Archive for the ‘Babesia’ Category

2600% Increase in Babesia in 12 Years in Wisconsin

CDC Reports 2600% Increase in Tick-Borne Babesiosis Infections in Wisconsin in 12 Years

It is not just a bad summer for ticks — it has been a bad decade for the spread of tick-borne infections. New surveillance from the CDC reports rapid expansion and increase in cases of babesiosis, a sometimes life-threatening disease, in Wisconsin.The CDC compiled the new report from surveillance conducted every three years during the period between 2001 through 2015. During that time, electronic surveillance came online to provide faster, more thorough, case reports. While a boost in case counts as monitoring methods improve is sometimes due to under-reporting, the CDC says the increase in Wisconsin is due to an actual uptick in cases — not just better reporting.

Total confirmed babesiosis case counts (N = 294) initially reported directly and electronically through the Wisconsin Electronic Disease Surveillance System (WEDSS),* Electronic Laboratory Report (ELR) — Wisconsin, 2001–2015.Image via MMWR

What Is Babesiosis and Why Should You Be Concerned?

The black-legged tick Ixodes scapularis transmits the Babesiosis bacteria. This is the same tick that spreads Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and recently the more immediately deadly Powassan virus.

These ”black-legged ticks”, Ixodes scapularis, are capable of spreading babesiosis, Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and Powassan disease, this small arthropod packs powerful poison.Image by Jim Gathany/CDC

Babesia microti, a relative of the parasite that causes malaria, causes the babesiosis infection. While some people have no symptoms when infected, in others, the illness can be fatal. Symptoms of babesiosis include fatigue and weakness, nausea, diarrhea, and often a high fever. More severe complications include kidney damage and heart failure.

Because babesiosis is spread by I. scapularis, the geographic range of the infection is expanding along with the tick. While ticks are the agent, or “vector,” that spreads the bacteria, rodents like white-footed mice are the reservoir culprits who carry the disease. Ticks are infected when they feed on mice, and in turn, ticks infect white-tailed deer, that then become the primary hosts for tickborne infections carried by black-legged ticks.

The blacklegged tick (Ixodes scapularis) is widely distributed in the northeastern and upper midwestern United States.Image via CDC

Here are some of the findings of the new babesiosis report:

  • The length of time between infection to symptoms can be about two weeks, with 96% of cases reported between April and October.
  • Between 2001 and 2015, there were 430 cases reported in Wisconsin. Of those, laboratory testing confirmed 68%. For the victims with confirmed cases, 158, or 65%, were hospitalized, and three people died as a result of the infection.
  • Of the 108 patients with probable babesiosis, 24% were hospitalized, and none died.
  • Wisconsin did not begin screening its blood supply for the babesiosis parasite until 2016. Before that, three cases of the infection spread through transfusion with contaminated blood.

The threat is rising. Between the years of 2001–2003 and 2004–2006, there was a 400% increase in the mean annual incidence of babesiosis cases. The rate rose incrementally after that until it jumped again between 2007–2009 and 2010–2012 with a 235% increase.

Overall, the incidence rose 2600% between 2001–2003 (o.03 mean annual incidence) and 2013–2015 (0.80 mean annual incidence).

Number and incidence of reported confirmed babesiosis cases by 3-year interval and percentage confirmed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) — Wisconsin, 2001–2015. Mean annual incidence is the average number of cases per 100,000 residents in a single year.Image by MMWR, July 7, 2017/66(26);687–691

The number of counties reporting the incidence of babesiosis rose from 20 to 46 between 2011 and 2015.

Geographic distribution of confirmed cases of babesiosis per 100,000 residents by county of residence — Wisconsin, 2001–2005, 2006–2010, and 2011–2015.Image by MMWR, July 7, 2017/66(26);687–691

This report and physical observations of ticks on hunter-harvested deer, support the finding that the range of the black-legged tick has expanded rapidly, and will continue to do so with a warming climate and clearance of forest stands. As essential the ticks, so go the infections they transmit to humans.

Study authors write: “Babesiosis cases in Wisconsin are increasing in number and geographic range. These trends might be occurring in other states with endemic disease, similar suburbanization, and forest fragmentation patterns, and warming average temperatures.”

If you have reason to believe a tick could have bitten you, and experience symptoms, contact your doctor. Prompt treatment is important. The best defense to tick infection is offense — use repellent containing DEET, stay clear of tick territory, wear long sleeves, and pants — and most important, shower and check for ticks each time you return from time in the wild — or just your backyard.

