Author Archive

Screenwriter Turns a Couple’s Courageous Lyme Fight into a Film Script

https://www.lymedisease.org/doherty-courageous-lyme-fight/

Screenwriter turns a couple’s courageous Lyme fight into a film script

By Steve Doherty

March 15, 2022

I was bitten on the neck by a tick in 1996, while camping in southern Mississippi. But I didn’t notice or remove the tick until five days after I returned home.

Looking back, I now recognize the subtle symptoms in the years following, such as hand rashes, crackling in my neck and mild cardiac arrhythmias.

In 2010, I became very ill. I spent a year and a half visiting physicians with no definitive diagnosis.

The symptoms had intensified to include numbness in my hands and feet, increased cardiac arrhythmias, consistent tinnitus and severe fatigue. Finally, an ILADS-affiliated doctor diagnosed me with Lyme in 2012.

I had worked as a respiratory therapy for 39 years, but could do so no longer due to my symptoms. I retired and began to delve into another love, screenwriting.

The Lasiter Family

Through a number of incredible circumstances, I became acquainted with Jessica and Lance Lasiter. Jessica is 30 years old and suffers highly debilitating symptoms. She became ill in 2010 and like me, experienced misdiagnosis and questioning of her symptoms.

At one point, doctors told her she had ALS. But eventually, she discovered she had neurological Lyme. Jessica is presently wheelchair-bound with very little use of her hands and much difficulty speaking.

Writing with one functional finger

Jessica and Lance are a courageous couple. Jessica, in her determination to help others, has even written the manuscript for a book based on her journey, using her one functional finger, on her cell phone. She transfers her work to her laptop, which she operates with a foot mouse.

Getting to know Jessica and Lance motivated me to write a screenplay based on their journey. Jessica, Lance and I met on a weekly basis for two years in order that I could learn their story, with its many ups and downs.

Their story was recently chronicled in The Clarion Herald, a local New Orleans newspaper. Here is a link to that article.

We now have a completed script, synopsis and log line for the project. We feel that it is a story that will truly encourage others, as well as inform many regarding the seriousness and horror of Lyme disease. The story is also one of Jessica’s courage and determination to help others in the face of severe adversity. The film project is currently titled, “The Cub & The Raider.”

We expect Jessica’s book manuscript, “We’ve Only Just Begun,” to be ready for publication soon.

During my work with Jessica and Lance, I have witnessed a devotion of a couple to each other that one rarely sees. They love each other unconditionally. This inspires me to use my situation and understanding of Lyme to put forth this story. By virtue of this I am determined, more than ever, in spite of the continued symptoms that I experience, to press on to completion. I hope it will help many people cope with their own Lyme disease challenges.

Steve Doherty lives in Metrairie, Louisiana. For more information regarding the book and film projects, he can be contacted at brownpelican08@aol.com.

Category:

Activism, Lyme

Are There Hidden Genes in DNA/RNA Vaccines?

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.801915/full

Are There Hidden Genes in DNA/RNA Vaccines?

Christopher A. Beaudoin1, Martin Bartas2, Adriana Volná3, Petr Pečinka2 and Tom L. Blundell1*
  • 1Department of Biochemistry, Sanger Building, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • 2Department of Biology and Ecology, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia
  • 3Department of Physics, University of Ostrava, Ostrava, Czechia

Due to the fast global spreading of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus – 2 (SARS-CoV-2), prevention and treatment options are direly needed in order to control infection-related morbidity, mortality, and economic losses. Although drug and inactivated and attenuated virus vaccine development can require significant amounts of time and resources, DNA and RNA vaccines offer a quick, simple, and cheap treatment alternative, even when produced on a large scale. The spike protein, which has been shown as the most antigenic SARS-CoV-2 protein, has been widely selected as the target of choice for DNA/RNA vaccines. Vaccination campaigns have reported high vaccination rates and protection, but numerous unintended effects, ranging from muscle pain to death, have led to concerns about the safety of RNA/DNA vaccines. In parallel to these studies, several open reading frames (ORFs) have been found to be overlapping SARS-CoV-2 accessory genes, two of which, ORF2b and ORF-Sh, overlap the spike protein sequence. Thus, the presence of these, and potentially other ORFs on SARS-CoV-2 DNA/RNA vaccines, could lead to the translation of undesired proteins during vaccination. Herein, we discuss the translation of overlapping genes in connection with DNA/RNA vaccines. Two mRNA vaccine spike protein sequences, which have been made publicly-available, were compared to the wild-type sequence in order to uncover possible differences in putative overlapping ORFs. Notably, the Moderna mRNA-1273 vaccine sequence is predicted to contain no frameshifted ORFs on the positive sense strand, which highlights the utility of codon optimization in DNA/RNA vaccine design to remove undesired overlapping ORFs. Since little information is available on ORF2b or ORF-Sh, we use structural bioinformatics techniques to investigate the structure-function relationship of these proteins. The presence of putative ORFs on DNA/RNA vaccine candidates implies that overlapping genes may contribute to the translation of smaller peptides, potentially leading to unintended clinical outcomes, and that the protein-coding potential of DNA/RNA vaccines should be rigorously examined prior to administration.

