Archive for December, 2020

Educators’ Tick & Lyme Disease Resource

https://www.lookingatlyme.ca/resource/

CANLYME INITIATIVE

Educators’ resource

CanLyme is excited to announce the launch of our resource for educators who teach in the outdoor classroom. Whether you are new to outdoor education or a seasoned wilderness guide, this teaching resource provides information through engaging learning experiences. Students can learn how to identify ticks and tick habitats so that they can avoid tick bites and recognize signs and symptoms of Lyme disease.

Virtual focus groups – call for educators

Download the Educator Resource and accompanying slidedeck…we would love to get your feedback! 

We are seeking educators who are willing to pilot and provide feedback through two virtual focus groups. This feedback will be incorporated into the second draft that is scheduled for release in winter 2021. We are offering a stipend to educators who participate in both virtual focus groups. 

Please email canlymeeducation@gmail.com if you are interested able to commit to participating in the two focus groups in January and February. Email us for more details.

Lyme Education Awareness and Prevention (LEAP). Educator’s resource:

https://www.lookingatlyme.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/CanLyme-Educators-Resource-2020.pdf

Downloadable Slide deck Zip File: Leap-Master-Slide-Deck-2020

For more information:  https://canlyme.com

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

Tick-borne Diseases & Co-infection: Current Considerations

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33220628/

2020 Nov 9;12(1):101607.

doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2020.101607.Online ahead of print.

Tick-borne diseases and co-infection: Current considerations

Sally J Cutler 1, Muriel Vayssier-Taussat 2, Agustín Estrada-Peña 3, Aleksandar Potkonjak 4, Andrei D Mihalca 5, Hervé Zeller 6

Abstract

Over recent years, a multitude of pathogens have been reported to be tick-borne. Given this, it is unsurprising that these might co-exist within the same tick, however our understanding of the interactions of these agents both within the tick and vertebrate host remains poorly defined. Despite the rich diversity of ticks, relatively few regularly feed on humans, 12 belonging to argasid and 20 ixodid species, and literature on co-infection is only available for a few of these species. The interplay of various pathogen combinations upon the vertebrate host and tick vector represents a current knowledge gap. The impact of co-infection in humans further extends into diagnostic challenges arising when multiple pathogens are encountered and we have little current data upon which to make therapeutic recommendations for those with multiple infections. Despite these short-comings, there is now increasing recognition of co-infections and current research efforts are providing valuable insights into dynamics of pathogen interactions whether they facilitate or antagonise each other. Much of this existing data is focussed upon simultaneous infection, however the consequences of sequential infection also need to be addressed. To this end, it is timely to review current understanding and highlight those areas still to address.

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**Comment**

About time.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/  Excerpt:  

Key Quote:  “Our findings recognize that microbial infections in patients suffering from TBDs do not follow the one microbe, one disease Germ Theory as 65% of the TBD patients produce immune responses to various microbes.”

But there is another important point.

According to this review, 83% of all commercial tests focus only on Lyme (borrelia), despite the fact we are infected with more than one microbe.  The review also states it takes 11 different visits to 11 different doctors, utilizing 11 different tests to be properly diagnosed.  https://www.news-medical.net/news/20181101/Tick-borne-disease-is-multiple-microbial-in-nature.aspx?

It has also been discovered that many are infected with Borrelia miyamotoi which will also not be picked up with current CDC 2-tiered testing.

They found: 

  • Among positive ticks, 60% were for B. miyamotoi.
  • Testing on over 2,000 humans (mainly late stage/chronic patients) showed 30% negative results and 70% positive, among which over 60% indicated the presence of specific Borrelia miyamotoi phages.

Source:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/30/neglected-infections-gastrointestinal-issues-in-patients-with-late-vector-borne-infections/

Category:

research, Ticks, Transmission

Ten Million Screened Post-Lockdown in Wuhan. Prevalence of COVID-19 Very Low & No Evidence of Asymptomatic Transmission to Close Contacts

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19802-w

Open Access

Published:

Post-lockdown SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening in nearly ten million residents of Wuhan, China

Nature Communications volume 11, Article number: 5917 (2020) Cite this article

Abstract

Stringent COVID-19 control measures were imposed in Wuhan between January 23 and April 8, 2020. Estimates of the prevalence of infection following the release of restrictions could inform post-lockdown pandemic management. Here, we describe a city-wide SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid screening programme between May 14 and June 1, 2020 in Wuhan. All city residents aged six years or older were eligible and 9,899,828 (92.9%) participated. No new symptomatic cases and 300 asymptomatic cases (detection rate 0.303/10,000, 95% CI 0.270–0.339/10,000) were identified. There were no positive tests amongst 1,174 close contacts of asymptomatic cases. 107 of 34,424 previously recovered COVID-19 patients tested positive again (re-positive rate 0.31%, 95% CI 0.423–0.574%). The prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Wuhan was therefore very low five to eight weeks after the end of lockdown.

