Archive for the ‘Lyme’ Category

New Documentary Explores Lyme Disease Controversies

https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/31429431

THINK OUT LOUD; New documentary explores Lyme disease controversies

Carl Tuttle

Hudson, NH, United States

MAR 23, 2023 — 

Today’s letter… The Oregon Public Broadcasting interview below with Winslow Crane-Murdoch, co-director of the Quiet Epidemic is worth the read.

https://www.opb.org/article/2023/03/08/lyme-disease-quiet-epidemic-documentary/

———- Original Message ———-
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: “thinkoutloud@opb.org” <thinkoutloud@opb.org>
Cc: “dmiller@opb.org” <dmiller@opb.org>, “opbnews@opb.org” <opbnews@opb.org>, “svanwing@opb.org” <svanwing@opb.org>, “mholm@opb.org” <mholm@opb.org>, “abarrett@utmb.edu” <abarrett@utmb.edu>, “R.W.Titball@exeter.ac.uk” <R.W.Titball@exeter.ac.uk>, “kait@thequietepidemic.com” <kait@thequietepidemic.com>, “lindsay@thequietepidemic.com” <lindsay@thequietepidemic.com>, “Raymond_Dattwyler@nymc.edu” <Raymond_Dattwyler@nymc.edu>
Date: 03/22/2023 9:27 AM

Subject: THINK OUT LOUD; New documentary explores Lyme disease controversies

New documentary explores Lyme disease controversies
https://www.opb.org/article/2023/03/08/lyme-disease-quiet-epidemic-documentary/
By Sage Van Wing (OPB)  March 8, 2023

“The medical community has been slow to recognize this form of long-lasting [Chronic] Lyme disease and to find treatments for it”

Oregon Public Broadcasting
THINK OUT LOUD
Attn: Dave Miller, Host

Dear Mr. Miller,

Thank you for interviewing Winslow Crane-Murdoch, co-director of the Quiet Epidemic.

I spent the last thirteen years studying the mishandling of Lyme disease as an independent researcher whose entire family progressed to late-stage Lyme before we knew what went wrong with our health. I can say with 100% confidence that the rush to create a vaccine led to the denial of persistent infection after the one-size-fits-all IDSA treatment guideline; chronic Lyme disease.

Please see the inquiry below addressed to Dr. Raymond Dattwyler who owns 24 patents that include diagnostic testing and Lyme vaccines (OspA) both live bacteria and oral. Maria Gomes-Solecki (co-author of this publication) is co-owner to 17 of those patents.

A new OspA vaccine has been fast tracked by the FDA. The previous OspA vaccine LYMErix was pulled from the market in 2002 not solely due to low demand per the following report.

REPORT ON LYMErix prepared for the 2001 Advisory Committee Meeting:(personal Dropbox storage area)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sodqs3pdeeesktf/Sheller%20Lymerix.pdf?dl=0

Excerpt

“The people who have contacted us were, prior to vaccination with LYMErix, healthy, active and energetic. Indeed, the very reason they sought the LYMErix vaccine was their desire to preserve their healthy, active lifestyle. However, what they experienced was a dramatic degradation of their health and quality of life. As will be described below, these previously healthy individuals are now afflicted with painful, at times debilitating arthritic symptoms, including joint pain and swelling, as well as extremely severe Lyme-disease-like symptoms which have persisted to this day.”

Below is the link to the Final Judgement and Approval of the class action against SmithKline Beecham as a settlement was awarded to these individuals.

JUDGEMENT, FINAL ORDER AND DECREE GRANTING FINAL APPROVAL OF THE CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT: (personal Dropbox storage area)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/v3gyw4fv8nst9bz/2003_Vaccine_Judgement_Final_Sttle_Apprvl..pdf?dl=0

In addition, there were neurological complications with LYMErix as published in the International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine. Reports of cerebral ischemia, transient Ischemic attacks, demyelinating events, optic neuritis, transverse myelitis, and non-specific demyelinating conditions are evaluated in this paper:

Neurological complications of vaccination with outer surface protein A (OspA).
Marks DH
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21673416

2023 Announcement for the current OspA vaccine: (is history about to repeat itself?)

Western New York kids are eligible to get a Lyme disease vaccine through Pfizer clinical study conducted at UB
https://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2023/03/015.html

Mr. Miller,

An astute fifth grader with access to PubMed could find the references I provided to Dr. Dattwyler in my email below.