_____________________

**Comment**

**UPDATE March 25, 2022**

Despite very real safety concerns, lack of efficacy, no data or data manipulation, and the appearance they accelerate death,  Biden is seeking yet another $22.5 BILLION for ‘Boosters for All.’

Here’s some important comments on the paper from James Lyons Weiler, PhD:

“They presume there is not issue with the ORFs on the negative sense strand, apparently unaware of the studies that show the mRNA is, in fact, incorporated into the tissue of fast-dividing cells.

Proteins not found in the human genome expressed by human cells will lead to cytotoxic t-cells attacking them and initiating cell death. Therefore, cellular damage and organ damage will occur due to these unintended, preventable proteins translated by the protein-producing machinery of our cells.

Read the paper’s conclusions. Clearly, these steps should have been done before unleashing this biologic on the human population

It is utterly unacceptable that Moderna and Pfizer did not catch this, and it is similarly unacceptable that FDA and CDC organizations such a VRBPAC and ACIP did not catch this.

There is no plan to update the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to disrupt these open reading frames – or to remove the unsafe epitopes that can lead to autoimmunity against proteins, including many of those in our immune systems.

It’s time we take the bad news that the public knows and understands – how the rush to vaccines was not even close to “science”, but instead was mayhem.”

For more:

For VAERS data and a mounting list of adverse reactions & deaths reported after COVID shots:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/21/warning-3150-injuries-in-1st-week-of-covid-vaccines-among-american-healthcare-workers-pregnant-women-included/

Category:

vaccines, Viruses

5 Ways DOD’s Recalibrated Health Surveillance Data Looks Like a Fraudulent Attempt to Cover COVID Shot Injuries

https://www.theblaze.com/op-ed/horowitz-5-ways-dods-recalibrated-health-surveillance-data-looks-like-a-fraudulent-attempt-to-cover-vaccine-injury?

Horowitz: 5 ways DOD’s recalibrated health surveillance data looks like a fraudulent attempt to cover vaccine injury

Op-ed

Daniel Horowitz

March 24, 2022

For the past two months, and possibly even earlier, the Defense Health Agency’s Armed Forces Health Surveillance Division has been systematically changing the Defense Medical Epidemiology Database (DMED) health surveillance data for active-duty soldiers without any transparency. Where are the congressional inquiries?

On Jan. 24, attorney Thomas Renz brought three named military doctors as whistleblowers to Sen. Ron Johnson, and many more who submitted private affidavits, attesting to the fact that DMED showed a massive increase in numerous diagnosis codes ranging from cancers, blood disorders, and heart ailments to strokes, nervous system disorders, and reproductive issues. They attested in sworn statements that the increase in the data reflected their clinical experience in the military over the past year and is, in their professional opinion, the result primarily of mass vaccine injury from the COVID shots.

In a bizarre twist, the military went on to change the data in the ensuing days without ever conducting a formal investigation into what went wrong or releasing a statement to the public. Rather, a week later, in a terse statement to PolitiFact, of all places, officials claimed the high numbers for 2021 were indeed correct, but that there was a glitch in the data for 2016-2020 used by the whistleblowers to establish a baseline, rendering those years way too low.

A four-page document the DOD submitted in Navy SEAL 1 vs. Austin to Florida federal Judge Douglas Merryday provided more information. In that document, officials make it clear that the 2021 numbers were accurate, that the glitch for 2016-2020 only presented itself from September 2021 through the end of January 2022, following a “server migration” last August, that the new data was corrected on Jan. 29, 2022, that DMED was restored the following day, and that by Feb. 2, they had recreated the proper data. That document is extremely terse, alleges no formal investigation, contains no letterhead, and is completely unsigned.

Yet numerous data points suggest that the government is lying about this narrative. Indeed, data was changed numerous times, 2021 data in some instances was slid backwards, and other data points demonstrate that the current data is corrupt. (See link for article)

__________________

**Comment**

Yet another instance of data being manipulated in an under-handed way to fit an accepted narrative.

