Archive for the ‘research’ Category

New Tick-Borne Virus Discovered in Japan

http://www.sci-news.com/medicine/yezo-virus-10132.html

New Tick-Borne Virus Discovered in Japan

Oct 4, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro
Scientists have isolated a new orthonairovirus from two patients showing acute febrile illness with thrombocytopenia and leukopenia after tick bite in Hokkaido, Japan.
Transmission electron microscopy of YEZV particles negatively stained with 2% phosphotungstic acid. Image credit: Kodama et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25857-0.

Transmission electron microscopy of YEZV particles negatively stained with 2% phosphotungstic acid. Image credit: Kodama et al., doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25857-0.

Orthonairoviruses are tick-borne viruses in the genus Orthonairovirus, the family Nairoviridae.

They cause sometimes fatal febrile illnesses in humans and other animals.

Of 15 species within the genus, four species comprise known human pathogens:

  • Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus
  • Nairobi sheep disease virus
  • Dugbe virus
  • Kasokero virus

The newly-discovered orthonairovirus, named Yezo virus (YEZV), is the causative agent of an acute febrile illness characterized by thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and elevation of liver enzymes and ferritin.

“At least seven people have been infected with this new virus in Japan since 2014,” said Dr. Keita Matsuno, a virologist in the International Institute for Zoonosis Control at Hokkaido University.

The Yezo virus was discovered after a 41-year-old man was admitted to the hospital in 2019 with fever and leg pain after being bitten by an arthropod believed to be a tick.  (See link for article)

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Highlights:

  • Patient also had gait disturbance, and appetite loss
  • A second patient had similar symptoms
  • Genetic analysis of blood samples showed a virus closely related to Sulina virus and Tamdy virus, detected in Romania and Uzbekistan, respectively.
  • They found antibodies in local deer, raccoons, and the RNA in 3 major species of ticks
  • Researchers state it’s highly likely that the virus causes illness when transmitted via ticks
  • The team’s paper was published in the journal Nature Communications

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F. Kodama et al. 2021. A novel nairovirus associated with acute febrile illness in Hokkaido, Japan. Nat Commun 12, 5539; doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-25857-0

Category:

research, Ticks, Viruses

COVID Impacts on Lyme Disease Reporting

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/10/21-0903_article

Research Letter

Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Reported Lyme Disease, United States, 2020

David W. McCormickComments to Author , Kiersten J. Kugeler, Grace E. Marx, Praveena Jayanthi, Stephanie Dietz, Paul Mead, and Alison F. Hinckley
Author affiliations: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA. (D.W. McCormick, K.J. Kugeler, G.E. Marx, P. Mead, A.F. Hinckley); ICF International Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, USA (P. Jayanthi); Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta (P. Jayanthi, S. Dietz)

Cite This Article

Abstract

Surveys indicate US residents spent more time outdoors in 2020 than in 2019, but fewer tick bite–related emergency department visits and Lyme disease laboratory tests were reported. Despite ongoing exposure, Lyme disease case reporting for 2020 might be artificially reduced due to coronavirus disease–associated changes in healthcare-seeking behavior.

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has altered how humans interact with their environment and the healthcare system (1,2), and strained resources have limited the ability of state and local health departments to respond to reports of notifiable diseases (3). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) typically is notified of 30,000–40,000 Lyme disease cases annually (4), but the COVID-19 pandemic likely will affect the case counts. Most Lyme disease cases are acquired in spring and early summer (5); in 2020, these seasons coincided with the initial spread of COVID-19 and widespread stay-at-home orders. We explored 4 data sources to assess how the COVID-19 pandemic might have influenced tick bite risk and associated healthcare-seeking practices and affected reported Lyme disease cases for 2020.

The pathway for Lyme disease case reporting begins with environmental risk and culminates with case notification to CDC (Appendix Figure). Environmental risk is relatively stable in high-incidence areas and driven by ecologic factors unaffected by COVID-19 (6). The pandemic might have altered the frequency of outdoor activities and probability of encountering ticks, healthcare-seeking and provider services patterns, and case investigation and reporting. The data sources we used measure changes in time spent outdoors, information-seeking patterns for tick removal, emergency department (ED) visits for tick bites, and laboratory testing for Lyme disease. This analysis was considered nonhuman subjects research by CDC.