With warming temperatures, ticks are getting worse — readiness is the best way for you, and family members, to avoid infection.

 

**For more on Babesia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2011/09/25/the-babesia-checklist-copyrighted-2011-james-schaller-md-mar-version-20/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/15/blood-screening-for-babesia/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/17/babesia-cure/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/05/babesia-cure-update/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/31/the-gift-that-keeps-giving-wisconsin-organ-donor-gives-babesiosis-to-two-recipients/

Category:

Babesia, Ticks, Treatment

One Tick Bite Could Put You at Risk For at Least 19 Different Diseases

http://www.businessinsider.com/deer-tick-can-carry-lyme-disease-powassan-virus-babesiosis-and-more-2017-6 by Kevin Loria, June 28,2017

The deer tick, also known as the blacklegged tick, is a fascinating but nasty little creature, and it’s spreading.

The tiny arthropods carry Lyme disease — the serious illness that we most associate them with — but that’s not the only pathogen they spread.

“One thing that people really need to be aware of is that Lyme disease is not the only pathogen that’s out there — there’s quite a few of them, [including] probably quite a few that we haven’t discovered yet,” says Rafal Tokarz, an associate research scientist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

And the deer tick, which as far as we know carries more illnesses than any other tick, “has been expanding its range enormously in the last 30 years,” says Durland Fish, professor emeritus of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. Before the early 70s, it was largely unknown outside the Northeast, but now it has spread north, south, and west.

The diseases that we know deer ticks spread are all serious:

1. Lyme disease, which is transmitted by ticks infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, infects roughly 300,000 Americans every year. It can be treated with antibiotics if caught early, but can cause severe inflammation, nerve, and joint pain,among other symptoms, if left untreated.

2. When people are infected with babesiosis, parasites infect and destroy red blood cells. Not everyone shows symptoms but it can be life-threatening for some at-risk patients. It’s “like tick-borne malaria,” says Fish, and is the most important contaminant of the blood bank right now, he says.

3. Anaplasmosis is spread by another bacteria carried by deer ticks. It usually shows up a week or two after a bite and can cause fever, headaches, nausea, and general malaise, among other symptoms. If untreated it can be severe, leading to hemorrhage, renal failure, and for a small fraction of even healthy patients, potentially can be fatal.

4. Deer ticks can also spread the Borrelia miyamotoi bacteria, which Fish says is similar to the one that causes Lyme. Symptoms include joint pain, fatigue, fever, chills, and headache.

5. A relatively recently discovered disease that’s spread by deer ticks as well as dog and Lone Star ticks is ehrlichiosis, caused by a bacteria in the same family as the one responsible for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Symptoms often present like the flu.

6. Powassan virus has been around for a while but has received more attention recently, especially since the deer tick (which frequently bites humans) started spreading it — the ticks that transmitted the first reported cases in the 1950s rarely bite people. Unlike Lyme, which often takes many hours or even a couple days before it’s transmitted, Powassan infection can occur in as little as 15 minutes. Not everyone who gets bitten by an infected tick gets sick, but if they do, it’s a serious problem since there’s no treatment. In those (still rare) cases, Fish says that there’s about a 50% chance of permanent neurological damage and a 10% chance of death.

The broad range of potential conditions means that doctors don’t even necessarily know what to look for. Even worse, “ticks can frequently be co-infected with more than one pathogen,” says Tokarz. That’s especially true in certain locations, like on Long Island. One bite could transmit both Lyme disease and babesiosis, conditions that would normally be treated quite differently.

It’s also possible that having two or more illnesses could change the way the disease manifests. “We still don’t know whether co-infection exacerbates a disease or doesn’t make a difference,” says Tokarz.”Studies have shown both.”

Unfortunately, we don’t have any good way to control ticks and to stop the ongoing expansion, which will lead to more people getting sick.

In the places where people are at risk of picking up a tick “it is a very important, very severe problem, but the only thing that can be done is to educate people on the dangers of coming into contact with ticks,” says Tokarz.

If you get one on you, pull it off right away — don’t bother with urban legends about needing to burn it off. And protect yourself if you are going to be hiking or spending time in a place where ticks are common. Use permethrin-treated clothing for outdoors work and use insect repellent that contains DEET.

