Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Need for Tick Bite Reporting in Non-Endemic States

https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/9/6/771/htm

Tick-Borne Surveillance Patterns in Perceived Non-Endemic Geographic Areas: Human Tick Encounters and Disease Outcomes

by Sarah P. Maxwell1,*,Connie L. McNeely2,Kevin Thomas3 andChris Brooks3
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Raphael B. Stricker
Healthcare 2021, 9(6), 771; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9060771
Received: 12 May 2021 / Revised: 15 June 2021 / Accepted: 16 June 2021 / Published: 21 June 2021
Abstract
Recent scholarship supports the use of tick bite encounters as a proxy for human disease risk. Extending entomological monitoring, this study was designed to provide geographically salient information on self-reported tick bite encounters by survey respondents who concomitantly reported a Lyme disease (LD) diagnosis in a state perceived as non-endemic to tick-borne illness. Focusing on Texas, a mixed-methods approach was used to compare data on tick bite encounters from self-reported LD patients with county-level confirmed cases of LD from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as serological canine reports.
A greater proportion of respondents reported not recalling a tick bite in the study population, but a binomial test indicated that this difference was not statistically significant. A secondary analysis compared neighboring county-level data and ecological regions.
Using multi-layer thematic mapping, our findings indicated that tick bite reports accurately overlapped with the geographic patterns of those patients previously known to be CDC-positive for serological LD and with canine-positive tests for Borrelia burgdorferi, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis, as well as within neighboring counties and ecological regions. LD patient-reported tick bite encounters, corrected for population density, also accurately aligned with official CDC county hot-spots. Given the large number of counties in Texas, these findings are notable.
Overall, the study demonstrates that direct, clinically diagnosed patient reports with county-level tick bite encounter data offer important public health surveillance measures, particularly as it pertains to difficult-to-diagnose diseases where testing protocols may not be well established. Further integration of geo-ecological and socio-demographic factors with existing national epidemiological data, as well as increasingly accessible self-report methods such as online surveys, will contribute to the contextual information needed to organize and implement a coordinated public health response to LD.
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Important excerpts:
  • Primary care physicians may under-diagnose LD in areas perceived as non-endemic [33].
  • Misdiagnosis was reported in seventy-two percent of respondents in a large survey [34], indicating the need for improved surveillance beyond entomology that links tick encounters with human disease risk, which can inform diagnostic approaches.
  • The need for expanded and improved LD research and knowledge is highly apparent for the benefit of both patients and health practitioners.
  • Given that LD is often labeled a “contested illness,” TTS respondents who may be perceived as “faking it” could easily report any random county if their tick bites were indeed a false entry in the TTS survey. In other words, it would be highly unlikely that the totality of respondents’ tick bite reports would map directly to confirmed official CDC cases or canine serological findings through attempted deception. TTS-reported tick bites overlap almost exactly with CDC-confirmed LD cases in county-level and eco-region analyses. In one case, in a county in which TTS respondents did not overlap with human cases, tick encounter reports did overlap with a positive canine county.
You know it’s bad when researchers have to deal with the myth that patients are considered deceivers.

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme, research, Ticks

First Postmortem on Patient Who Got COVID Injection

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971221003647

First case of postmortem study in a patient vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2

Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

•We report on a patient with a single dose of vaccine against SARS-CoV-2.
•He developed relevant serum titer levels but died 4 weeks later.
•By postmortem molecular mapping, we found viral RNA in nearly all organs examined.
•However, we did not observe any characteristic morphological features of COVID-19.

Immunogenicity might be elicited, while sterile immunity was not established.

Abstract

A previously symptomless 86-year-old man received the first dose of the BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. He died 4 weeks later from acute renal and respiratory failure. Although he did not present with any COVID-19-specific symptoms, he tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 before he died. Spike protein (S1) antigen-binding showed significant levels for immunoglobulin (Ig) G, while nucleocapsid IgG/IgM was not elicited. Acute bronchopneumonia and tubular failure were assigned as the cause of death at autopsy; however, we did not observe any characteristic morphological features of COVID-19. Postmortem molecular mapping by real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed relevant SARS-CoV-2 cycle threshold values in all organs examined (oropharynx, olfactory mucosa, trachea, lungs, heart, kidney and cerebrum) except for the liver and olfactory bulb. These results might suggest that the first vaccination induces immunogenicity (provokes an immune response) but not sterile immunity (the ability of the immune system to stop the virus from replicating).

