We describe an adolescent with symptomatic high-grade AV block and evidence of phase 4 right bundle branch block, a previously unreported manifestation of infra-nodal conduction system involvement in LC.
A previously healthy 14-year-old boy presented via emergency medical services in mid-summer because of syncope(fainting).
Interesting findings:
Patient frequently hunts and fishes in wooded, Lyme-endemic region
Didn’t remember tick bites or EM rash
Two weeks prior to ER visit patient had a runny nose, cough, abdominal pain, followed by headache and nausea.
In the ER he had bradycardia, altered mental status, headache, and vomiting.
Initial ECG showed complete heart block
He was given 2,000mg of IV Ceftriaxone every 24 hours
Testing supported clinical suspicion of Lyme
He was given a temporary pace-maker which was removed after 5 days of IV antibiotics and he was switched to oral doxycycline to complete a total of 21 days of antibiotics
After being monitored in hospital for 7 days, he was discharged with an auto-detecting wireless monitor until a follow-up appointment and stress test
Follow-up appointment patient was well with normal ECG
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**Comment*
Case study states:
Significant AV block due to LC occurs in about 1% of LD cases.
I believe this statistic is premature considering many do not test positive and therefore are undiagnosed. I’ve posted numerous articles where patients are sent packing even when they present with positive test results three times in a row! We will never know how many patients with AV block have an underlying tick-borne illness due to abysmal testing and the lack of training and experience of most doctors with tick-borne illness.
And then there’s that nagging concern about long-term effects and if 21 days of antibiotics were enough for his patient. It often isn’t.
Researchers have identified a new species of Rickettsia bacteria that may cause significant disease in dogs and humans.
This new, yet-unnamed species, initially identified in three dogs, is part of the spotted-fever group Rickettsia which includes Rickettsia rickettsii, the bacteria that cause Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF).
(See link for article)
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**Comment**
These poor dogs suffered from loss of appetite, lethargy, lameness, painful elbows, fever, dehydration, thrombocytopenia, and abdominal tenderness among other symptoms. While I appreciate the authors’ desire to determine tick species and geography, these details have often been used against patients by hampering diagnosis and treatment. We must stop trying to put this into a four-cornered box.
Ticks and animals, including birds travel everywhere taking ticks with them. You can get infected anytime, anywhere.
Severe Allergic Reactions Reported After Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccinations
Excerpt:
U.K. Health officials stated:
Any person with a history of a significant allergic reaction to a vaccine, medicine or food (such as previous history of anaphylactoid reaction or those who have been advised to carry an adrenaline autoinjector) should not receive the Pfizer/BioNtech vaccine.3 (See link for article)
AstraZeneca’s vaccine also has numerous short-comings:
The latest data suggests it’s only 62% effective
Many trial participants have fallen ill, including several who developed Bell’s Palsy
Nobody over 55 years of age was included in the earlier test group, which just so happened to “accidentally” receive only a half dose of the vaccine – which just happened to produce “serendipitous” results for the company.
Had older people been included, it’s likely there would have been a lower efficacy rate
Only 20% (too small of a sample size) of the highest risk patients in the global trials were over 55 years of age – all of which received much higher doses of the vaccine
Vaccination Cards Will Track Everyone Who Gets a COVID-19 Vaccine
Excerpts:
On Dec. 2, 2020, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) released the first images of the government’s proposed COVID-19 vaccination record card and vaccination kits that include a needle, syringe, alcohol wipes and a mask. The vaccination card, which will be issued to everyone who gets a COVID-19 vaccine, will be used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to track who gets vaccinated with the first dose of the vaccine.123456
Recipients of the vaccines will be asked to provide their cell phone numbers so pubic health officials can contact vaccinated persons by text and remind them to return to receive a second dose of COVID-19 vaccine three or four weeks later. The two doses of Pfizer/BioNTech mRNA COVID-19 (BNT162b2) need to be given 21 days apart. Moderna’s mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine requires two doses to be given 28 days apart.124567
Each card, written in English and Spanish, will record the first and last name of the person receiving the vaccine, along with their date of birth, medical information, the dates in which they were vaccinated and the name of who performed the vaccination and where. It will provide spaces to record the name of the vaccine given and the name of its manufacturer. It will also have spaces that could be used to record additional booster shots in the future.36
Evidently CVS and Walgreens have established very elaborate tracking systems to set up appointments and notify people.
some companies are dangling carrots by promising that vaccinated employees will be able to forgo temperature checks and/or other PPE requirements and others are giving out cash bonuses to those who get vaccinated
renaming adverse reactions as “immune responses,” to make it more palatable
Canadians who refuse the COVID-19 vaccine should be prepared to comply with a mandatory mask rule and to be restricted in their ability to move about society
They will change the way the PCR test is done by lowering the number of cycles so there are fewer positive test results, which will make it appear to stop new cases
They will restrict the definition of a “COVID case”, for example demanding a fever of 100 for 48 consecutive hours. The drop in cases will be attributed to the vaccine.
If more fear and punishment is desired however, a reverse technique will be applied by cycling PCR tests upward and lessening the requirements for a “COVID case”
Any harm or death caused by the vaccine will be attributed to COVID-19
Many other tactics are listed (many of which have already been done)
Lyme disease is a multi-faceted illness caused by infection due to Borrelia burgdorferi. Acute kidney damage secondary to Lyme disease is well described but less so as a chronic event. The role of Anaplasma spp. and secondary kidney dysfunction is not known. A retrospective cohort study was performed to determine if dogs within a defined Lyme disease and anaplasmosis region with B. burgdorferi or Anaplasma spp. antibodies had an increased risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patient exposure was defined as having a B. burgdorferi or Anaplasma spp. antibody positive result recorded at any point in the available patient history. CKD was defined as concurrent increased symmetric dimethylarginine and creatinine (Cr) for a minimum of 25 days with inappropriate urine specific gravity (USG). Patients were matched using propensity scoring to control for age, region, and breed. Contingency tables were used to compare dogs seropositive and not seropositive to B. burgdorferi and Anaplasma spp. and CKD outcome. For each comparison that was performed, statistical significance was defined by a P-value of <.025. The risk ratio of CKD for patients exposed to B. burgdorferi and Anaplasma spp. were found to be 1.43 (95% confidence interval [CI, 1.27, 1.61], P < .0001) and 1.04, (95% CI [0.87, 1.24], P = .6485), respectively.
Results suggest in this cohort no increased risk for developing CKD when exposed to Anaplasma spp. but a significant increase in risk for developing CKD with exposure to B. burgdorferi.
Borrelia burgdorferi is the causative agent of Lyme disease and is transmitted to vertebrate hosts by Ixodes spp. ticks. The spirochaete relies heavily on its arthropod host for basic metabolic functions and has developed complex interactions with ticks to successfully colonize, persist and, at the optimal time, exit the tick. For example, proteins shield spirochaetes from immune factors in the bloodmeal and facilitate the transition between vertebrate and arthropod environments. On infection, B. burgdorferi induces selected tick proteins that modulate the vector gut microbiota towards an environment that favours colonization by the spirochaete. Additionally, the recent sequencing of the Ixodes scapularis genome and characterization of tick immune defence pathways, such as the JAK-STAT, immune deficiency and cross-species interferon-γ pathways, have advanced our understanding of factors that are important for B. burgdorferi persistence in the tick. In this Review, we summarize interactions between B. burgdorferi and I. scapularis during infection, as well as interactions with tick gut and salivary gland proteins important for establishing infection and transmission to the vertebrate host.
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 