Author Archive

Could Borrelia Miyamotoi Infections Explain Persistent Lyme Symptoms?

https://danielcameronmd.com/borrelia-miyamotoi-persistent-symptoms-lyme-disease/

COULD BORRELIA MIYAMOTOI INFECTIONS EXPLAIN PERSISTENT SYMPTOMS IN LYME DISEASE PATIENTS?

borrelia miyamotoi and lyme disease

 

“This is the first study to investigate the presence of B. miyamotoi antibodies in a clinical population experiencing persistent symptoms and suspected tick-borne illness,” writes Delaney and colleagues from Columbia University Irving Medical Center. [1] According to the findings, Lyme disease patients testing positive for Borrelia miyamotoi were more likely to present with sleepiness and pain.

By

Borrelia miyamotoi (BM) is another tick-borne pathogen and “unlike Lyme disease, erythema migrans rash, and arthralgias are uncommon,” the authors write in the journal Frontiers in Medicine. The infection is diagnosed with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) called glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (GlpQ) enzyme immunoassay.

Investigators looked at the incidence of BM in 82 patients who were seeking a second opinion regarding persistent symptoms which included fatigue, pain, neurocognitive, and psychiatric problems.

In their study, 1 out of 4 Lyme disease patients tested positive for Borrelia miyamotoi,using a GlpQ test. The BM positive group were significantly more likely to suffer from sleepiness (according to the Epworth Sleepiness Scale) and from pain, as measured by the McGill VAS Pain Scale, and Zung Anxiety Scale.

Eight patients with Lyme disease and Borrelia miyamotoi were hospitalized.  “Eight of 21 (38%) reported hospitalization (seven medical and one psychiatric) since symptom onset, three for cardiac and two for neurologic abnormalities,” according to the authors.

All of the patients, except for one, with Lyme disease (LD) and Borrelia miyamotoi were treated with antibiotics.  “All 21 received prior antibiotic treatment, of whom 20 received at least 2 weeks of doxycycline or amoxicillin.”

Five of the 21 patients with LD and BM lived outside of the with Northeast/Mid-Atlantic states. “Two lived in California, two lived in Florida, and one lived in Illinois.”

Study insights

The study found that clinicians are not testing for Borrelia miyamotoi, as only 1 out of the 82 study participants were tested for the infection.

Furthermore, clinicians were often dismissive of a tick-borne illness.  “Many patients reported that their clinicians dismissed the possibility of tick-borne illness both at the onset and during the course of their illness and attributed symptoms to psychological stress,” writes Delaney.

The authors raise a public health concern:

“In Lyme disease, delayed diagnosis and treatment is associated with prolonged symptoms. The same may prove true for B. miyamotoi disease.”

Editor’s note: A co-infection with Borrelia miyamotoi may explain why some Lyme disease patients are sicker than others. Unfortunately, there are still problems with the reliability of  testing for Borrelia miyamotoi.  There is also uncertainty over the best treatment approach for the infection.

Related Articles:

The best antibiotics to treat Borrelia miyamotoi?

Doctors face challenges in diagnosing Borrelia miyamotoi

Don’t count on a relapsing fever to diagnose Borrelia miyamotoi

References:
  1. Delaney SL, Murray LA, Aasen CE, Bennett CE, Brown E, Fallon BA. Borrelia miyamotoi Serology in a Clinical Population With Persistent Symptoms and Suspected Tick-Borne Illness. Front Med (Lausanne). 2020;7:567350.
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**Comment**
 
 
Many great points:
 
  • Could Bm explain some with persistent symptoms (highly likely)
  • Many of the patients here don’t live in what are considered Lyme-endemic areas, blowing further holes into the whole – “you have to live in the North or Eastern U.S. to be infected” paradigm.  Drop those maps like a bad habit!
  • These people had SEVERE symptoms.  Nearly 40% were hospitalized!
  • Clinicians need to WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE.  Lyme/ MSIDS patients quickly learn that those who are coinfected are sicker for longer.  Mainstream medicine is in the Stone-Ages on this fact.  There’s a real pandemic but it ain’t COVID.
  • This letter to the editor highlights the problem with coinfections & abysmal testing:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/23/tick-bite-letter-to-the-editor/

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme

Tick Bite – Letter to the Editor

https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3029/rr-3

Tick bite

BMJ 2020; 370 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m3029 (Published 13 August 2020)Cite this as: BMJ 2020;370:m3029

21 August 2020
Habib ur Rehman
Physician
Saskatchewan Health Authority
Suite 100, 2550 12th Ave, Regina, SK, S4P 3X1, Canada

Rapid Response:

Re: Tick bite

Dear Editor

Razai et al, in their consultation on tick bite, missed an important message to learners (1).