Yet, Biden is seeking $22.5 BILLION for ‘Boosters for All’ despite lack of efficacy, safety concerns, data manipulation, and other serious issues.

The article is thorough and utilizes graphs showing DMED “fixes” before and after for the following conditions:

  1. Pericarditis – the “fixed” data are implausible because baseline is far too high as well as that there was absolutely zero increase either from COVID or the shots, which has already been proven.  Further, a whistleblower pulled data prior to 2016 and found the data matches the baseline found by whistleblowers and makes the “fixed” version out of sync with history.
  2. Myocarditis – again, rewinding to the previous 10-year baseline shows the “unfixed” version is closer to the original untampered-with data.  Interestingly the “glitches” only shadow the points the whistleblowers make at the time they make it.  Further, number slid backwards and they changed the numbers multiple times during the same month which contradicts four assertions in the court document that they didn’t know about the glitch until Renz’s testimony and that changes were ALL fixed at once in Jan.
  3. Infertility – Renz presented data that was pulled earlier in January by the military doctors showing a 472% increase in female infertility diagnoses in 2021.  When the DHA “fixed” the data, they massively increased the numbers for the previous five years, but they changed it at least three times! Whistleblowers found when they pulled the data before the Johnson hearing, that it had been tampered with several times.  The congressional report is from a year prior to their glitch data, so that data, according to their own narrative, should be correct and would corroborate the numbers from the whistleblowers.
  4. 38% increase in strokes – even after DHA changed most of the data, this STILL shows a 38% increase over the five-year average. Again, government workers changed the data numerous times before they allegedly knew about the glitch.  Whistleblowers, on condition of anonymity, attested to dealing with an unusual number of young, healthy stroke victims who suffered recent strokes, aneurysms, and other neurological damage.  The military has not investigated this.
  5. Exponential increase in “vaccine” injury diagnoses codes –  even after all the DHA data changes, three ICD codes for various types of “vaccine” injury still show anywhere from a 6-17 fold increase in 2021 over the previous 5 years, which harmonizes very well with the VAERS data that show a 10-fold increase in reported deaths and hospitalizations from the shots, except the DMED data are actually from military doctors who identified vaccines as a possible cause of melody.

It is clear that the government’s current data appears to be fraudulent and based on what we already know from VAERS, excess mortality rates, and insurance data around the world, there clearly is a degree of vaccine injury that is not being reported. The totality of the DMED data still shows these concerns in many categories. At the same time, the data is now completely sabotaged. The concern of vaccine injury and a damaged health surveillance system are vital to national security and are equally as problematic. Yet, our government wants us to believe that the first problem doesn’t exist and the second problem was instantly fixed. Clearly, there is more to the story.

For more: 

Category:

Activism, vaccines, Viruses

The Old Political “Does Borrelia Persist” Debate

https://www.lymedisease.org/tbdwg-persistence-horowitz/

TOUCHED BY LYME: Horowitz responds to the “old persistence debate”

March 7, 2022

Dr. Richard Horowitz

As noted in my most recent blog about the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group, a major sticking point has once more emerged between patient-aligned panelists and those aligned with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA).

The same issue raised its head during the 2018 and 2020 panels as well.

The impasse comes down to the question of whether Lyme bacteria can persist in the body after a short course of antibiotic therapy. The IDSA insists that the matter is settled: no persistence. The patient side points to scores of studies that show the opposite.

In a recent Facebook post, prominent Lyme-treating physician Dr. Richard Horowitz lists evidence regarding Borrelia’s ability to survive antibiotics. I recommend you save this answer in your files for future discussions with doctors and others.

Here’s what Dr. Horowitz had to say on the matter:

It’s the old “does Borrelia persist” debate

In truth, it’s not a scientific debate. It’s a political one.

There are enough scientific references on the persistence of Lyme, and clarity among Lyme doctors that have seen patients for decades respond positively to antibiotics (especially newer biofilm and persister protocols, ie dapsone and disulfiram), that if HHS were to spend the money to do a full medical literature review on the topic (I have suggested this to HHS) the debate would be over, once and for all.

Here is a brief overview of the science. Please feel free to send this list of references to the HHS TBDWG and ask them to spend the money to do a full scientific review before the third and final session of the HHS TBDWG is done.

Rationale for Long Term Treatment

I have already outlined the extensive peer reviewed literature showing seronegativity for Lyme disease in prior publications.