To assess potential behavior shifts that might have increased risk for tick encounters, we analyzed data from Porter Novelli’s PN View 360+ consumer survey (7). Among 4,013 participants who responded to the survey distributed during July 31–August 9, 2020, approximately half (49.9%) reported that they had spent a lot more time or slightly more time outdoors by that point in 2020 compared with prior years. Only 20.9% of respondents reported spending less time outdoors in 2020.

Comparison of visits to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website on tick removal, 2018–2020, and to the ED for tick-bite related chief complaints, 2017–2020, United States. A) Website visits per month for https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html. B) ED visits by month in which the chief health complaint was tick bite. Comparison of 2020 to the average of the previous 4 years is shown. ED, emergency department.Figure. Comparison of visits to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website on tick removal, 2018–2020, and to the ED for tick-bite related chief complaints, 2017–2020, United States. A)…

To indirectly assess frequency of tick encounters in 2020 compared with prior years, we evaluated total monthly visits during 2018–2020 to a CDC website describing tick removal (8). Visits to this website typically increase during late spring and summer and again in October, when most bites from blacklegged ticks (Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus) occur (5). We observed 818,167 website visits during 2020, ≈25% more than in 2019 (681,021) and 2018 (630,839) (Figure).

To assess patterns related to healthcare-seeking for tick encounters, we identified ED visits for tick bites by using the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (NSSP) BioSense platform (9). ED visits for tick bites decreased in 2020 from 2019 in both total number and rate per 100,000 ED visits (Figure). The largest relative decreases were observed in May. During 2017–2019, the average number of ED visits for tick bites during the month of May was 12,693, an average rate of 145/100,000 ED visits. During May 2020, only 5,845 ED visits for tick bites occurred, a rate of 89/100,000 ED visits.

We quantified cumulative counts and percent positivity of serologic tests for Lyme disease performed by an independent clinical laboratory. Lyme disease testing volume decreased from 2019 to 2020; 25.0% fewer tests were performed, and test positivity decreased slightly to <1% (Table).

During the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the US population spent more time outdoors and visited a CDC website describing safe tick removal more frequently than during prior years. However, fewer persons sought care for tick bites, and substantially fewer laboratory tests for Lyme disease were ordered. These findings suggest that the risk of acquiring Lyme disease was similar or potentially higher in 2020 compared with risk during prior years, but fewer persons sought care, and fewer positive laboratory reports were referred for case investigation. Consequently, we anticipate that, once ultimately finalized, the official number of confirmed and probable Lyme disease cases in 2020 will be substantially lower than that for prior years.

One limitation of our study is that data sources we examined represent national trends and are indirect surrogates for Lyme disease risk and reporting, which vary geographically. Visits to a website describing tick removal might not correspond with finding an attached tick. Available data on laboratory testing represents 1 independent clinical laboratory; other commercial or academic laboratories might not have experienced a similar decrease in testing. Data sources associated with telehealth utilization and prescription claims could provide additional insights into the diagnosis and treatment for Lyme disease in 2020.

Already an issue in high-incidence states, the pandemic has highlighted the need for alternative Lyme disease surveillance strategies that rely less on human resources. An anticipated and potentially substantial decrease in reported Lyme disease in 2020 likely reflects the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic rather than a true change in Lyme disease incidence. Decreased reporting also could render 2020 inconsistent with long-term trends and changes in the epidemiology of the disease. Although nonpharmaceutical interventions for COVID-19 have mitigated the transmission of respiratory pathogens (10), these results suggest the behavioral and reporting changes seen for Lyme disease might extend to other nonrespiratory diseases.

Dr. McCormick is an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer in the Bacterial Diseases Branch, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, Colorado. His primary research interests are the epidemiology and prevention of bacterial vectorborne diseases.

Acknowledgment

We thank Melanie Spillane for her assistance with collating data from National Syndromic Surveillance Program and Anna Perea for assistance with Porter Novelli’s PN View 360+ consumer survey data.