A chronic relapsing seronegative disease does not fit the business model of vaccine development, patent royalties and pharmaceutical profits. You cannot prove vaccine efficacy when we do not know who has or does not have the disease.

For the record, Dattwyler refused to respond to my inquiry so perhaps you could reach out to him for comment. I have taken the liberty to carbon copy Dr. Dattwyler along with Alan D.T. Barrett, PhD Editor-in-Chief of npj Vaccines.

Respectfully submitted,

Carl Tuttle
Hudson, NH

Inquiry to Dr. Raymond Dattwyler:

———- Original Message ———-
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: Raymond_Dattwyler@nymc.edu
Cc: npjvaccines@nature.com, abarrett@utmb.edu, R.W.Titball@exeter.ac.uk, mgomesso@uthsc.edu
Date: 01/06/2023 2:46 PM
Subject: The year that shaped the outcome of the OspA vaccine for human Lyme disease

npj Vaccines Jan 2022

The year that shaped the outcome of the OspA vaccine for human Lyme disease
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-022-00429-5
Raymond J. Dattwyler & Maria Gomes-Solecki

Department of Microbiology and Immunology
New York Medical College
Valhalla, NY
Raymond J. Dattwyler, Corresponding Author

Dear Dr. Dattwyler,

I read your manuscript with great interest as you call attention to a treatment-resistant Lyme arthritis with “no evidence of DNA” found in the joints of patients after antibiotic treatment.

For some strange reason however, I could not find the following 1995 publication within your paper identifying treatment-resistant neuroborreliosis:

European Neurology 1995

Seronegative Chronic Relapsing Neuroborreliosis
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/117104

Lawrence C., Lipton R.B., Lowy F.D., Coyle P.K.d

Abstract

We report an unusual patient with evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection who experienced repeated neurologic relapses despite aggressive antibiotic therapy. Each course of therapy was associated with a Jarisch-Herxheimer-like reaction. Although the patient never had detectable free antibodies to B. burgdorferi in serum or spinal fluid, the CSF was positive on multiple occasions for complexed anti-B. burgdorferi antibodies, B. burgdorferi nucleic acids and free antigen.

In fact, Dr. Dattwyler there seems to be a great deal of “treatment-resistant” evidence published in multiple journals over the past three decades:

Peer Reviewed Evidence of Persistence of Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and Tick-Borne Diseases (700 References)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n09sk90eo6xz7ua/700%20articles%20LYME%20EvidenceofPersistence-V2.pdf?dl=0

So that brings me to the reason for this email…

Question:  Does a chronic relapsing seronegative disease fit the vaccine model? If not, would that, in and of itself, be the hidden reason for denying chronic (treatment-resistant) Lyme disease for almost three decades?  In other words, patent royalties and pharmaceutical profits over lifesaving care?

A response to this inquiry is requested.

Carl Tuttle
Hudson, NH

Cc: Alan D.T. Barrett, PhD Editor-in-Chief
Rick Titball, PhD, DSc, Deputy Editor

Letter to the Editor of the BMJ published June 2020
https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1041/rr-1

For more:

Category:

Activism, Lyme, vaccines

Two Duke Law Students Launch Pro Bono Lyme Advocacy Project

https://www.lymedisease.org/duke-law-lyme-advocacy-project/

Two Duke law students launch pro bono Lyme advocacy project

March 22, 2023

We, Luke Mears and Madison Pinckney, founded the Duke Law Lyme Disease Advocacy Project (LDAP) in 2022.