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**Comment**

The spike protein is binding to Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptors throughout the entire bodies of those getting COVID injections. This autopsy is also a good example of antibody dependent enhancement (ADE) and that the virus spreads faster in those getting the injections – sometimes with lethal results. 

Do not think for a minute that these injections protect you from getting COVID or from dying.

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Category:

Activism, research, vaccines, Viruses

COVID-19: Is Infection Along With Mycoplasma Or Other Bacteria Linked to Progression to a Lethal Outcome?

https://m.scirp.org/papers/100307

COVID-19 Coronavirus: Is Infection along with Mycoplasma or Other Bacteria Linked to Progression to a Lethal Outcome?

Garth L. Nicolson1*, Gonzalo Ferreira de Mattos2
 
Abstract: Most patients with COVID-19 disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus recover from this infection, but a significant fraction progress to a fatal outcome. As with some other RNA viruses, co-infection or activation of latent bacterial infections along with pre-existing health conditions in COVID-19 disease may be important in determining a fatal disease course. Mycoplasma spp. (M. pneumonaie, M. fermentans, etc.) have been routinely found as co-infections in a wide number of clinical conditions, and in some cases this has progressed to a fatal disease.
 
Although preliminary, Mycoplasma pneumoniae has been identified in COVID-19 disease, and the severity of some signs and symptoms in progressive COVID-19 patients could be due, in part, to Mycoplasma or other bacterial infections. Moreover, the presence of pathogenic Mycoplasma species or other pathogenic bacteria in COVID-19 disease may confer a perfect storm of cytokine and hemodynamic dysfunction, autoimmune activation, mitochondrial dysfunction and other complications that together cannot be easily corrected in patients with pre-existing health conditions.
 
The positive responses of only some COVID-19 patients to antibiotic and anti-malaria therapy could have been the result of suppression of Mycoplasma species and other bacterial co-infections in subsets of patients.
 
Thus it may be useful to use molecular tests to determine the presence of pathogenic Mycoplasma species and other pathogenic bacteria that are commonly found in atypical pneumonia in all hospitalized COVID-19 patients, and when positive results are obtained, these patients should treated accordingly in order to improve clinical responses and patient outcomes.  (See link for full article)
 
Important note:

Since we prepared this manuscript, there have been recent contributions, mostly brief preprint reports or letters that support our hypothesis. Charkraborty and Das [98] discussed the possibility that anaerobic bacteria, including Mycoplasma species, could be causing secondary infections in COVID-19 disease. They have proposed that such infections may be altering hemoglobin degradation and producing metabolites that affect hypoxia in progressing COVID-19 patients [98]. Stricker and Fesler [99] suggested that patients who have COVID-19 disease should not progress to a fatal outcome, if their therapy includes combinations of antibiotics (including minocycline or doxycycline) used for tick-borne infections [99]. As we discussed previously, Lyme disease patients often have mycoplasma co-infections that are sensitive to minocycline and doxycycline [62] [75].

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Category:

Lyme, Mycoplasma, research, Viruses

How to Apply Repellent

https://www.globallymealliance.org/videos/how-to-apply-repellent

How To Apply Repellent

by Admin at Global Lyme Alliance on May 6, 2020

<img style="box-sizing:inherit;max-width:100%;height:auto;" src="https://www.globallymealliance.org/hubfs/Imported%20sitepage%20images/MyLymeLife_2-75.png&quot; alt="How To Apply Repellent“>
WHY TICK-BITE PREVENTION IS IMPORTANT

Increased tick activity combined with unreliable diagnostics and limited treatment options make diligent tick-bite prevention for the entire family of utmost importance. Even when diagnosed and treated early, up to 20% of people infected with Lyme disease continue to experience debilitating symptoms. For those not diagnosed early, treatment success can vary greatly. With late-stage or chronic Lyme disease, the bacteria can adversely affect multiple organ systems, joints, the heart, the brain, and parts of the central nervous system.

TICKS CARRY MORE THAN LYME DISEASE

The most common tick-borne illnesses are carried by blacklegged ticks (called deer ticks) that may also transmit several bacterial diseases including Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis, which often result in infections coincident with Lyme. The same blacklegged tick, may also transmit the Powassan virus which can cause encephalitis and meningitis. Experts warn that viral infections may occur in as little as 15 minutes after a tick bite.