Regarding treatment, some physicians believe that there is no reason to be treating patients beyond the 30-day course routinely recommended by the IDSA guidelines; however there are high rates of treatment failure for all stages of Lyme disease.

According to the CDC, as many as 20% of patients remain ill after the short-term treatment protocol recommended by the IDSA (http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/treatment/). Other studies suggest the treatment failure rate for early Lyme disease may be as high as 36%:

  • Aucott JN, et al. Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome symptomatology and the impact on life functioning: is there something here? Qual Life Res. 2013 Feb;22(1):75-84

In late Lyme disease, treatment failure rates may exceed 50%:

  • Cameron, D., Horowitz, R, et al: Treatment of Lyme disease: a medicolegal assessment. Ex-pert review of anti-infective therapy. 2004 Aug;2(4):533-57

Why do treatments fail?

Why do patients fail short term therapy? The peer reviewed medical literature shows chronic persistent infection despite intensive antibiotics:

  • Bradley JF,et al, The Persistence of Spirochetal Nucleic Acids in Active Lyme Arthritis. Ann Int Med 1994;487-9
  • Bayer ME, Zhang L, Bayer MH. Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in the urine of treated patients with chronic Lyme Disease symptoms. A PCR study of 97 cases. Infection 1996. Sept-Oct;24(5):347-53
  • Diringer MN, et al, Lyme meningoencephalitis- report of a severe, penicillin resistant case. Arthritis & Rheum, 1987;30:705-708
  • Donta, ST, Tetracycline therapy in chronic Lyme disease. Chronic Infectious Diseases, 1997; 25 (Suppl 1): 552-56
  • Fitzpatrick JE, et al. Chronic septic arthritis caused by Borrelia burgdorferi. Clin Ortho 1993 Dec;(297):238-41
  • Georgilis K, Peacocke M, & Klempner MS. Fibroblasts protect the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, from ceftriaxone in vitro. J Infect Dis 1992;166: 440-444
  • Fallon BA, et al. Repeated antibiotic treatment in chronic Lyme disease, Journal of Spirochetal and Tick-borne Diseases, 1999; 6 (Fall/Winter):94-101
  • Fraser DD, et al. Molecular detection of persistent Borrelia burgdorferi in a man with dermatomyositis. Clinical and Exper Rheum. 1992;10:387-390
  • Fried MD et al, Borrelia burdorferi persists in the gastrointestinal tract of children and adolescents with Lyme Disease, JNL of Spirochetal and Tick-borne Diseases, Spring/Summer 2002; 9:11-15
  • Girschick HJ, et al. Intracellular persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in human synovial cells. Rheumatol Int 1996;16(3):125-132
  • Hassler D, et al. Pulsed high-dose cefotaxime therapy in refractory Lyme Borreliosis (letter). Lancet 1991;338:193
  • Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Precision Medicine: retrospective chart review and data analysis of 200 patients on dapsone combination therapy for chronic Lyme disease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome: part 1. International Journal of General Medicine 2019:12 101–119

https://www.dovepress.com/articles.php?article_id=44148

  • Horowitz RI. Chronic Persistent Lyme Borreliosis: PCR evidence of chronic infection despite extended antibiotic therapy: A Retrospective Review. Abstract XIII Intl Sci Conf on Lyme Disease. Mar 24-26, 2000.
  • Haupl T, et al. Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in ligamentous tissue from a patient with chronic Lyme borreliosis. Arthritis Rheum 1993;36:1621-1626
  • Karma A, et al. Long term follow-up of chronic Lyme neuroretinitis. Retina 1996;16:505-509
  • Keller TL, et al. PCR detection of Borrelia burgdorferi DNA in cerebrospinal fluid of Lyme neuroborreliosis patients. Neurology 1992;43:32-42
  • Masters EJ, et al. Spirochetemia after continuous high-dose oral amoxicillin therapy. Infect Dis Clin Practice 1994;3:207-208
  • Ma Y, et al. Intracellular localization of Borrelia burgdorferi within human endothelial cells. Infect Immun 1991;59:671-678
  • Meier P, et al. Pars plana vitrectomy in Borrelia burgdorferi endophthalmitis. Klin Monatsbl Augenheilkd 1998 Dec;213(6):351-4
  • Preac-Mursic V, et al. Survival of Borrelia burgdorferi in antibiotically treated patients with Lyme borreliosis. Infection 1989;17:355-359.
  • Preac-Mursic V, et al. Persistence of Borrelia burdorferi and Histopathological Alterations in Experimentally Infected Animals. A comparison with Histopathological Findings in Human Lyme Disease. Infection 1990;18(6):332-341
  • Sapi, E. et al. The Long-Term Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi Antigens and DNA in the Tissues of a Patient with Lyme Disease. Antibiotics 2019, 8, 183; doi:10.3390/antibiotics8040183
  • Straubinger RK, et al. Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Experimentally Infected Dogs after Antibiotic Treatment. J Clin Microbiol 1997;35(1):111-116
  • Embers, M. et al. Persistence of Borrelia burgdorferi in Rhesus Macaques following Antibiotic treatment of Disseminated Infection. PLoS ONE 7(1): e29914. doi:10.1371/journal.pone
  • Embers ME, Hasenkampf NR, et al. (2017) Variable manifestations, diverse seroreactivity and post-treatment persistence in non-human primates exposed to Borrelia burgdorferi by tick feeding. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189071. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189071