In creating the group, we hope to improve the lives of Lyme disease patients by partnering with nonprofit organizations that work on legislative advocacy and lawsuits centered on Lyme.

Madison’s Lyme story

I contracted Lyme at about nine years old, but I wasn’t diagnosed for another 10 years. I grew up in and out of doctors’ offices, searching for answers that always seemed to be “that’s normal.”

While I was deteriorating during a severe flare in 2018, my mom’s research led to finding a Lyme specialist. While filling out the symptom questionnaire in the doctor’s office, I kept pointing to a symptom and asking my mom, “that doesn’t happen to you?”

After being properly diagnosed with multiple tick-borne infections, I found rapid relief of many symptoms, but other persisted.

Throughout the past five years of flares and treatment, I’ve seen the frustration and inequities of being a Lyme patient. I focused my advocacy work on being a mentor, starting a podcast, and lobbying for increased federal funding. In 2021, I saw drastic symptom improvement and took advantage by starting law school at Duke University, hoping to make a difference for Lyme patients and those with disabilities.

Luke’s Lyme story

I was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2020, only a few weeks after being sent home from my undergraduate institution due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  I remember being more tired than I ever had been and fighting a constant swing of anxiety attacks and mood swings. The pandemic did not make finding a medical provider easy, but after three weeks I got a doctor’s appointment.

Unfortunately, that appointment only led to a misdiagnosis, and it took multiple additional weeks to find a new doctor who was, after much testing, finally able to reach a diagnosis of Lyme disease. After weeks of antibiotic treatment, I began to feel better and improve. The ordeal remains one of the most stressful and painful experiences of my life, and the indifference and ignorance faced throughout made me want to make a difference in the Lyme disease space.

I briefly considered a public health degree instead of law, but I decided to follow my life dream of being a lawyer. Founding the Lyme Disease Advocacy Project here at Duke has allowed me to help others facing this disease, while also working toward larger societal improvements in awareness, prevention, and treatment of the disease.

The project’s formation and work

While sitting on her bed prepping for the Center for Lyme Action’s Virtual Fly-In the next day, Madison saw an email from Luke Mears to the Duke Law Class of 2024. He wanted to start a Lyme Disease Advocacy Project pro bono group at the law school at Duke. After an immediate reply, followed by discussion of their shared experiences, LDAP began to take shape.

Not only was it cathartic to find someone in such a small community who had experienced similar pain, it was even better to find someone who shared our passion for making in difference in this disease. As two individuals healed enough to attend law school, we felt a responsibility to give back to those still waiting for a diagnosis or helpful treatment.

LDAP began a trial period in the spring of 2022 and received great support. During a hectic time, the month before finals, we received interest from numerous volunteers and were able to connect with other classmates affected by Lyme as well.

Becoming official

More than ten students completed over 60 hours of pro bono work, researching and writing about legislative questions and issues regarding Lyme disease. The first research projects completed by our nonprofit partners spurred the project’s growth and LDAP became an official Duke Law pro bono project in the summer of 2022.

This year, we’ve expanded the project and our partners, aiming to provide legal and advocacy assistance across the country.

Some of our work has focused on the relationships between health agencies, policies on including Lyme disease information on government websites, and Lyme vaccine development.

At the halfway mark of the semester, over a dozen students have completed over 70 hours of pro bono work relating to Lyme disease. With these students continuing to work on various projects, we estimate that our ambitious goal of doing 150 hours of pro bono work relating to Lyme disease should be realized by the end of the semester.

Through this project, we are utilizing the incredible resources we have access to and sharing the skills we’ve learned while at Duke. As LDAP continues, we’re proud of everything our volunteers can do to further the fight for change. We’re grateful to Duke University’s School of Law and all our partners for giving us the opportunity to work for the benefit of the Lyme community.