  • As the incidence of Lyme disease increases, there is also greater likelihood of co-transmission of other pathogens carried by I scapularis and I pacificus ticks.
  • Since symptoms of these co infections are non-specific and may overlap with Lyme’s disease, accurate diagnosis becomes more difficult. It is therefore important that a high level of suspicion is maintained for these co-infections so patients receive accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment.

The most common infectious agents transmitted by Ixodes species ticks in North America that have the potential for co-infection with B burgdorferi are Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Babesia species, deer tick (Powassan) virus, Borrelia miyamotoi, and the Ehrlichia muris–like agent (2).

A phagocytophilum is transmitted by the same Ixodes ticks as B burgdorferi in the United States and causes fever, chills, headache, myalgia, and fatigue arising 1 to 3 weeks following tick exposure. Most cases are mild and self-limited. However, severe manifestations may include respiratory failure, adult respiratory distress syndrome, peripheral neuropathy, rhabdomyolysis, acute renal failure, pancreatitis, and coagulopathies.

It has been found that in Wisconsin, approximately 3% of I scapularis ticks examined were co-infected with B burgdorferi and A phagocytophilum (3). A similar study in 11,000 ticks in public parks of New York State’s Hudson Valley Region found that co-infection rates of nymphs and adults were 0.5% and 6.3%, respectively (4).

The frequency of humans with Lyme disease simultaneously co-infected with A phagocytophilum from various studies ranges from 2% to 10% (5,6). Similirly, Babesiosis is transmitted through the bite of infected I scapularis and I pacificus ticks. Most patients are asymptomatic or have mild, self-limited disease but may be complicated by renal failure, acute respiratory distress, and shock.

In a study of patients with Lyme disease from southern New England, approximately 10% were co-infected with babesiosis (7).

Unlike Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis, doxycycline is not an effective treatment of babesiosis and requires atovaquone and azithromycin or combination of clindamycin with quinine, making it imperitive to consider this diagnosis in mind in patients with tick bite.

Of the 3 species of Ehrlichia in United States, only E muris–like (EML) agent is transmitted by I scapularis is the vector of this emerging pathogen(8).

Possible co-infections should be considered in any patients who are diagnosed with tick bite or Lyme disease, especially those who have unexplained leukopenia, thrombocytopenia, or anemia, or who fail to respond to treatment for Lyme’s disease.

References:
1- Razai MS, Doerholt K, Galiza E, Oakeshott P. Tick bite. BMJ 2020;370:m3029
2- Caulfield AJ, Pritt BS. Lyme disease Coinfections in the United States. Clin Lab Med 2015;35:827–846.
3- Lee, X, Coyle DR, Johnson DK, et al. Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi and Anaplasma phagocytophilum in Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) nymphs collected in managed red pine forests in Wisconsin. J Med Entomol 2014;51:694-701.
4- Prusinski MA, Kokas JE, Hukey KT, et al. Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi (Spoirochets: Spirochaetaceae), Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Rickettsiales: Anaplasmataceae), and Babesia microti (Piroplasmida: Babesiidae) in Ixodes scapularis (Acari: Ixodidae) collected from recreational lands in the Hudson Valley Region, New York State. J Med Entomol 2014;51:226-36.
5- Horowitz HW, Aguero-Rosenfeld ME, Holmgren D, et al. Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis coinfection: impact of case definition on coinfection rates and illness severity. Clin Infect Dis 2013;56;93-9.
6- Steere AC, McHugh G, Suarez C, et al. Prospective study of coinfection in patients with erythema migrans. Clin Infect Dis 2003;36:1078-81.
7- Krause PJ, Telford SR, Spielman A, et al. Concurrent Lyme disease and babesiosis – evidence for increased severity and duration of illness. JAMA 1996;275:1657-60.
8- Pritt BS, McFadden JD, Stromdah E, et al. Emergence of a novel Ehrlichia sp. agent
pathogenic for humans in the Midwestern United States. 6th International Meeting
on Rickettsiae and Rickettsial Diseases. Heraklion (Greece), June 5–7, 2011.

