Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Study Shows Effectiveness of Factory-Treated Permethrin-Impregnated Clothing Works

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25416331/

2015 Feb;114(2):671-8. doi: 10.1007/s00436-014-4232-y. Epub 2014 Nov 22.

Pilot study assessing the effectiveness of factory-treated, long-lasting permethrin-impregnated clothing for the prevention of tick bites during occupational tick exposure in highly infested military training areas, Germany.

Faulde MK1, Rutenfranz M, Keth A, Hepke J, Rogge M, Görner A.

Abstract

The protective effectiveness of factory-based permethrin-impregnated polymer-coated battle dress uniforms (PTBDUs) against tick bites was evaluated at four military training areas in southwestern and central Germany where tick bite incidence is known to be high. Data were analyzed by comparing tick bite incidence using non-permethrin-treated BDUs (NTBDUs) during 2009 versus PTBDUs during 2010 and 2011, the first two years after their formal introduction for in-country use in the German Bundeswehr. During 2009, 262 individual tick bites were reported at the four training sites, resulting in a tick bite incidence of 8.8 % per exposed person when wearing NTBDUs only. In 2010 and 2011, one tick bite case occurred under field conditions each year that PTBDUs were worn, corresponding to a protective effectiveness of 99.6 and 98.6 %. These data imply an annual tick bite incidence of 0.035 and 0.078 % per exposed person, respectively. Between 2010 and 2011, a 0.8 % decline in the protective effectiveness of PTBDUs was observed. Five tick bite incidents occurred while wearing non-impregnated parkas over correctly worn PTBDUs. Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected by standard tick drags from 2009 to 2011, with high mean annual densities ranging from 28.9 to 106.5 ticks per 100 m(2), while single drags revealed tick densities between zero and 381 ticks per 100 m(2).

Overall, 4596 I. ricinus ticks (54 ♂, 82 ♀, 1776 nymphs, and 2684 larvae) were collected, of which 128 (2.8 %; mean annual range, 0-10.1 %) were Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. positive. The Borrelia genospecies distribution was as follows: 112 (87.5 %) Borrelia afzelii, 10 (7.8 %) B. burgdorferi s.s., and 6 (4.7 %) Borrelia garinii. Neither the tick density means from 2009 to 2011 nor associated B. burgdorferi s.l. prevalences differed significantly among the military locations investigated.

The documented tick bite reductions clearly demonstrate the powerful protective effectiveness of properly worn PTBDUs against tick bites. Nevertheless, all apparel worn over PTBDUs should also be impregnated with permethrin in order to prevent tick infestation and subsequent bites.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/05/27/study-conforms-permethrin-causes-ticks-to-drop-off-clothing/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/12/tick-prevention-2019/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/08/ticks-are-out-for-the-summer-how-can-bites-be-prevented/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/04/03/fire-good-news-for-tick-reduction/

Category:

Prevention, research, Ticks

Therapeutic Efficacy of Favipiravir Against Bourbon Virus in Mice

https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.1007790

Therapeutic efficacy of favipiravir against Bourbon virus in mice

Published: June 13, 2019

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007790

Abstract

Bourbon virus (BRBV) is an emerging tick-borne RNA virus in the orthomyxoviridae family that was discovered in 2014. Although fatal human cases of BRBV have been described, little is known about its pathogenesis, and no antiviral therapies or vaccines exist. We obtained serum from a fatal case in 2017 and successfully recovered the second human infectious isolate of BRBV. Next-generation sequencing of the St. Louis isolate of BRBV (BRBV-STL) showed >99% nucleotide identity to the original reference isolate. Using BRBV-STL, we developed a small animal model to study BRBV-STL tropism in vivo and evaluated the prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy of the experimental antiviral drug favipiravir against BRBV-induced disease. Infection of Ifnar1-/- mice lacking the type I interferon receptor, but not congenic wild-type animals, resulted in uniformly fatal disease 6 to 10 days after infection. RNA in situ hybridization and viral yield assays demonstrated a broad tropism of BRBV-STL with highest levels detected in liver and spleen. In vitro replication and polymerase activity of BRBV-STL were inhibited by favipiravir. Moreover, administration of favipiravir as a prophylaxis or as post-exposure therapy three days after infection prevented BRBV-STL-induced mortality in immunocompromised Ifnar1-/- mice. These results suggest that favipiravir may be a candidate treatment for humans who become infected with BRBV.

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More on Bourbon Virus:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/07/10/bourbon-virus-linked-to-death-of-park-official/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/02/22/newly-found-virus-linked-to-kansas-death-after-tick-bite/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/01/surveillance-for-heartland-bourbon-viruses-in-eastern-kansas/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/05/23/cdc-warns-about-7-new-tick-viruses/

 

 

Category:

research, Ticks, Transmission, Treatment, Viruses

Bb Microscopy – A Picture’s Worth 1,000 Words – How Bb Evades the Immune System

 

Used with permission by Dr. Benjamin L. Clark University of Minnesota Medical School  (Image by Chris Little)

Scanning Electron microscope picture of borrelia in green contacting the surface of a macrophage.