_______________

**Food For Thought**

This is the first I’ve heard of this work, so I don’t pretend to understand everything they are attempting to do other than what is stated in this brief article.  That said, it is my experience that many with a sincere desire to help the Lyme/MSIDS community are uneducated about the sordid backstory of government deception – including fraud, corruption, and underhanded manipulation at every turn, conflicts of interest, and the ongoing yet fruitless attempts to work with these same corrupt government agencies.

This backstory is foundational to know in order to move forward wisely.  Not knowing and understanding this backstory means more time, effort, and money will be wasted, and a lot has already been wasted.

When I read that their efforts include:

  • relationships between health agencies
  • policies on including Lyme disease information on government websites
  • Lyme vaccine development
I am immediately skeptical.
  1. a relationship with any federal health agency has been a complete and utter waste of time, historically
  2. information on government websites will never change until the accepted, government dictated paradigm changes.  It is my opinion that hell will freeze over before this happens.  I pray I’m wrong  
  3. Lyme “vaccine” development is dead in the water as far as I’m concerned until problems 1 & 2 are rectified because they are all intertwined. For instance, you can not have a “vaccine” for a chronic condition(s) and Lyme/MSIDS is just such an illness, which is also the reason ‘the powers that be’ will never admit in 1,000 years that Lyme/MSIDS is a persistent infection(s).  There’s too much money to be made in “vaccine” development and our government owns patents on many “vaccines” and receives royalties on said products.  This merry-go round has been spinning for over 40 years without end.  Further, coinfection involvement muddies the picture considerably and has still not been recognized and taken into account by the federal government and mainstream medicine.  Not only is it impossible to “vaccinated” for a chronic infection(s), it’s also impossible to “vaccinate” for numerous pathogens simultaneously that often work symbiotically, and it’s close to impossible to even accurately test for these infections to begin with.  There’s a bevy of problems that need to be addressed before the word “vaccine” should be even uttered.
  4. the emphasis is always on a “magic cure all” and rarely on effective treatments for the folks that are suffering now
I look at these young, fresh faces and worry that yet another well meaning exploit will result in frustration and stalemate.
I guess I’m showing my age.

Category:

Activism, Lyme

San Francisco Radio Host Who Had Lyme Found Dead

https://www.lymedisease.org/body-of-missing-jv-recovered/

Prophetic last words: “The stuff I’ve been going through in my brain–ugh”

By Dorothy Kupcha Leland

March 24, 2023

Popular San Francisco radio host Jeffrey “JV” Vandergrift often spoke on the air about his struggles with Lyme disease. On February 23, on what turned out to be his last appearance on his WILD 94.9 radio show, he gave the following alarming update:

“The stuff I’ve been going through in my brain that they’re trying to figure out. Ugh,” he said. He added that doctors told him they believed something might have “reignited old infections.” Then he added, “The body and the pain and all that stuff, I can handle. What it’s doing to my brain I could never describe to you.”

The next day, JV was reported missing from his San Francisco home. Shortly thereafter, his wife Natasha–also a WILD 94.9 radio host–posted the following on social media: “The amount of compassion for the physical torture J has been going through for the past 2 years has been overwhelming. I have been in so much pain and fear and I know all of you have been so scared and concerned for JV as well.” At that time, she said the family had reason to believe that “he will not be coming back.”

Sadly, on March 22, a month after JV disappeared, his body was found in the water near San Francisco’s Pier 39. Here is how his heartbroken colleagues at the WILD 94.9 broke the news to their listeners.

This Sunday, March 26, a screening of the Lyme documentary The Quiet Epidemic will be held at San Francisco’s Roxie Theater. While JV was still missing, the filmmakers had already planned to dedicate this event to JV. At that time, they posted the following on social media:

“JV was a supporter of The Quiet Epidemic and was in touch with our team. It’s incredibly sad that we won’t have a chance to meet him. We hold him and his loved ones in our hearts as we continue pushing our story and cause out into the world. This screening is dedicated to JV, his family, friends, 94.9 family, and listeners.”

Click here for details about the screening.

Click here for information about Lyme disease that JV posted on the WILD 96.9 website.