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**Comment**

This important letter to the editor highlights many contentious issues Lyme/MSIDS patients have to muddle through.  From where I sit, I disagree with the author’s statements that these infections are ‘mild and self-limited’, but I deal with sick people – not healthy.  If there’s one thing I DO know, it’s that these infections have been downplayed for far too long, and it’s been a real problem.  Patients haven’t been taken seriously for over 40 years!

The consideration of coinfections; unfortunately, is not common in mainstream medicine regarding Lyme/MSIDS.  They still treat this as a one germ disease with doxycycline curing it, when nothing could be further from the truth:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/

Category:

Activism, Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, Testing, Ticks

How to Immunize Yourself Against Vaccine Propaganda

https://www.jeremyrhammond.com/2019/02/07/how-to-immunize-yourself-against-vaccine-propaganda/

How to Immunize Yourself Against Vaccine Propaganda

by Feb 7, 2019

A New York Times editorial attacks “anti-vaxxers” as “the enemy”, but it’s the Times editors who are dangerously irrational and ignorant of the science.

On January 19, 2019, the New York Times published an editorial mischaracterizing anyone who dares to criticize or dissent from public vaccine policy as dangerously irrational and ignorant.[1] In doing so, the Times avoided having to seriously address any of the countless legitimate concerns that parents have today about vaccinating their children according to the CDC’s routine childhood vaccine schedule. Consequently, the Times fulfills the mainstream media’s typical function of manufacturing consent for government policy by manipulating public opinion through deception.[2] In this case, the consent being manufactured in service of the state is for public vaccine policy, which constitutes a serious threat to both our health and our liberty.

What the Times editorial represents is not journalism, but public policy advocacy. And to persuade its readers to strictly comply with the CDC’s vaccine schedule, the Times blatantly lies to its readers both about the nature of the debate and what science tells us about vaccine safety and effectiveness.

The first clue that the Times editorial aims to avoid any serious discussion of the issue is the title: “How to Inoculate Against Anti-Vaxxers”. The term “anti-vaxxer”, of course, is the derogatory label that the media apply to anyone who dares to question public vaccine policy. It is reflective of the mainstream media’s routine use of ad hominem argumentation in lieu of reasoned discourse. Rather than substantively addressing their arguments, the media simply dismiss the views of and personally attack critics and dissenters—and this Times editorial is certainly no exception. (See link for article)

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**Comment**

A very timely article considering the new, fast-tracked, experimental COVID-19 vaccine being thrust upon the public.  

Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, please watch Dr. Weiler’s short video on it here:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/04/medical-freedom-press-conference-must-see-video/

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/11/how-covid-19-vaccine-can-destroy-your-immune-system/

They’ve renamed adverse reactions to downplay any risks:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/14/adverse-reactions-renamed-immune-responses-by-health-advisers-and-21-serious-possible-adverse-outcomes-to-covid-19-vaccine/  Many other links after article

Yet the injuries keep pouring in:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/21/warning-3150-injuries-in-1st-week-of-covid-vaccines-among-american-healthcare-workers-pregnant-women-included/

Nearly 90,000 medical professionals say the COVID-19 vaccine is unsafe:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/29/87000-doctors-nurses-against-covid19-vaccine/

Category:

vaccines

Evaluation of Disulfiram Drug Combinations & Identification of Other More Effective Combinations against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi

https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6382/9/9/542

Evaluation of Disulfiram Drug Combinations and Identification of Other More Effective Combinations against Stationary Phase Borrelia burgdorferi

by Hector S. Alvarez-Manzo, Yumin Zhang, Wanliang Shi and Ying Zhang 

Antibiotics2020, 9(9), 542; https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics9090542 (registering DOI)Received: 7 August 2020 / Revised: 21 August 2020 / Accepted: 25 August 2020 / Published: 26 August 2020View Full-TextDownload PDFBrowse Figures

Abstract

Lyme disease, caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in USA, and 10–20% of patients will develop persistent symptoms despite treatment (“post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome”). B. burgdorferi persisters, which are not killed by the current antibiotics for Lyme disease, are considered one possible cause. Disulfiram has shown to be active against B. burgdorferi, but its activity against persistent forms is not well characterized. We assessed disulfiram as single drug and in combinations against stationary-phase B. burgdorferi culture enriched with persisters.