________________________________________________________________________________________

**My letter to the author**

Dear Mr. Loria,

Thank you for your piece on ticks and the pathogens they carry. I just wanted to add to your list; however, as there are many more pathogens carried by ticks. Also, they are discovering a variety of ticks carry pathogens, and if you think about it logically for a moment, ticks have similar habits and mouth parts, and require blood meals to survive, which technically makes every tick suspect. Unfortunately, geographical maps and entomology information (which ticks spread what) have been used to deny patients diagnosis and treatment. A doctor will look at the CDC map and claim, unequivocally, that since such and such isn’t supposed to be in that state, it isn’t TBI’s (tick borne infections). https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/24/arkansas-kids-denied-lyme-treatment/ and then eventually they have to admit they are wrong: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/02/hold-the-press-arkansas-has-lyme/

How many went undiagnosed through the years?

https://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/other-tick-borne-diseases

  • Babesiosis
  • Bartonellosis
  • Borrelia miyamotoi
  • Bourbon Virus
  • Colorado Tick Fever
  • Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic Fever
  • Ehrlichiosis/Anaplasmosis
  • Heartland Virus
  • Meat Allergy/Alpha Gal
  • Pacific Coast Tick Fever: Richettsia philipii
  • Powassan Encephalitis
  • Q Fever
  • Rickettsia parkeri Richettsiosis
  • Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF)
  • SFTS: Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome 
  • STARI: Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness
  • Tickborne meningoencephalitis
  • Tick Paralysis
  • Tularemia

I run a physical support group here in Wisconsin, 4th in the nation for TBI’s, and nearly all of us are co-infected, and while Tokarz states he doesn’t know whether coinfection exacerbates a disease, we all do. http://danielcameronmd.com/babesia-and-lyme-its-worse-than-you-think/.  Each pathogen necessitates different medications so the CDC mono therapy of doxycycline won’t do a thing against many of the other pathogens.

“Babesia can increase the severity of Lyme disease. Coinfected patients were more likely to have experienced fatigue, headache, sweats, chills, anorexia, emotional lability, nausea, conjunctivitis, and splenomegaly more frequently than those with Lyme disease alone. [7]
Babesia can also increase the duration of illness with Lyme disease. Babesia patients can remain symptomatic for years with constitutional, musculoskeletal, or neurological symptoms. One study found that 50% of coinfected patients were symptomatic for 3 months or longer, compared to only 4% of patients who had Lyme disease alone. [7] Meanwhile, one-third of patients with a history of both Babesia and Lyme disease remained symptomatic an average of 6 years. [2]

“The clinical pictures for 3 out of our 4 coinfected patients included a large number of symptoms, and 1 coinfected patient had persistent fatigue after treatment,” according to a study by Steere and colleagues. [8]”

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/03/20/why-we-cant-get-better/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/01/co-infection-of-ticks-the-rule-rather-than-the-exception/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2014/11/14/studies-show-why-its-tough-to-treat-lyme-and-co/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/05/08/interview-with-dr-horowitz/

For a fantastic book on all of this and more, read science journalist and past Executive Editor of Discover Magazine, Pam Weintraub’s work, Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic. http://www.astralgia.com/pamelaweintraubresume18.pdf

Sincerely,
Alicia Cashman
Madison Lyme Support Group
https://about.me/lymecoordinator56
lymecoordinator56@gmail.com
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com

Category:

Activism, Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, Lyme, Mycoplasma, Ticks, Tularemia

Concurrent Babesiosis and Lyme in Patient

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/20009666.2017.1299398

Mark Adler, Thein Swe, and Akari Thein Naing
Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives Vol. 7 , Iss. 1,2017

 

Abstract

Human babesiosis co-infected with Lyme disease in a young patient is an important condition. Here, we describe a case of a 39-year-old male patient with concurrent babesiosis and Lyme disease. Co-infections of tick borne diseases are often difficult to diagnose and underreported, and resulting in significant morbidity and mortality to patients. While co-infections have been infrequently described, it is of paramount importance that clinicians should be able to diagnose early and treat them effectively according to the patient geographical area and history of tick bite.