I never knew JV and never listened to his show. But I hear elements of his story from countless people throughout the US–in fact throughout the world–who are being held hostage by an insidious disease that has invaded their bodies and brains.

To make matters worse, the medical establishment and government health officials have failed to act on this serious threat to physical and mental health.
In memory of JV and every other person suffering like he did, we must do our best to change this. The time is now.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, President of LymeDisease.org. 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, Psychological Aspects

How Does the Lyme Spirochete Control OspC?

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jb.00440-22

Gac Is a Transcriptional Repressor of the Lyme Disease Spirochete’s OspC Virulence-Associated Surface Protein

Authors: Tatiana N. Castro-Padovani, Timothy C. Saylor, Olivia T. Husted, Andrew C. Krusenstjerna, Nerina Jusufovic, Brian Stevenson https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-4776 brian.stevenson@uky.eduAUTHORS INFO & AFFILIATIONS
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00440-22
ABSTRACT

The OspC outer-surface lipoprotein is essential for the Lyme disease spirochete’s initial phase of vertebrate infection. Bacteria within the midguts of unfed ticks do not express OspC but produce high levels when ticks begin to ingest blood. Lyme disease spirochetes cease production of OspC within 1 to 2 weeks of vertebrate infection, and bacteria that fail to downregulate OspC are cleared by host antibodies. Thus, tight regulation of OspC levels is critical for survival of Lyme borreliae and, therefore, an attractive target for development of novel treatment strategies. Previous studies determined that a DNA region 5′ of the ospC promoter, the ospC operator, is required for control of OspC production. Hypothesizing that the ospC operator may bind a regulatory factor, DNA affinity pulldown was performed and identified binding by the Gac protein. Gac is encoded by the C-terminal domain of the gyrA open reading frame from an internal promoter, ribosome-binding site, and initiation codon. Our analyses determined that Gac exhibits a greater affinity for ospC operator and promoter DNAs than for other tested borrelial sequences. In vitro and in vivo analyses demonstrated that Gac is a transcriptional repressor of ospC. These results constitute a substantial advance to our understanding of the mechanisms by which the Lyme disease spirochete controls production of OspC.
IMPORTANCE
Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato requires its surface-exposed OspC protein in order to establish infection in humans and other vertebrate hosts. Bacteria that either do not produce OspC during transmission or fail to repress OspC after infection is established are rapidly cleared by the host. Herein, we identified a borrelial protein, Gac, that exhibits preferential affinity to the ospC promoter and 5′ adjacent DNA. A combination of biochemical analyses and investigations of genetically manipulated bacteria demonstrated that Gac is a transcriptional repressor of ospC. This is a substantial advance toward understanding how the Lyme disease spirochete controls production of the essential OspC virulence factor and identifies a novel target for preventative and curative therapies.

Category:

Lyme, research

Study: Lyme Forms May Affect Persistence

https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/6/5594

Pleomorphic Variants of Borreliella (syn. Borrelia) burgdorferi Express Evolutionary Distinct Transcriptomes

by Nina Čorak1, Sirli Anniko2,3, Christina Daschkin-Steinborn2, Viktoria Krey2,4, Sara Koska1, Momir Futo1,5,6, Tin Široki5, Innokenty Woichansky 2, Luka Opašić1, Domagoj Kifer7, Anja Tušar1, Horst-Günter Maxeiner2,8, Mirjana Domazet-Lošo5, Carsten Nicolaus2 and Tomislav Domazet-Lošo1,6,*
1Laboratory of Evolutionary Genetics, Division of Molecular Biology, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička Cesta 54, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
2BCA-Research, BCA-Clinic Betriebs GmbH & Co. KG, D-86159 Augsburg, Germany
3Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK
4Physics of Synthetic Biological Systems-E14, Physics Department and ZNN, Technische Universität München, D-85748 Garching, Germany
5Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing, University of Zagreb, Unska 3, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
6School of Medicine, Catholic University of Croatia, Ilica 242, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
7Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, University of Zagreb, A. Kovačića 1, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
8Comlamed, Friedrich-Bergius Ring 15, D-97076 Würzburg, Germany
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24(6), 5594; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms24065594
Received: 18 February 2023 / Revised: 7 March 2023 / Accepted: 11 March 2023 / Published: 15 March 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transcriptomics in Health and Disease)