Xenodiagnosis

Chronic persistent infection with Bb despite intensive antibiotics was also proven in three recent Xenodiagnostics studies. The first and second was in mice and macaques:

  • Hodzic E, Barthold SW (2014) Resurgence of Persisting Non-Cultivable Borrelia burgdorferi following Antibiotic Treatment in Mice. PLoS ONE 9(1): e86907.

Results confirmed previous studies: Bb could not be cultured from tissues, but low copy numbers of Bb flaB DNA were detectable in tissues up to 8 months after completion of treatment & RNA tran-scription of genes was seen with visualized spirochetes.

  • Embers ME, Hasenkampf NR, et al. (2017) Variable manifestations, diverse seroreactivity and post-treatment persistence in non-human primates exposed to Borrelia burgdorferi by tick feeding. PLoS ONE 12(12): e0189071. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0189071

In this study, “Persistence of B. burgdorferi was evaluated using xenodiagnosis, bioassays in mice, multiple methods of molecular detection, immunostaining with polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies and an in vivo culture system. Our results demonstrate host-dependent signs of infection and variation in antibody responses. In addition, we observed evidence of persistent, intact, metabolically-active B. burgdorferi after antibiotic treatment of disseminated infection and showed that persistence may not be reflected by maintenance of specific antibody production by the host.”

In humans, a recent NIH xenodiagnostic study by Dr Marques showed that among ten patients who had high levels of antibodies against B. burgdorferi after antibiotic treatment, two of those patients had “indeterminate results”, and one patient with Post Treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS) had a positive result, confirming evidence of ongoing Borrelia DNA in these patients:

  • Marques, A. et al. Xenodiagnosis to Detect Borrelia burgdorferi Infection: A First-in-Human Study. Clinical Infectious Diseases DOI: 10.1093/cid/cit939 (2014).

A recent study published by Middelveen et al also proved persistence of borrelia by culture, pathology and molecular testing after standard antibiotic therapy in patients with ongoing symptoms of Lyme disease:

  • Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease. Marianne J. Middelveen, Eva Sapi ID , Jennie Burke, Katherine R. Filush, Agustin Franco,

Melissa C. Fesler and Raphael B. Stricker. Healthcare 2018, 6, 33; doi:10.3390/healthcare6020033

Some physicians feel that there is no evidence of prolonged antibiotics helping symptoms. We know that short term antibiotics fail in 25%-71% of patients with late stage disease:

  • Berglund J, Stjernberg L, Ornstein K, Tykesson-Joelsson K, Walter H. 5-y Follow-up study of patients with neuroborreliosis. Scand J Infec Dis. 2002;34(6):421-5.
  • Valesová H, Mailer J, Havlík J, Hulínská D, Hercogová J. Long-term results in patients with Lyme arthritis following treatment with ceftriaxone. Infection. 1996 Jan-Feb;24(1):98-102

These frequent treatment relapses and failures with short term therapy are documented by other authors:

  • Logigian (1990) : After 6 mo’s of therapy, 10/27 patients treated with IV AB’s relapsed or had treatment failure.
  • Pfister (1991): 33 patients with neuroborreliosis were treated with IV AB’s. After a mean of 8.1 months 10/27 were symptomatic and borrelia persisted in the CSF in 1 patient.
  • Shadick (1994) : 10/38 pts relapsed (5 with IV) within 1 year of treatment, and had repeated AB treatment.
  • Asch (1994): 28% relapsed w/ major organ involvement 3.2 years after initial treatment

NIH studies

Many doctors use IDSA guidelines to base their conclusions to not treat sick patients with long term antibiotics. However only three NIH-funded trials have been conducted on the treatment of chronic Lyme disease:

  • Klempner M, Hu L, Evans J, Schmid C, Johnson G, Trevino R, et al. Two controlled trials of antibiotic treatment in patients with persistent symptoms and a history of Lyme disease. The New England journal of medicine. 2001 Jul 12:85-92
  • Krupp LB, Hyman LG, Grimson R, Coyle PK, Melville P, Ahnn S, et al. Study and treatment of post Lyme disease (STOP-LD): a randomized double masked clinical trial. Neurology. 2003 Jun 24;60(12):1923-30
  • Fallon BA, Keilp JG, Corbera KM, Petkova E, Britton CB, Dwyer E, et al. A randomized, pla-cebo-controlled trial of repeated IV antibiotic therapy for Lyme encephalopathy. Neurology. 2008 Mar 25:992-1003

These were inadequate treatment trials as sample sizes were extremely small, ranging from 37 to 78 patients. Critics have pointed out that studies this small lack sufficient statistical power to measure clinically relevant improvement:

  • Cameron DJ, Johnson LB, Maloney EL. Evidence assessments and guideline recommendations in Lyme disease: the clinical management of known tick bites, erythema migrans rashes and persis-tent disease. Expert Review Anti-Infective Therapy. 2014 Sep;12(9):1103-35.
  • Institute of Medicine. Clinical Practice Guidelines We Can Trust. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2011. Available from: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=1305

These trials also did not address the multifactorial causes of chronic illness, including the role of associated co-infections and abnormalities on the 16-point MSIDS map, published in the peer-reviewed literature to have an effect on the outcome of patients suffering with chronic Lyme disease/PTLDS:

Conclusion from Horowitz, R.I., Freeman, PR. Precision medicine: retrospective chart review and data analysis of 200 patients on dapsone combination therapy for chronic Lyme dis-ease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome: part 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30863136

https://www.dovepress.com/precision-medicine…

“Many of our patients infected with Lyme disease and associated coinfections had severe symptoms, often relapsed with commonly used therapies, and did not present with an EM rash nor meet the CDC two-tiered surveillance criteria. Almost two-thirds of patients had been exposed to between five and eight infections/coinfections and 14.5% of patients were PCR positive for B. burgdorferi despite seemingly “adequate” antibiotic therapy for months or years prior to DDS therapy (N=29, 14.5%).

Evidence of persistent infection with HHV6, Bartonella, and/or Mycoplasma was also confirmed by PCR in several patients, although many in our study had evidence of other medical problems accounting for ongoing symptoms.

These included associated immune dysfunction/immune deficiency, inflammation, environmental toxins with detoxification problems, GI problems, allergies, nutritional deficiencies, hormone, and autonomic nervous system dysregulation as well as sleep and psychiatric disorders in those suffering with post treatment Lyme symptoms.

None of these factors had been addressed in the three prior NIH randomized controlled Lyme trials, nor the European PLEASE trial and could explain in part why patients remained ill. Many patients with late Lyme disease in those trials failed conventional beta lactam, tetracycline, macrolide, or other antibiotic therapies even if given for 4–6 weeks.

International Journal of General Medicine downloaded from https://www.dovepress.com/ by 148.74.180.43 on 19-Feb-2019. Dovepress 115 Horowitz and Freeman, 2019.

Fatigue and pain

Nevertheless, two of the three clinical trials demonstrated that retreatment improved some patients’ measures, such as fatigue and pain (Krupp, Fallon) using older antibiotic protocols that did not address the role of biofilm microcolonies/persister forms. Other studies have shown improvement in cognitive function in those with Lyme encephalopathy (Fallon).

  • Fallon BA, Petkova E, Keilp J, Britton C. A reappraisal of the U.S. clinical trials of Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome. Open Neurology Journal. 2012;6(Supp. 1-M2):79-87.
  • Delong et al. Antibiotic retreatment of Lyme disease in patients with persistent symptoms: A biostatistical review of randomized, placebo controlled, clinical trials. Contemporary Clinical Trials 33 (2012), 1132-1142

The medical literature does in fact show a benefit to using longer treatment regimens for disseminated Lyme Disease:

  • 1. Wahlberg,P. et al, Treatment of late Lyme borreliosis. J Infect, 1994. 29(3): p255-61 →31% improved w/ 14 days of Rocephin, 89% improved w/ Rocephin + 100d of Amoxicillin and Probenecid, 83% improved w/ Rocephin, then 100 days of cephadroxil
  • 2. Donta, ST., Tetracycline therapy for chronic Lyme disease. Clin Infect Dis, 1997. 25 Suppl 1: p.S52-6. →277 pts with chronic LD treated between 1-11 months: 20% cured, 70% improved, 10% failed
  • 3. Oksi, J et al., Comparison of oral cefixime and intravenous ceftriaxone followed by oral amoxicillin in disseminated Lyme borreliosis. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis, 1998. 17(10) 715-9→ 30 pts w/ chronic Lyme disease were treated for 100 days, and 90% had good or excellent responses
  • 4. Oksi, J., et al. Borrelia burgdorferi detected by culture and PCR in clinical relapse of disseminated Lyme borreliosis. Ann Med, 1999. 31(3):p.225-32→32/165 patients with disseminated Lyme were treated for 1 or more months of antibiotics and showed that even more than 3 months of treatment may not eradicate the spirochete, and that longer-term therapy may be necessary.

This last study detected chronic persistent Lyme by both PCR and culture, the “gold standard” for proving chronic infection.

Persister bacteria

During the past several years, newer peer-reviewed scientific publications by Dr. Horowitz and other researchers have shown that Borrelia can act as a “persister” bacteria, like TB and leprosy, due in part to biofilms protecting the organism, as well as dormant forms not killed by standard antibiotic protocols.

In 2016, Dr Horowitz published the first statistically validated oral “persister” protocol for Lyme disease, based on scientific research from Johns Hopkins University and Dr Kim Lewis’s lab at Northeastern University. The list below references some of the most recent scientific articles on the ability of Borrelia burgdorferi to persist in biofilms and stationary ‘persister forms’:

  • Persisters, persistent infections and the Yin–Yang model, Ying Zhang; Emerging Microbes and Infections (2014) 3, e3;
  • Feng, J, Zhang, Y. et al. Stationary Phase Persister/Biofilm Microcolony of Borrelia burgdorferi Causes More Severe Disease in a Mouse Model of Lyme Arthritis: Implications for Understanding Persistence, Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS), and Treatment Failure. Published in Discovery Medicine on March 28, 2019. http://www.discoverymedicine.com/…/persister-biofilm…/
  • Rudenko, N. et al. Metamorphoses of Lyme disease spirochetes: phenomenon of Borrelia per-sisters. Parasites Vectors (2019) 12:237. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13071-019-3495-7
  • Zhang, Y (2015) Drug Combinations against Borrelia burgdorferi Persisters In Vitro: Eradica-tion Achieved by Using Daptomycin, Cefoperazone and Doxycycline. PLoS ONE 10(3): e0117207
  • Identification of new compounds with high activity against stationary phase Borrelia burgdorferi from the NCI compound collection. Zhang, Y. Emerging Microbes and Infections (2015) 4, e31
  • Lewis K. Persister cells, dormancy and infectious disease. Nature Rev Microbiol. 2007; 5 (1): 48–56. doi:10.1038/nrmicro1557. PMID 17143318.
  • Horowitz RI, Freeman PR. The use of dapsone as a novel “persister” drug in the treatment of chronic Lyme disease/post treatment Lyme disease syndrome. J Clin Exp Dermatol Res. 2016;7:345.
  • Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Precision Medicine: retrospective chart review and data analysis of 200 patients on dapsone combination therapy for chronic Lyme disease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome: part 1. International Journal of General Medicine 2019:12 101–119
  • https://www.dovepress.com/articles.php?article_id=44148
  • Horowitz RI, Freeman PR Are Mycobacterium Drugs Effective for Treatment Resistant Lyme Disease, Tick-Borne Co-Infections, and Autoimmune Disease? JSM Arthritis(2016) 1(2): 1008.
  • Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Efficacy of Double-Dose Dapsone Combination Therapy in the Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) and Associated Co-infections: A Report of Three Cases and Retrospective Chart Review. Antibiotics 2020, 9, 725. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9110725
  • Horowitz, R.I., Murali, K., Gaur, G. et al. Effect of dapsone alone and in combination with intracellular antibiotics against the bio-film form of B. burgdorferi. BMC Res Notes 13, 455 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13104-020-05298-6. https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/…/s13104-020…
  • Gao J, Gong Z, Montesano D, Glazer E, Liegner K. “Repurposing” Disulfiram in the Treatment of Lyme Disease and Babesiosis: Retrospective Review of First 3 Years’ Experience in One Medical Practice. Antibiotics (Basel). 2020 Dec 4;9(12):868. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics9120868. PMID: 33291557; PMCID: PMC7761882. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33291557/