References

  1. Hartnett  KP, Kite-Powell  A, DeVies  J, Coletta  MA, Boehmer  TK, Adjemian  J, et al.; National Syndromic Surveillance Program Community of Practice. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on emergency department visits—United States, January 1, 2019–May 30, 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:699–704. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link
  2. Czeisler  MÉ, Marynak  K, Clarke  KEN, Salah  Z, Shakya  I, Thierry  JM, et al. Delay or avoidance of medical care because of COVID-19–related concerns—United States, June 2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2020;69:1250–7. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link
  3. Weber  L, Ungar  L, Smith  MR, Recht  H, Barry-Jester  AM. Hollowed out public health system faces more cuts amid virus. Associated Press. 2020 Jul 1 [cited 2021 Apr 20]. https://apnews.com/article/b4c4bb2731da9611e6da5b6f9a52717aExternal Link
  4. Schwartz  AM, Hinckley  AF, Mead  PS, Hook  SA, Kugeler  KJ. Surveillance for Lyme disease—United States, 2008–2015. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2017;66:1–12. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link
  5. Mead  PS. Epidemiology of Lyme disease. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 2015;29:187–210. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link
  6. Burtis  JC, Sullivan  P, Levi  T, Oggenfuss  K, Fahey  TJ, Ostfeld  RS. The impact of temperature and precipitation on blacklegged tick activity and Lyme disease incidence in endemic and emerging regions. Parasit Vectors. 2016;9:606. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link
  7. Porter Novelli. ConsumerStyles & YouthStyles 2021 [cited 2021 Apr 20]. http://styles.porternovelli.com/consumer-youthstylesExternal Link
  8. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Tick removal [cited 2021 Apr 20]. https://www.cdc.gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html
  9. Marx  GE, Spillane  M, Beck  A, Stein  Z, Powell  AK, Hinckley  AF. Emergency department visits for tick bites—United States, January 2017–December 2019. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2021;70:612–6. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link
  10. Olsen  SJ, Azziz-Baumgartner  E, Budd  AP, Brammer  L, Sullivan  S, Pineda  RF, et al. Decreased influenza activity during the COVID-19 pandemic-United States, Australia, Chile, and South Africa, 2020. Am J Transplant. 2020;20:3681–5. DOIExternal LinkPubMedExternal LinkGoogle ScholarExternal Link

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing

Mosquitoes Test Positive for Rare, Potentially Deadly Virus in Connecticut

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/eastern-equine-encephalitis-virus-mosquitoes-connecticut/

Mosquitoes test positive for rare, potentially deadly virus in Connecticut

Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a serious but rare virus, has been detected in mosquitoes for the first time this year in Connecticut, according to state health officials.Mosquitoes trapped in the Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown on September 23 tested positive for the virus, the Department of Public Health announced Saturday. The agency is recommending that residents in southeastern Connecticut take precautions against mosquitoes. (See link for article)

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**Comment**

EEE can cause severe brain inflammation and has a mortality rate of 30%. Many who do recover continuing to have neurological problems. Six Wisconsin counties have reported cases in horses.

Connecticut also has reported West Nile virus in 40 towns across the state.  Thankfully, no reports of WNV have been reported in Wisconsin this year; however, from 2015 through 2019, an average of 22 cases of West Nile virus have been reported each year. West Nile virus is preventable.

For more:

Category:

mosquitoes, research, Viruses

Lyme Disease Triggers Vertigo & Hearing Loss

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-vertigo-hearing-loss/

Lyme disease triggers vertigo and hearing loss

woman with lyme disease and vertigo sitting and holding head

Vertigo (spinning sensation or feeling off balance) and hearing loss have been reported in several studies as symptoms of Lyme disease. One study found 4 out of 27 patients with neurologic Lyme disease experienced hearing loss.¹ Vertigo was reported in 5 out of 8 Lyme disease patients (62.5%) by Selmani et al.² Additionally, investigators suggest that vertigo can be the predominant symptom in patients with confirmed Lyme disease — its symptoms resembling neuronitis vestibularis in the acute stage.³

By

A recently published study by Sowula and colleagues provides further evidence that Lyme disease can trigger vertigo and hearing loss. In their article “Vertigo as one of the symptoms of Lyme disease,” the authors examine the frequency of vertigo symptoms and potential labyrinth damage in patients with diagnosed Lyme disease.4

The study included 38 patients (ages 20 to 77) with Lyme disease, who were hospitalized at University Hospital in Krakow, Poland, between 2018 and 2019, due to vertigo or dizziness.

“One alleged group of diseases which can trigger vertigo involves infectious diseases of the nervous system,” the authors explain.

“Many pathogens are said to be in part responsible for inflammation; among them are spirochetes of Borrelia [the causative agent of Lyme disease] as well as other pathogens transmitted by ticks.”

The study found:

  • 76% of the Lyme disease patients reported vertigo (54% of them were woman compared to 22% of men);
  • Hearing loss and tinnitus were symptoms which frequently accompanied vertigo;
  • 1 in 3 patients experienced sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL), which was bilateral in 2 individuals and presented as sudden deafness in 2 other individuals. The hearing loss was significant for high frequency hearing loss but not low frequency hearing loss;
  • Tinnitus was reported in 3 out of 5 of the Lyme disease patients, the majority of whom experienced high frequency tinnitus.

“Increasingly, tick-borne illnesses [such as Lyme disease] are a potential cause of neurological symptoms reported by patients, including hearing loss, tinnitus, ataxia and vertigo.”

The authors conclude:

“It [vertigo] is frequently connected with labyrinth damage and hearing-organ impairment, which suggests that in the course of this disease the inner ear or nerve VIII is dysfunctional … Antibiotic therapy is effective in reducing otoneurological symptoms.”4

Related Articles:

Lyme disease patient with permanent tinnitus and hearing loss
Study finds hearing loss and tinnitus common in patients with tick-borne diseases
Video: Co-infections of Lyme disease

References:
  1. Logigian EL, Kaplan RF, Steere AC. Chronic neurologic manifestations of Lyme disease. N Engl J Med. Nov 22 1990;323(21):1438-44. doi:10.1056/NEJM199011223232102
  2. Selmani, Z.; Pyykkö, I. Cochlear and vestibular functional study in patients with sudden deafness an Lyme disease. IJOHNS 2014,3, 46–50.
  3. Ishizaki, H.; Pyykkö, I.; Nozue, M. Neuroborreliosis in the etiology of vestibular neuronitis. Acta Otolaryngol Suppl. 1993, 503,
    67–69.
  4. Sowula K, Szaleniec J, Dworak M, et al. Vertigo as One of the Symptoms of Lyme Disease. J Clin Med. Jun 25 2021;10(13)doi:10.3390/jcm10132814

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For more:

Category:

Hearing Loss, Lyme, research

Increases in COVID Are Unrelated to Vaccination Levels Across 68 Countries & 2,947 Counties in U.S. & WI Senator Johnson Gives Important Info

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-021-00808-7

Published:

Increases in COVID-19 are unrelated to levels of vaccination across 68 countries and 2947 counties in the United States

European Journal of Epidemiology (2021)Cite this article

Vaccines currently are the primary mitigation strategy to combat COVID-19 around the world. For instance, the narrative related to the ongoing surge of new cases in the United States (US) is argued to be driven by areas with low vaccination rates [1]. A similar narrative also has been observed in countries, such as Germany and the United Kingdom [2]. At the same time, Israel that was hailed for its swift and high rates of vaccination has also seen a substantial resurgence in COVID-19 cases [3]. We investigate the relationship between the percentage of population  fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases across 68 countries and across 2947 counties in the US.

Methods

We used COVID-19 data provided by the Our World in Data for cross-country analysis, available as of September 3, 2021 (Supplementary Table 1) [4]. We included 68 countries that met the following criteria:

  • had second dose vaccine data available
  • had COVID-19 case data available
  • had population data available; and the last update of data was within 3 days prior to or on September 3, 2021

For the 7 days preceding September 3, 2021 we computed the COVID-19 cases per 1 million people for each country as well as the percentage of population that is fully vaccinated.

For the county-level analysis in the US, we utilized the White House COVID-19 Team data [5], available as of September 2, 2021 (Supplementary Table 2). We excluded counties that did not report fully vaccinated population percentage data yielding 2947 counties for the analysis. We computed the number and percentages of counties that experienced an increase in COVID-19 cases by levels of the percentage of people fully vaccinated in each county. The percentage increase in COVID-19 cases was calculated based on the difference in cases from the last 7 days and the 7 days preceding them. For example, Los Angeles county in California had 18,171 cases in the last 7 days (August 26 to September 1) and 31,616 cases in the previous 7 days (August 19–25), so this county did not experience an increase of cases in our dataset. We provide a dashboard of the metrics used in this analysis that is updated automatically as new data is made available by the White House COVID-19 Team (https://tiny.cc/USDashboard).

