Archive for the ‘Bartonella’ Category

After These Young People Died, Postmortems Found an Unnerving Parasite Link

After These Young People Died, Postmortems Found an Unnerving Parasite Link

04 September 2026

ByEsra Öz

After These Young People Died, Postmortems Found an Unnerving Parasite Link (Breitschwerdt et al., Parasites & Vectors, 2026, CC BY 4.0.)

He had been athletic and healthy. Then came years of exhaustion, pain, memory problems, and psychiatric symptoms. Eventually, he had to leave college.

By the time the 27-year-old died, six years of illness and specialist care had failed to restore his health.

Tests performed after his death revealed DNA from two species of Babesia, tiny parasites that infect red blood cells, and Bartonella henselae, the bacterium that causes cat-scratch disease.

His was one of six cases in a postmortem investigation driven by families still seeking answers about their children’s illnesses.

Researchers confirmed DNA from one or both groups of microbes in five individuals.

The discovery left a crucial question unanswered: what role, if any, had these infections played in their illnesses?

The individuals were aged 14 to 30, and all had experienced chronic illness and suicidal thoughts or behaviors.

Four died by suicide, one through medical assistance in dying, and another from a severe disorder involving excessive immune activation.

Their parents contacted Edward Breitschwerdt, an infectious disease researcher at North Carolina State University, after learning about his team’s work on Bartonella and neurological illness. (See link for article)

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**Comment**

This is the perfect article to follow up on the research on ‘PTLDS’ as it wonderfully shows how these pathogens are hard to find let alone effectively treat but are causing needless suicides and unbelievable suffering, due to an old faulty dogma that refuses to go away.

Important excerpt:

“They supplied medical histories and arranged for postmortem samples to reach his laboratory. Some had already been tested or treated for these infections while alive. The investigation was therefore not the first indication of infection in every case. At the laboratory, the initial search returned no clear answers. The researchers analyzed 125 DNA extracts from blood, laboratory blood cultures, tissues, and other body fluids. Initial quantitative PCR screening, which searches for selected genetic sequences, was negative throughout. Digital PCR, which divides samples into many tiny reactions, then produced faint signals in some samples. None reached the study’s threshold for a positive result. Additional targeted tests and DNA sequencing, which reads genetic material to identify organisms, provided confirmation.”

These poor folks would have been ignored by most researchers after the PCR screening, but Bart guru, Dr. Ed Breitschwerdt, is no dummy and kept digging. Notice they did additional ‘targeted’ tests AND DNA sequencing. Mainstream research simply quits looking after using tests that are wrong nearly 90% of the time.

In response to the question of whether the DNA points to an active infection at the time of death, Breitschwerdt said that detecting a known pathogen’s DNA in clinical specimens is medically accepted as evidence of “active infection.

Yet – for some reason, this ‘medically accepted’ evidence does NOT hold true for Lyme/MSIDS. It’s the perfect quagmire with no end in sight.

While this was an ‘observational study’, not a prospective case-controlled study, Breitschwerdt states:

“I think the best interpretation is that infections with vector-borne pathogens that have evolved to induce persistent infections in animals and human patients are not a current diagnostic consideration in patients with chronic illnesses or neuropsychiatric symptoms.”

For more:

Category:

Babesia, Bartonella, Inflammation, Lyme, Psychological Aspects, research, Testing

Borrelia, Bartonella, & Babesia in the Brain:What New Evidence Reveals, With Nicole Bell

Borrelia, Bartonella & Babesia in the Brain: What New Evidence Reveals, with Nicole Bell

Ali Moresco and Tick Boot Camp

Dec 2, 2025 Pathobiome Perspectives

Guest: Nicole Bell, Galaxy Diagnostics CEO In this episode of Pathobiome Perspectives, we sit down with Nicole Bell — author of What Lurks in the Woods, CEO of Galaxy Diagnostics, and leading advocate for tick-borne and neurodegenerative disease.

This episode is a must watch for anyone suffering or suspecting that they may have Borrelia, Babesia or Bartonella. Nicole’s work sits at the rare intersection of cutting-edge diagnostic science and lived experience. Her family’s story—detailed in her memoir—began as a confusing neurological decline and ultimately became a lesson in how the pathobiome can masquerade as mental health and aging.

Nicole presented at the AlzPI & PCOM Symposium on the topic: “When the brain pathobiome becomes personal.”She shared new results from her late husband Russ’s donated brain including laboratory evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Chlamydia pneumoniae, and Babesia otocoli—the latter a parasite historically believed to infect only deer—detected in human brain tissue for the first time.