 

**Comment**

“The powers that be” have their heads in the sand when it comes to all things TBI (tick borne infections).  They speak of Lyme in terms of a single organism when most are infected with multiple organisms which complicate cases exponentially.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/01/co-infection-of-ticks-the-rule-rather-than-the-exception/  This link shows that 45% of tested ticks were coinfected and carried up to 5 different pathogens.  This directly translates to human infection and a survey substantiates this:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2014/11/14/studies-show-why-its-tough-to-treat-lyme-and-co/  The most common co-infections in the LDo study were Babesia (32%), Bartonella (28%), and Ehrlichia (15%) while a study by Dr. Janet Sperling in Canada found that the most common were Bartonella (36%), Babesia (19%), and Anaplasma (13%).

Besides the fact it is a misnomer to think it novel that a patient has concurrent Lyme and Babesiosis, it is also a huge mistake to base treatment on geographical area as time and time again, entomologists are finding ticks in places they just shouldn’t be and ticks that shouldn’t be carrying pathogens, carrying them.  Also, using logic, until every bird, fox, squirrel, lizard, deer, and every other rodent on the earth read the memo that they are not supposed to cross state and country boundaries, ticks are going to continue to defy the box “experts” put them into.  And, there are other ways for pathogens to travel across state lines:  https://doi.org/10.1111/tid.12741

Abstract

The potential for transmission of Babesia microti by blood transfusion is well recognized. Physicians may be unaware that products used for transfusion may be collected from geographically diverse regions. We describe a liver transplant recipient in South Carolina who likely acquired B. microti infection from a unit of blood collected in Minnesota.

 Also, one must be careful of the “history of tick bite,” as well, as many never see the tick or subsequent bite, and fail to get a rash.  A nymphal tick is nearly impossible to see.  Lyme/MSIDS is a CLINICAL diagnosis.

Accurately, the authors advise diagnosing and treating early, but herein lies the catch-22, if practitioners continue to follow the outdated and unscientific IDSA/CDC guidelines and take a “wait and see” approach, waiting for positive serology from tests which are so stringent and biased, most patients will be missed.  

This is the topsy-turvy world Lyme/MSIDS patients live in.

 

 

Category:

Babesia, Lyme, research, Ticks

Review of Tick Attachment Time For Different Pathogens

http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/environments4020037

Environments 2017, 4(2), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/environments4020037

Do Tick Attachment Times Vary between Different Tick-Pathogen Systems?

Stephanie L. Richards 1,* , Ricky Langley 2, Charles S. Apperson 3and Elizabeth Watson 4

Abstract

Improvements to risk assessments are needed to enhance our understanding of tick-borne disease epidemiology.

We review tick vectors and duration of tick attachment required for pathogen transmission for the following pathogens/toxins and diseases: (1) Anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis); (2) Babesia microti (babesiosis); (3) Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease); (4) Southern tick-associated rash illness; (5) Borrelia hermsii (tick-borne relapsing fever); (6) Borrelia parkeri (tick-borne relapsing fever); (7) Borrelia turicatae (tick-borne relapsing fever); (8) Borrelia mayonii; (9) Borrelia miyamotoi; (10) Coxiella burnetii (Query fever); (11) Ehrlichia chaffeensis (ehrlichiosis); (12) Ehrlichia ewingii (ehrlichiosis); (13) Ehrlichia muris; (14) Francisella tularensis (tularemia); (15) Rickettsia 364D; (16) Rickettsia montanensis; (17) Rickettsia parkeri (American boutonneuse fever, American tick bite fever); (18) Rickettsia ricketsii (Rocky Mountain spotted fever); (19) Colorado tick fever virus (Colorado tick fever); (20) Heartland virus; (21) Powassan virus (Powassan disease); (22) tick paralysis neurotoxin; and (23) Galactose-α-1,3-galactose (Mammalian Meat Allergy-alpha-gal syndrome).

Published studies for 12 of the 23 pathogens/diseases showed tick attachment times. Reported tick attachment times varied (<1 h to seven days) between pathogen/toxin type and tick vector. Not all studies were designed to detect the duration of attachment required for transmission. Knowledge of this important aspect of vector competence is lacking and impairs risk assessment for some tick-borne pathogens.

**Highlights**

The researchers point out that unlike mosquitoes which rely on saliva for transmission, ticks can transmit via saliva, regurgitation of gut contents, and also via the cement-like secretion used to secure itself to the host (hard ticks).  Published data on transmission times relies upon rodent studies showing 15–30 min for Powassan, anywhere from 4-96 hours for bacteria, 7–18 days for the protozoan Babesia microti, and 5-7 days for neurotoxin (Tick Paralysis). For soft ticks, attachment time of 15 sec–30 min was required for transmission of Borrelia turicata (Tick Relapsing Fever).