HOW TO BE TICK AWARE
  1. AVOID areas where ticks live. Ticks thrive in wood piles, long grass, leaf piles, and beach grass.
  2. WEAR light-colored clothing: long pants, sleeves, socks, and closed-toe shoes. APPLY EPA-approved, CDC-recommended tick repellent to skin and insecticide to clothing and shoes as directed.
  3. REMOVE clothing upon entering the home; toss into dryer at a high temperature for 10-15 minutes to kill ticks.
  4. EXAMINE yourself and your pets for ticks daily. Check everywhere — ticks love to hide!
CHOOSING A TICK REPELLENT

Body-worn repellents serve as the first line of defense for tick bites.

When choosing a tick repellent, it is important to select an EPA-approved, CDC-recommended active ingredient such as Picaridin 20%. “Picaridin 20% is recommended by the CDC, the World Health Organization, and Health Canada, is the leading active ingredient sold in European pharmacies,” said Chris L. Fuentes, Founder and CEO of Ranger Ready Repellents. “We created Ranger Ready with Picaridin 20% because it’s highly effective against ticks and can be safely worn by adults and children who must be protected every day.”

Go to RangerReady.com and use code GLA2021 for 10% off! As always, a portion of proceeds on rangerready.com go to GLA to advance our combined mission to protect future generations from tick bites and tick-borne illnesses.

For more prevention tips, visit BeTickAware.org

Global Lyme Alliance

Admin at Global Lyme Alliance

Global Lyme Alliance

Email: info@globallymealliance.org

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Category:

Lyme, Prevention, research, Ticks

2019 Lyme Case Numbers Finally Released by CDC

https://lymediseaseassociation.org/about-lyme/cases-stats-maps-a-graphs/delayed-cdc-lyme-final-lyme-case-numbers-for-2019-finally-released/

Delayed CDC Lyme Final Lyme Case Numbers for 2019 Finally Released

Deer Tick Questing

Lyme Disease Association (LDA) Announces CDC’s 2019 Final Lyme Disease Reported Case Numbers:  The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) has just released the 2019 final Lyme disease reported U.S. case numbers–34,945. CDC reported that cases were ~4% more than in 2018, and the geographic distribution of areas with a high incidence of Lyme appears to be expanding based on data reported to National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS). The number of counties with an incidence of ≥10 confirmed cases per 100,000 persons increased from 324 in 2008 to 432 in 2019.

Reporting Delay Explained  Final Lyme disease case numbers are usually reported in the fall of the next year (for 2019, should have been reported in 2020). The CDC has responded to LDA inquiries over time that reporting was delayed due to the pandemic and thus to shortages of resources/personnel at many government levels, which was no surprise to anyone following the numbers’ delay.  CDC also had a note on the reporting page that “Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, data from some jurisdictions may be incomplete.” 

Past Estimates of Underreporting  In the past,  CDC has reported that only 10% of cases are actually reported─ that translates into 349,450 actual new Lyme cases in the US in 2019.  However, in 2021, the CDC announced that:

“A recently released estimate based on insurance records suggests that each year ~ 476,000 Americans are diagnosed & treated for Lyme disease(1,2). ” Prior Lyme estimates based on claims data had indicated “~300,000 people get Lyme disease  each year.”

It appears clear from the number of patients culled from insurance data as being diagnosed and treated annually for Lyme disease in the U.S. that cases are vastly under-reported. 

  1. Schwartz AM, Kugeler KJ, Nelson CA, et al. Use of Commercial Claims Data for Evaluating Trends in Lyme Disease Diagnoses, United States, 2010-2018. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021;27(2).
  2. Kugeler KJ, Schwartz AM, Delorey M, et al. Estimating the frequency of Lyme disease diagnoses —United States, 2010-2018. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021;27(2).

LDA NOTE:

  • The State of Hawaii does not require reporting of Lyme disease.
  • The State of New York estimates the Lyme numbers in many counties and those numbers are not permitted to be entered into CDC reported case numbers.
  • Massachusetts changed their reporting system and their numbers on paper have dramatically dropped in the past few years, moving them out of the top 15 states.  To see more states that have changed reporting of Lyme disease over time see  LDA Lyme Cases Map Page

Top 15 States  The LDA has ranked the top 15 states based on the CDC total reported Lyme case numbers for 2019 below. This ranking should not be construed to mean that other states do not have reported Lyme cases. They do have reported cases,  Click here for all states.

Often patients cannot get diagnosed and/or treated in states that CDC considers “low incidence” states.

Doctors in low incidence states are often either afraid to diagnose Lyme or do not understand that surveillance criteria are not meant as diagnostic criteria. 

Read about Diagnosis by Geography

LDA State Ranking by Reported CDC Lyme Cases

Category:

Lyme, research