  • Disulfiram was not very effective in the drug exposure experiment (survival rate (SR) 46.3%) or in combinations.
  • Clarithromycin (SR 41.1%) and nitroxoline (SR 37.5%) were equally effective when compared to the current Lyme antibiotic cefuroxime (SR 36.8%) and more active than disulfiram.
  • Cefuroxime + clarithromycin (SR 25.9%) and cefuroxime + nitroxoline (SR 27.5%) were significantly more active than cefuroxime + disulfiram (SR 41.7%).
  • When replacing disulfiram with clarithromycin or nitroxoline in three-drug combinations, bacterial viability decreased significantly and subculture studies showed that combinations with these two drugs (cefuroxime + clarithromycin/nitroxoline + furazolidone/nitazoxanide) inhibited the regrowth, while disulfiram combinations did not (cefuroxime + disulfiram + furazolidone/nitazoxanide).

Thus, clarithromycin and nitroxoline should be further assessed to determine their role as potential treatment alternatives in the future.View Full-Text

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For more:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/12/07/repurposing-disulfiram-in-the-treatment-of-lyme-disease-and-babesiosis-retrospective-review-of-first-3-years-experience-in-one-medical-practice/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/11/30/patients-can-respond-very-differently-to-disulfiram-be-cautious/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/10/01/study-shows-dsm-works-for-lyme-reduces-inflammatory-markers-antibody-titers/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/19/if-disulfiram-is-the-cure-for-lyme-disease-should-it-be-prescribed-to-all-lyme-disease-patients/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/06/26/new-treatments-for-lyme-disease-on-the-horizon/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/

Category:

Lyme, research, Treatment

SOT Treatment For Lyme Disease

SOT was created for those with previously untreatable genetic conditions.  In my opinion, Lyme disease is not a genetic condition, it’s an infection(s) and depending upon your exact case, is only one of many potential infections that can be bacterial, fungal, viral, and/or parasitic.  This is my main problem with SOT besides the fact it is a gene-silencing technique that raises questions about long-term effects as well as the fact Bb changes its outer surface protein, is stealthy, and very probably a bioweaponized pathogen(s) created in a lab to be more persistent and transmissible, and to evade the immune system and treatment.

https://www.treatlyme.net/guide/sot-lyme-treatment

SOT for Lyme Image from Marty Ross MD
 
By Marty Ross MD

Supportive Oligonucleotide Therapy (SOT) Background

Supportive Oligonucelotide Therapy (SOT) is a new treatment for Lyme disease. SOT is also called Antisense Oligonucelotide Therapy (ASOT) which is the term used in medical research papers. SOT uses laboratory derived nucleic acids (genetic code) that blocks production of disease causing proteins or even gene expression. These pieces of genetic code are called oligonucleotides. You can think of oligonucleotides as a genetic message.

For example, in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), SOT provides oligonucleotides that direct the correct production of a protein called dystrophin. People with muscular dystrophy are born with DNA that provides the wrong genetic message for dystrophin. SOT correction to the DNA message leads to production of dystrophin. This prevents the muscle damage seen in DMD.

In Lyme disease, a currently available type of SOT produced by RGCC in Greece uses oligonucleotides intended to stop germ growth and replication. Unlike the SOT therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, the Lyme SOT is not a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug. To be approved by the FDA, a therapy must have scientific evidence of safety and effectiveness.  (See link for article)

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**Comment**

Dr. Ross is unsure if SOT for Lyme/MSIDS works, and some of his patients using it before seeing him experienced little to no effects, but some of his colleagues state some patients have experienced improvement.  He also reminds readers that there is a placebo effect of 35% on average in clinical trials for drugs.

Also, please read this article on SOT Therapy side effects.

Common side effects: injection site reactions, flu-like symptoms, headaches and fatigue, changes in liver function.

Serious but supposedly rare side effects: thrombocytopenia, changes in kidney function, allergic reactions, neurological effects, potential impact on fertility and pregnancy.

For more on SOT:

For more on the RGCC test:

 

 

 

 

Category:

Lyme, Treatment