Elevated heavy metals (lead and mercury) were also identified, highlighting how polymicrobial infection + toxic exposure may fuel neuroinflammatory decline that looks like Alzheimer’s.

Inside the Conversation Nicole discusses:

  • How repeated “nothing’s wrong” neurology evaluations can mask a complex infection-driven process
  • The limitations of the standard two-tier Lyme test and why direct detection matters
  • Why patients with neurological, psychiatric, or cognitive symptoms should consider Bartonella and Babesia—not just Borrelia Bartonella red flags that are often overlooked: Striæ that mimic stretch marks (especially noticeable after heat exposure)
  • Mood and behavioral changes (irritability, OCD, anxiety, tics)
  • Visual disturbances and joint issues Fleas and household cats as major non-tick vectors
  • The need for diagnostic toolkits that identify not just exposure—but activity across pathogens
  • Looking ahead, Nicole imagines a future where memory loss or personality change prompts a comprehensive screening panel that includes pathogen burden, immune markers, and toxin load—allowing targeted treatment before cognitive decline takes hold.
  • Why This Conversation Matters Nicole’s voice bridges science and lived experience. Her family’s unimaginable loss is catalyzing a shift in how medicine approaches mystery neurological illness—away from symptom labels and toward precision diagnostics, pathogen-informed care, and early intervention. Her advocacy underscores a core truth emerging across pathobiome research: what looks psychiatric or “idiopathic” may, in fact, be biologically explainable—and treatable—when we look deeper.

For more:

Category:

Babesia, Bartonella, Lyme, Testing

Another Take on Dapsone Protocols: Dr. Marty Ross

Dapsone for Lyme Persisters. A Miracle Antibiotic?

https://treatlyme.com/guide/dapsone-lyme-persisters/

Updated: July 31, 2026

Horowitz Dapsone Protocols: Risks vs Benefits Explained

About Dapsone & Persisters

Dapsone, a Leprosy drug, can help some with treatment-resistant Lyme and Bartonella due to persisters plus treatment resistant Babesia. In 2016, Richard Horowitz, MD, and Phyllis Freeman, PhD, published research on 100 patients. The study showed 59 percent of people had improvements with dapsone of 100 mg or less.

More recently, Dr. Horowitz has continued refining a higher-dose approach, publishing a more detailed double-dose/high-dose protocol in 2023.

However, my experience with dapsone is mixed. While it helps some, it is also a very difficult medicine for many to take.

In this article, I review:

  • my experience with this novel medicine,
  • a specific antibiotic protocol that includes dapsone as a normal-dose regimen,
  • how to decrease side effects and Herxheimer reactions on dapsone,
  • the risks of using dapsone,
  • the chances for treatment success using a dapsone regimen, and
  • a detailed look at, and critique of, Dr. Horowitz’s newer double-dose/high-dose protocol and why I don’t support it.

(See link for video and article)

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**Comment**

I always appreciate doctors who share their clinical experience. It’s sometimes the only way we can gather intel on whether or not we should try a certain treatment. Case in point – I wrote about my severe psychosis after taking disulfiram, followed by another practitioner’s experiences in ameliorating symptoms as well as an update on a few points of consideration.

So, while Dapsone may be a perfect fit for some, it may not for others.

This is another point that never makes the news. Reactions to treatment varies widely in Lymeland, probably because some have been infected for years and their bodies are simply overwhelmed, making another drug appear to be a toxin by the body.

Dr. Ross points out the following issues:

  • You shouldn’t take Dapsone if your G6PD levels are low.
  • Dapsone blocks folate metabolism which can lead to anemia
  • Dapsone suppressed bone marrow which can also lead to anemia
  • Dapsone is a harsh drug that causes severe herxes, allergic rash, methemoglobinemia, and many side effects

The article contains Horowitz’s 2016 Dapsone regimen. Ross states he does not recommend the Dought or high dose Dapsone protocol and doesn’t offer it in his practice. He also points out that Horowitz’s 2023 paper which offered HDDCT to 50 patients, but only 25 are considered in the results leaving one to ask how many dropped out due to side effects. Further, Horowitz is the treating physician, the sole study author, and one of three others from his practice who performed the validation and analysis. There was no control group, no blinding, no independent review, and no oversight.