The challenge with these studies, and there are many, is that most placed multiple ticks on multiple rodents.  Multiple ticks may be transmitting different pathogens.  It has also been shown that ticks feeding on mice coinfected with B. microti and B. burgdorferi were twice as likely to become infected with Bb compared to B. microti, suggesting that coinfection can amplify certain pathogens – which is another reason to only use one rodent and one pathogen to separate out multiplying factors to muddy the waters.  Also, rarely do studies record the titer of both tick and host – again, making it nearly impossible to determine what’s what.  It was also noted that transmission times are unknown for many pathogens.

**And as always:  if you are the ONE person who contracted Lyme Disease in 10 minutes, all these numbers are essentially meaningless.  The frightening truth is that these numbers, along with geographical information regarding tick habitats, are often used against patients.  It is beyond time for doctors to listen, educate themselves, and treat patients with the respect they deserve – not to mention it’s time for them to treat patients clinically and not based on tests that are wrong over half the time and with the knowledge that ticks are spreading everywhere and bringing the pathogens with them. (In other words, throw the maps away!)

The review essentially gives the following transmission times for various pathogens. Again, please know these numbers are not definitive and many, many cases have proven this fact.

Take each and every tick bite seriously and don’t mess around and take a “wait and see approach.”  There is too much at stake.

Transmission Times noted in review:

Anaplasmosis: 24 hours and increased dramatically after 48-50 hours.  It is possible for it to be transmitted transovarially (from mom to baby tick) and it inhabit’s the salivary glands more frequently than the mid-gut.

Babesiosis:  Greater than 36 hours, 17% after 48 hours, and 50% after 54 hours.  Can be transmitted transovarially and transstadially (pathogen stays with tick from one stage to the next).  Ticks feeding on mice coinfected with B. microti and B. burgdorferi were twice as likely to become infected with Bb compared to B. microti.

Lyme Disease (Borrelia burgdorferi):  24 hours; however, the researchers comment that there are questions regarding previous transmission studies.  They also commented that there may be a difference in attachment time between nymphs and adult females. Transovarian transmission is unknown.

Tick Relapsing Fever (Borrelia turnicatae, B. hermsii):  15 and 30 seconds respectively.  Transovarian transmission is unknown.

Borreliosis (Borrelia mayonii):  24 hours.  Transovarian transmission is unknown.

Borrelia myamotoi Disease:  24 hours.  Transovarial transmission occurs.

Tularemia (Francisella tularensis):  Not assessed.  Can be transmitted mechanically by deer flies, horse flies, mosquitoes, aerosol/ingestion when processing/eating infected animal tissues.  Can be transmitted transtadially and transovarially.

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (Rickettsia rickettsii):  10-20 hours.  Can be transmitted transovarially.

Heartland Virus:  Not assessed.  Can be transmitted transovarially and transstadially.

Powassan Virus:  15 Minutes; however, it is possible it was sooner since the first they checked for transmission was 15 minutes.  Can be transmitted transovarially.

Tick Paralysis (Neurotoxin):  2-6 days.

Alpha Gal/Mammalian Meat Allergy (Galactose-a-1,3-Galactose):  Not assessed.  Transovarian transmission is unknown.

For more on transmission times, please read:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/04/14/transmission-time-for-lymemsids-infection/

 

 

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Lyme, research, Rickettsia, Ticks, Transmission, Tularemia, Viruses

Co-infection of Ticks: The Rule Rather Than the Exception

http://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0004539

Sara Moutailler, Claire Valiente Moro, Elise Vaumourin, Lorraine Michelet, Florence Hélène Tran, Elodie Devillers, Jean-François Cosson, Patrick Gasqui, Van Tran Van, Patrick Mavingui, Gwenaël Vourc’h, Muriel Vayssier-Taussat
Published: March 17, 2016  https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004539

Abstract

Introduction

Ticks are the most common arthropod vectors of both human and animal diseases in Europe, and the Ixodes ricinus tick species is able to transmit a large number of bacteria, viruses and parasites. Ticks may also be co-infected with several pathogens, with a subsequent high likelihood of co-transmission to humans or animals. However few data exist regarding co-infection prevalences, and these studies only focus on certain well-known pathogens. In addition to pathogens, ticks also carry symbionts that may play important roles in tick biology, and could interfere with pathogen maintenance and transmission. In this study we evaluated the prevalence of 38 pathogens and four symbionts and their co-infection levels as well as possible interactions between pathogens, or between pathogens and symbionts.