Abstract

Borreliella (syn. Borrelia) burgdorferi is a spirochete bacterium that causes tick-borne Lyme disease. Along its lifecycle B. burgdorferi develops several pleomorphic forms with unclear biological and medical relevance. Surprisingly, these morphotypes have never been compared at the global transcriptome level. To fill this void, we grew B. burgdorferi spirochete, round body, bleb, and biofilm-dominated cultures and recovered their transcriptomes by RNAseq profiling. We found that round bodies share similar expression profiles with spirochetes, despite their morphological differences. This sharply contrasts to blebs and biofilms that showed unique transcriptomes, profoundly distinct from spirochetes and round bodies. To better characterize differentially expressed genes in non-spirochete morphotypes, we performed functional, positional, and evolutionary enrichment analyses. Our results suggest that spirochete to round body transition relies on the delicate regulation of a relatively small number of highly conserved genes, which are located on the main chromosome and involved in translation. In contrast, spirochete to bleb or biofilm transition includes substantial reshaping of transcription profiles towards plasmids-residing and evolutionary young genes, which originated in the ancestor of Borreliaceae. Despite their abundance the function of these Borreliaceae-specific genes is largely unknown. However, many known Lyme disease virulence genes implicated in immune evasion and tissue adhesion originated in this evolutionary period. Taken together, these regularities point to the possibility that bleb and biofilm morphotypes might be important in the dissemination and persistence of B. burgdorferi inside the mammalian host. On the other hand, they prioritize the large pool of unstudied Borreliaceae-specific genes for functional characterization because this subset likely contains undiscovered Lyme disease pathogenesis genes.
_______________
**Comment**
And herein lies the age-old problem: unstudied Borreliaceae-specific genes that have not been functionally characterized, and undiscovered Lyme disease pathogenesis genes.  Everything else hinges on these unknowns.
This research is begging to be done, but has been avoided like the plague because of corrupt public health, run by one man doling out research grants whom has far too much power, and whom receives untracked, secret royalty payments.
COVID has shown the world what Lyme/MSIDS patients have been facing, only they have been in this hideous time-warp for over 40 years. Researchers are smart – they know they must cow-tow to the NIAID mafia overlord to get research funding, which means they must espouse the accepted narrative that Lyme is a simple nuisance cured with a couple weeks of a mono-therapy that hasn’t worked from the get-go.
Nobody seems to care but sick patients and a handful of ethical researchers who feverishly attempt to move a 40 year old needle that’s covered with an inch of rust.  When dissenting research finally does come out, it is retracted for flimsy reasons, in this case due to testing methods, but my educated guess is the research simply couldn’t stand because it revealed too much truth.  This is quite ironic considering the COVID ‘pandemic’ only occurred due to faulty testing insisted upon & patented by corrupt public health which quietly had to withdraw its EUA because it can’t distinguish between COVID and the regular flu.  Monopolizing medicine/disease is the CDC & FDA‘s MO and this includes testing, as virtually everything else spawns off of testing.  Control testing and you control the entire paradigm from research to drugs.
This diabolical monopoly then sets the ball rolling for the entire world, again demonstrating the frightening monopoly that must be broken.  Mainstream medicine, which is lazy, remains brain-washed and simply follows orders. And compliance is what corrupt public health is counting on.  Truth is crucified and dissenters are promptly tarred and feathered despite saving lives.  Censorship, bullying, firing and closing labs down, tossing out and manipulating data, fake science, and “disappearing” are efficiently deployed to silence any opposition.
Believe it or not, mainstream medicine still does not even believe Bb is pleomorphic.

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing