fragmented forest landscapes and other land-use characteristics, as well as the intrusion of humans into prime habitat for blacklegged ticks and their hosts. Despite this, most reports of tick abundance and infection rates focus primarily on ticks collected from public lands and forested research sites. 

We collected ticks from residential properties in Lyme disease-endemic areas and determined infection rates for nymphal I. scapularis as part of a two-year, multi-site tickborne disease intervention study involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Emerging Infections Programs in Connecticut (CT), Maryland (MD) and New York (NY). Here, we present tick densities and infection rates for B. burgdorferi, A. phagocytophilum, and B. microti from nymphal I. scapularis, reflecting peridomestic exposure to these pathogens. 


http://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12153 http://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12153 

Free, full text (pdf file, 207 KB): 
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvec.12153/epdf http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvec.12153/epdf 

Prevalence of Bb in adult female I. scapularis, Wisconsin 2010


Mon Jun 8, 2015 6:41 am (PDT) . Posted by: 

"Rick Laferriere" ri_lymeinfo 

*Prevalence of /Borrelia burgdorferi/ in adult female ticks 
(/Ixodes scapularis/), Wisconsin 2010–2013*
Lloyd W. Turtinen, Alyssa N. Kruger and Madeleine M. Hacker
/Journal of Vector Ecology/, Volume 40, Issue 1, pages 
195-197, June 2015.

http://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12152

The incidence of Lyme disease in some areas of Wisconsin, 
U.S.A. has more than tripled since 1991. Tick abundance and 
the prevalence of /Borrelia burgdorferi/ in questing ticks 
are essential components of risk assessment for Lyme disease 
borreliosis.

Published surveys completed overseas in various countries 
(Germany, Japan, China, Norway) have shown prevalence rates 
of /Borrelia/ spp. infection ranging from about 30-40% in 
adult /Ixodes/ spp. In Wisconsin, unpublished surveys also 
reveal that as many as 40-50% of /Ixodes scapularis/ adults 
in some areas may be infected. In recently published studies 
from the eastern United States, prevalence rates of /B. 
burgdorferi/ in adult /I. scapularis/ ranged from 27% to 
45.2%. In Wisconsin, the prevalence of /B. burgdorferi/ in 
/I. scapularis/ nymphs collected from managed red pine 
forests from 2009 to 2013 was approximately 30%.

To estimate the prevalence of adult questing ticks carrying 
the Lyme disease bacterium in this pilot study, we randomly 
collected 341 questing adult female /Ixodes scapularis/ from 
known and suspected tick habitats throughout regions of 
Wisconsin during the springs of 2010 through 2013. Nymphal 
and adult tick activity has been reported to be the highest 
in May and June. These locations generally were wooded with 
a medium-dense tree canopy and contained leaf litter. Sites 
with tall grasses on the wooded edges with agricultural 
plains were also chosen. The extent of urbanization was not 
recorded but in general was minimal.

Ticks were collected by walking the sampling area and 
removing ticks from the collector's clothing or using a 
flannel drag cloth. The same sites were not necessarily 
sampled each year as different individuals did the sampling 
each year in order to maximize the number of sampling 
locations (average of 24 sites each year). Ticks were 
collected from 21 counties in primarily west-central 
Wisconsin. Only adult female ticks (no nymphs or adult 
males) were assayed in this study.

http://doi.org/10.1111/jvec.12152

Free, full text (pdf file, 342 KB):
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvec.12152/epdf

Monday, June 8, 2015

Johns Hopkins studying chronic Lyme

Here is an article from the Baltimore Sun about Johns Hopkins Medical School's continuing research on chronic Lyme disease. 


Newest AOL Lyme article

New illnesses. More reasons to watch out for ticks.

CBD curing Lyme disease?

http://www.vicnews.com/news/301163011.html
Interesting article.

Local resident and former Hope practitioner Dr. Ernie Murakami is on the verge of a medical breakthrough that could revolutionize the face of medicine and upset a potentially grossly misdiagnosed population, according to his extensive life's research on Lyme disease.

"The medical profession is being criminally negligent," said Murakami of misdiagnosis' being made in relation to the onset of Lyme disease.

An 84 year-old activist who now teaches at a naturopathic facility and is the founder of the Dr. E. Murakami Centre for Lyme Research was once a prisoner in the Japanese-Canadian Internment camps during World War II.

He is no stranger to controversy.

Mild-mannered in his approach — the patriarch, who was disenfranchised by the B.C. medical community, spoke passionately about his work during a recent presentation at the Fraser Canyon Hospital to a group about the effects of a relatively new paste on the market, known as cannabidiol.

Read the rest at the link above.