Methodology/principal findings

A total of 267 Ixodes ricinus female specimens were collected in the French Ardennes and analyzed by high-throughput real-time PCR for the presence of 37 pathogens (bacteria and parasites), by rRT-PCR to detect the presence of Tick-Borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) and by nested PCR to detect four symbionts. Possible multipartite interactions between pathogens, or between pathogens and symbionts were statistically evaluated. Among the infected ticks, 45% were co-infected, and carried up to five different pathogens. When adding symbiont prevalences, all ticks were infected by at least one microorganism, and up to eight microorganisms were identified in the same tick. When considering possible interactions between pathogens, the results suggested a strong association between Borrelia garinii and B. afzelii, whereas there were no significant interactions between symbionts and pathogens.

Conclusion/significance

Our study reveals high pathogen co-infection rates in ticks, raising questions about possible co-transmission of these agents to humans or animals, and their consequences to human and animal health. We also demonstrated high prevalence rates of symbionts co-existing with pathogens, opening new avenues of enquiry regarding their effects on pathogen transmission and vector competence.

Author Summary

Ticks transmit more pathogens than any other arthropod, and one single species can transmit a large variety of bacteria and parasites. Because co-infection might be much more common than previously thought, we evaluated the prevalence of 38 known or neglected tick-borne pathogens in Ixodes ricinus ticks. Our results demonstrated that co-infection occurred in almost half of the infected ticks, and that ticks could be infected with up to five pathogens. Moreover, as it is well established that symbionts can affect pathogen transmission in arthropods, we also evaluated the prevalence of four symbiont species and demonstrated that all ticks were infected by at least one microorganism. This work highlights the co-infection phenomenon in ticks, which may have important implications for human and animal health, emphasizing the need for new diagnostic tests better adapted to tick-borne diseases. Finally, the high co-occurrence of symbionts and pathogens in ticks, reveals the necessity to also account for these interactions in the development of new alternative strategies to control ticks and tick-borne disease.

To which we all said AMEN!

A few notes on the study:  To see a chart showing exactly what coinfections and symbionts they looked at, go to the link for the study.  They looked at 6 strains of borrelia (Lyme), Anaplasma, Ricketssia helvetica, Bartonella, Babesia, and Neoehrlichia mikurensis (Order: Rickettsiales, Family: Anaplasmataceae).  The symbiots looked at were:  Wolbachia, Spiroplasma, Acinetobacter, and Midichloria mitochondri.

While I am unfamiliar with most of the symbionts, Wolbachia concerns me as scientists are actively inserting Wolbachia into mosquitoes and releasing them into the wild in efforts of eradicating Dengue Fever, Chikungunya, yellow fever, and possibly even Malaria.  While scientists claim Wolbachia, a gram-negative bacterium in the family of Rickettsiales, can not infect humans, they can and do infect worms which cause human disease.  Since nematodes have been found in ticks and many Lyme/MSIDS patients have to treat for worms, the question begs to be asked, “Does Wolbachia play a role in Lyme/MSIDS?”  This is a question I plan on writing about, but the answer could very well be, “Yes.”  I certainly pray that more research on Wolbachia in relation to Lyme/MSIDS is done as this could definitely be a fly in the proverbial ointment.

Lastly, I believe recorded coinfection numbers to be abysmally low.  My own LLMD doesn’t even test for them, he feels the tests are that poor.  Also, probably the numbers reflect the most severe cases – leaving many out.  As you are aware, coinfections are notorious for presenting differently than the textbook presentations that most doctors are familiar with. Dr. Horowitz writes and speaks about this often.

Published on Nov 3, 2014
At the “Symposium on Tick-borne Diseases” held May 17, 2014

37:30 You will only find a positive test for Babesia if the level of parasitima in the blood is greater than 5%.  38:05 Medical textbooks also state you should have hemolytic anemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal failure if you have Babesia.  Dr. Horowitz states he has not had one Lyme/MSIDS patient present this way.  

How many doctors are going to think outside their medical textbooks?

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, Lyme, research, Rickettsia, Testing, Ticks