Ross does feel; however, that some sho failed other treatments could consider the normal-dose dapsone 100mg protocol if carefully monitored.

For more:

Category:

Bartonella, Lyme, research, Treatment

Study Uncovers Hidden Bartonella and Babesia Infections in ME/CFS Patients

Four years ago an article was posted asking if a chronic infection could be behind ME/CFS patients. The answer appears to be yes. A previous study found a link between Cytomegalovirus, EBS, and Human Herpesvirus-6 and ME/CFS. The following also connects Babesia and Bartonella to the condition.

https://www.lymedisease.org/bartonella-babesia-me-cfs/

Study uncovers hidden Bartonella and Babesia infections in ME/CFS patients

A new pilot study from North Carolina State University has found molecular evidence of Bartonella or Babesia infection in nearly half of 50 people diagnosed with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS).

The findings suggest that vector‑borne pathogens may play a larger role in chronic illness than previously recognized.

Bartonella and Babesia are both transmitted primarily through arthropods—ticks, fleas, and lice—and have been linked to a range of persistent symptoms.

Improved testing has revealed that Bartonella, once thought to cause only short‑lived infections like cat scratch disease, can be associated with chronic and even neuropsychiatric symptoms. Babesia, best known as a tick‑borne parasite, has also been transmitted through blood transfusions and organ transplants.

For this study, researchers selected 50 participants from a larger group of chronically ill individuals with long‑term fatigue and neurological symptoms such as memory problems, tremors, disorientation, or anxiety.

Using quantitative PCR and DNA sequencing, the team detected:

  • Babesia in 10 participants
  • Bartonella in 11
  • Both pathogens in 2

That’s 23 out of 50 participants showing evidence of infection.

“ME/CFS diagnoses are primarily based on immunological biomarkers that can have numerous influences,” said study author Edward Breitschwerdt, Melanie S. Steele Distinguished Professor of Internal Medicine at NC State.

“Our goal was to detect the DNA of specific pathogenic microorganisms that might contribute to or cause a patient’s chronic illness.”

Breitschwerdt emphasized that the small sample size means the results can’t be generalized to all ME/CFS patients, but the unexpectedly high prevalence highlights the need for further research.

The study, supported in part by the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation, appears in Pathogens.

SOURCE: North Carolina State University

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For more:

Category:

Babesia, Bartonella, research, Testing

Seroprevalence of Borrelia, Anaplasma, Bartonella, Toxoplasma, Mycoplasma, Yersinia, and Chlamydia in Human Population From Eastern Poland

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/14/1/96

Seroprevalence of Borrelia, Anaplasma, Bartonella,  Toxoplasma, Mycoplasma, Yersinia, and Chlamydia in Human Population from Eastern Poland

by Angelina Wójcik-Fatla 1, Anna Sawczyn-Domańska 1,*, Anna Kloc 1,Joanna Krzowska-Firych 2 and Jacek Sroka 1,3

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Pathogens 2025, 14(1), 96; https://doi.org/10.3390/pathogens14010096

Submission received: 3 December 2024 / Revised: 15 January 2025 / Accepted: 16 January 2025 / Published: 18 January 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Exploring the Biodiversity of Parasites in Humans, Wild and Domestic Animals)

Abstract

The epidemiological situation related to infectious diseases is influenced by many factors. To monitor actual trends in selected zoonoses, a total of 473 serum samples from farmers, forestry workers, and veterinarians were collected for serological examination. Anti-Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato (s.l.) antibodies were tested with ELISA and Western blot (WB) tests; the detection of anti-Toxoplasma gondii antibodies was performed using an enzyme linked fluorescence assay (ELFA). Antibodies to bartonellosis, anaplasmosis, and chlamydiosis were determined by indirect immunofluorescent test (IFA), whereas antibodies to yersiniosis and mycoplasmosis were confirmed in the ELISA test.

Positive or borderline results of antibodies against B. burgdorferi s.l. in the ELISA test were detected in 33.8% of the study population. The borderline or positive ELISA test results for at least one antibody class were confirmed by WB in 58.7% of cases. The IgG antibodies against Anaplasma phagocytophilum, Toxoplasma gondii, and Mycoplasma pneumoniae were detected in 9.6%, 51.7%, and 63.6% of samples, respectively. Antibodies against Yersinia spp., Bartonella henselae, and Chlamydia pneumoniae were found to vary between 43 and 47%.

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Bartonella, Lyme, Mycoplasma, research, Testing, Toxoplasmosis