Excerpts:

Virus cultures were negative for all asymptomatic positive and repositive cases, indicating no “viable virus” in positive cases detected in this study.

The citywide nucleic acid screening of SARS-CoV-2 infection in Wuhan recruited nearly 10 million people, and found no newly confirmed cases with COVID-19. The detection rate of asymptomatic positive cases was very low, and there was no evidence of transmission from asymptomatic positive persons to traced close contacts. There were no asymptomatic positive cases in 96.4% of the residential communities.

Previous studies have shown that asymptomatic individuals infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus were infectious3, and might subsequently become symptomatic4. Compared with symptomatic patients, asymptomatic infected persons generally have low quantity of viral loads and a short duration of viral shedding, which decrease the transmission risk of SARS-CoV-25. In the present study, virus culture was carried out on samples from asymptomatic positive cases, and found no viable SARS-CoV-2 virus. All close contacts of the asymptomatic positive cases tested negative, indicating that the asymptomatic positive cases detected in this study were unlikely to be infectious.

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For more:  

Category:

research, Testing, Viruses

Firefighter’s Heart Stopped Due to Lyme Disease

https://vimeo.com/485783302  Video here

Minneapolis Firefighter’s Heart Stopped due to Lyme disease

Dec. 1, 2020

His symptoms were:

  • severe fatigue
  • AV heart block

Unfortunately the infectious disease doctor took a “wait and see” approach waiting for test results which has been hurting people for decades. He needed a temporary pace-maker and remained the the ICU.

Due to his experience he is helping with a project in conjunction with Lyme Awareness Minnesota to put two tick safety books in every elementary school in Minnesota.

Go to:  LymeawarenessMN.com to become a sponsor or make a donation.

For more on Lyme and the heart:  

Category:

Activism, Heart Issues, Lyme

Mouse Study Shows Immunodeficiency Has Role in Efficacy of Doxycycline for Lyme Disease

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33216133/

2020 Nov 20;jiaa719.

doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa719. Online ahead of print.

Genetic background amplifies the effect of immunodeficiency in antibiotic efficacy against Borrelia burgdorferi

Bijaya Sharma 1, Julie E McCarthy 1, Cecily A Freliech 1, Morgen M Clark 1, Linden T Hu 1

PMID: 33216133

DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa719

Abstract

Unrecognized immunodeficiency has been proposed as a possible cause of failure of antibiotics to resolve symptoms of Lyme disease. Here, we examined the efficacy of doxycycline in different immune deficient mice to identify defects that impair antibiotic treatment outcomes. We found that doxycycline had significantly lower efficacy in the absence of adaptive immunity, specifically B cells. This effect was most pronounced in immunodeficientC3H mice compared with C57BL/6 mice suggesting a role for genetic background beyond immunodeficiency.

Addition of a single dose of ceftriaxone to doxycycline treatment effectively cleared infection in C3H mice with severe combined immunodeficiency.

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**Comment**

Since mainstream medicine under the tutelage of the CDC and IDSA believes Lyme literate doctors are charlatans, they have closed minds and refuse to even consider what LLMD’s have found success with. LLMD’s have known for decades that the mono therapy of doxycycline is ineffective in treating Lyme/MSIDS – for anything other than acute cases, with antibiotic failures experienced in nearly every single study done – as well as clinically.  LLMD’s layer treatment.  Please see:

While the immune system is an important factor with tick-borne illness, many patients are infected with numerous pathogens making their cases far more complex than main stream medicine admits to.  What scant research exists on this topic shows polymicrobial illness makes cases far more complex & serious, necessitating longer treatment utilizing many antimicrobials layered together to work synergistically.  LLMD’s support the immune system, realize the importance of antimicrobials, and focus on detoxification.  It’s a multi-pronged approach.

Category:

Lyme, research, Treatment