The complexity and effectiveness of treating Lyme disease with a broad-based treatment model and using persister drug regimens was also highlighted in the journal Healthcare in 2018:

  • Horowitz, R.I.; Freeman, P.R. Precision Medicine: The Role of the MSIDS Model in Defining, Diagnosing, and Treating Chronic Lyme Disease/Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Other Chronic Illness: Part 2. Healthcare 2018, 6, 129. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30400667

PDF Version: http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/4/129/pdf

In conclusion, the scientific literature shows unreliable blood tests, persistence of Borrelia despite short term treatment, and peer-reviewed clinical studies showing benefit of using longer term antibiotic therapies with newer biofilm/persister therapies being effective in many resistant patients.

It is therefore incumbent on the physician to use their best clinical judgment in treating their patients. Lyme and associated tick-borne diseases are spreading in the United States and worldwide, increasing health care costs, causing disability and widespread suffering. It is essential to update treatment guidelines based on the above-referenced peer-reviewed science.

Sincerely,

Richard I Horowitz, M.D., Medical Director, HVHAC

Board Certified Internal Medicine

Member, HHS Tick-borne Disease Working Group 2017-2019

Co-chair, HHS Other Tick-borne Diseases and Co-infections 2017-2019

Member, HHS Subcommittee Babesia and Tick-borne Viruses 2019

Member, NYS DOH TBDWG 2021-2022

***

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

Category:

Lyme, research

Two Doctors Correct IDSA

https://www.lymedisease.org/repeating-information-idsa/

TOUCHED BY LYME: Repeating incorrect information doesn’t cause it to become correct

In November 2021, a commentary promoting the Infectious Diseases Society of America’s newly updated Lyme disease guidelines was published in the American Journal of Medicine.

(Unfortunately, those new guidelines have made it even harder for Lyme patients to get properly diagnosed and treated than the previous ones from 2006.)

This month, the AJM published two letters from ILADS-affiliated doctors who are pushing back against the IDSA.

One is from Dr. Betty Maloney, a co-author of the ILADS guidelines and a member of the current federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. She takes IDSA authors to task for recommending 10 days of doxycycline for a Lyme-related rash.

Inadequately sourced, potentially dangerous

“If the primary treatment goal for managing patients with erythema migrans (EM) rashes is to restore patients to their pre-Lyme health status, then the guidelines endorsed by Auwaerter et al are both inadequately sourced and potentially dangerous,” Dr. Maloney writes.

She notes that of the two trials cited in support of that advice, only one applies to patients in the United States. And in that study, almost half of the subjects failed to complete the 30-month trial.

Results at the 12-month observation point, she points out, suggest that “this regimen is not highly effective and puts many at risk for post-treatment sequalae that adversely impact quality of life.”

She says that the other study, conducted in Europe, is not generalizable to US patients, due to differences between the US and European Lyme-inducing Borrelia species.

According to Dr. Maloney, the IDSA authors ignored other studies showing a high clinical failure rate of the 10-day treatment. She concludes by saying:

“It is challenging to provide evidence-based medical care when there is little or no high-quality evidence to rely on. It is harder still when influential authors promote inadequate guidelines without meaningfully disclosing their shortcomings. Clinicians and their patients deserve better.”

Read Dr. Maloney’s full letter here.

Erroneous statement about single-dose doxy

A second letter, from Dr. Bea Szantyr, focuses on the IDSA’s recommendation to give a single dose of doxycycline after a tick bite.

“Repeating incorrect information does not cause it to become correct,” Dr. Szantyr writes.  “The erroneous statement by Auwaerter et al, that taking single-dose doxycycline after an Ixodes tick bite prevents Lyme disease, has not been demonstrated by any North American study to date.

“Although repeatedly cited as demonstrating this, the 2001 Nadelman study did not follow its subjects long enough to demonstrate this point. It is well known that later manifestations of Lyme disease may develop beyond the 6-week follow-up period used by the investigators.”

Dr. Szantyr proposes that it would be more valid to say that the optimum dosage and duration of antibiotic prophylaxis for preventing Lyme disease after an Ixodes tick bite remains unknown.

Read Dr. Szantyr’s full letter here.

In some quarters—including those of government health officials, many practitioners, and most insurance companies—the IDSA Lyme guidelines are viewed as truth handed down from the mountaintop.

When those guidelines keep repeating such false—or incomplete—information, Lyme patients suffer.

Bravo to Drs. Maloney and Szantyr for calling the IDSA authors on their errors. We need more of this.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s Vice-president and Director of Communications. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research