Findings

At the country-level, there appears to be no discernable relationship between percentage of population fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases in the last 7 days (Fig. 1). In fact, the trend line suggests a marginally positive association such that countries with higher percentage of population fully vaccinated have higher COVID-19 cases per 1 million people. Notably, Israel with over 60% of their population fully vaccinated had the highest COVID-19 cases per 1 million people in the last 7 days. The lack of a meaningful association between percentage population fully vaccinated and new COVID-19 cases is further exemplified, for instance, by comparison of Iceland and Portugal. Both countries have over 75% of their population fully vaccinated and have more COVID-19 cases per 1 million people than countries such as Vietnam and South Africa that have around 10% of their population fully vaccinated.

Interpretation

The sole reliance on vaccination as a primary strategy to mitigate COVID-19 and its adverse consequences needs to be re-examined, especially considering the Delta (B.1.617.2) variant and the likelihood of future variants. Other pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions may need to be put in place alongside increasing vaccination rates. Such course correction, especially with regards to the policy narrative, becomes paramount with emerging scientific evidence on real world effectiveness of the vaccines.

For instance, in a report released from the Ministry of Health in Israel, the effectiveness of 2 doses of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccine against preventing COVID-19 infection was reported to be 39% [6], substantially lower than the trial efficacy of 96% [7]. It is also emerging that immunity derived from the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine may not be as strong as immunity acquired through recovery from the COVID-19 virus [8]. A substantial decline in immunity from mRNA vaccines 6-months post immunization has also been reported [9]. Even though vaccinations offers protection to individuals against severe hospitalization and death, the CDC reported an increase from 0.01 to 9% and 0 to 15.1% (between January to May 2021) in the rates of hospitalizations and deaths, respectively, amongst the fully vaccinated [10].

In summary, even as efforts should be made to encourage populations to get vaccinated it should be done so with humility and respect. Stigmatizing populations can do more harm than good. Importantly, other non-pharmacological prevention efforts (e.g., the importance of basic public health hygiene with regards to maintaining safe distance or handwashing, promoting better frequent and cheaper forms of testing) needs to be renewed in order to strike the balance of learning to live with COVID-19 in the same manner we continue to live a 100 years later with various seasonal alterations of the 1918 Influenza virus.

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**Comment**

It’s also important to keep in mind that when calculating the data, the authors used a sensitivity analysis by applying a one-month lag on the percentage population fully vaccinated so that people wouldn’t be considered fully vaccinated until 14 days after the second dose. However, studies have shown that this is the most vulnerable time for getting the virus. Why should that be blamed on the lack of vaccination rather than on the vaccine? So if anything, the numbers are likely even more unfavorable to the vaccine than this analysis suggests.  Source

  • In a study published in a European CDC journal, Israeli researchers in one hospital found a serious outbreak among a group of patients and staff of whom 96% were vaccinated. 42 patients and staff wound up getting COVID from a vaccinated dialysis patient who had an extremely high viral load. According to the authors, “Of the 42 cases diagnosed in this outbreak, 38 were fully vaccinated with two doses of the Comirnaty vaccine, one was recovered with one vaccination and three were unvaccinated.” All patients and family members wore surgical masks and all staff wore N-95s with face shields and gloves.
  • According to the Associated Press, hospitalizations are surging in New England, the five states with the highest percentage of fully vaccinated people.

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http://  (Approx. 6 Min)

Oct. 2, 2021

Senator Ron Johnson reveals data on Vax – Mandates, more..

Johnson destroys the “pandemic of the unvaccinated” narrative using UK data.

Again, it can not be overemphasized that this is extremely conservative based on the erroneous way our corrupt public health ‘authorities’ are manipulating time frames to determine who is considered  “fully vaccinated.”

The CDC also used faulty perimeters to create the false narrative that it’s a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” In fact, it’s just the opposite and this is now clearly shown and experienced in countries with the highest vaccination rates.

Further, Senator Johnson states that there isn’t an FDA-approved COVID “vaccine” in the U.S.  They did a “bait and switch,” by extending the Emergency Use Authorization for the available shots, which have been proven not to work against variants, and approved the  Comirnaty jab, which isn’t available in the U.S. 

Category:

research, vaccines, Viruses