Borrelia can move about 50x faster than this immune cell.

Also the macrophage is supposed to attack and engulf pathogens like Borrelia but in this case it is the pathogen attacking the immune system.

When Bb is engulfed it does not immediately trigger the cell’s lysosomes to merge and dissolve the captured bacterium.

In the following 2016 article, the study author states that the ability of a cell-surface adhesion protein called BBK32 in stabilizing and strengthening bacterial-vascular interactions under blood flow with the microbes using bungee-cord like tethers, is what gets borrelia to move through the body to evade the immune system causing persistence.

Similarly to children swinging on monkey bars, borrelia transfer force from one bond to the next without fully detaching, allowing them to move over endothelial surfaces at a constant speed much like leukocytes move through blood vessels.

Based on calculations utilizing the imaging system, researchers also believe that borrelia possibly use flagella to actively migrate along blood vessel walls, exiting the vasculature to reach specific sites against blood flow, much like swimmers in a river using their legs to kick toward trees lining the riverbank, then grabbing the tree branches to slow down, and finally pulling themselves up to exit the water to reach the shore. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/04/how-lyme-spreads/

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research

Representatives Create Bipartisan Bill – Tick Act

https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=405938

News Item

Smith Introduces Legislation to Create a New National Strategy on Lyme Disease

WASHINGTON, Jun 5, 2019

Reps. Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Collin Peterson (D-MN) have introduced new legislation to create a new national strategy to aggressively fight Lyme disease and target an additional $180 million to boost funding for research, prevention and treatment programs.

The new bipartisan bill, dubbed the TICK Act (Ticks: Identify, Control, Knockout Act) (HR 3073) is a companion to identical legislation introduced in the Senate and inspired by legislation Smith and Peterson introduced earlier this year (HR 220) to create a new national strategy on Lyme with enhanced provisions to provide funding for critical research, prevention and protection programs, and coordinating federal efforts across agencies to fight Lyme disease. The Senate version was introduced by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Angus King (I-ME).

“Lyme disease prevalence has exploded and there are cases in every state across the nation.  We need a strong, coordinated effort at all levels to combat this disease which is crippling Americans of all ages,” Smith said. “The recent report to Congress of the HHS Tick-Borne Disease working group should sober us all—there are around 300,000 estimated new cases of Lyme in the U.S. each year, with 18 recognized tick-borne pathogens and new ones emerging.”

“Having identical bills in the House and Senate with bipartisan support in each chamber, reflects an added urgency to combat Lyme and offers the best opportunity to finally meet this disease with the federal resources and funding it demands,” Smith said.

“In addition to increasing the resources used to fight this epidemic, we need to make sure our federal response is targeted, well-coordinated and effective,” Smith said. “A new national strategy—as defined in the TICK Act will—will ensure everyone is on the same page in fighting Lyme.”

Smith’s legislation would also strengthen efforts at the regional and local levels to fight Lyme by reauthorizing Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector Borne Disease at $60 million over six years (FY2021-26), as well as authorizing CDC grants of $120 million over six years (FY2021-26) to build a public health infrastructure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Smith is the founder and co-chair of the Congressional Lyme Disease Caucus, and has authored more than a dozen comprehensive bills to advance treatment and prevention of Lyme, improve research, and improve federal efforts to fight Lyme.

Last week, he hosted a Congressional town meeting on Lyme disease in Wall Township, NJ, featuring a panel of national experts including Dr. Ben Beard, Deputy Director of the Division on Vector-Borne Diseases at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; Pat Smith, President of the Lyme Disease Association; and Dr. Richard Horowitz, an Internist and expert in treating patients with Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

The legislation is supported by more than 25 organizations, including the Entomological Society of America, the National Association of Vector-Borne Disease Control Officials, the Northeast Regional Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases, and the National Association of County and City Health Officials.

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**Comment**

In our efforts to obtain funding, let us never forget the tick is most probably NOT the sole perp, and funding desperately needs to go toward transmission studies in other bugs, as well as congenital, STD, via breast milk, etc:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/02/transmission-of-lyme-disease-lida-mattman-phd/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/19/33-years-of-documentation-of-maternal-child-transmission-of-lyme-disease-and-congenital-lyme-borreliosis-a-review/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/24/microbiology-professor-im-convinced-lyme-disease-is-transmittable-from-person-to-person/

Until this is truly researched with open-minds, those who become infected in other ways will probably go undiagnosed as mainstream medicine refuses to acknowledge anything other thank tick exposure.  While there isn’t any perfect studying showing sexual transmission, there isn’t any perfect study showing there isn’t.  The last time I checked,

“The absence of evidence isn’t evidence of absence.”

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Ticks

NY Tick Study Challenges Belief That Tickborne Disease Risk is Only in Natural Settings

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31107213

2019 Jun;25(6):1136-1143. doi: 10.3201/eid2506.181741.

Enhancement of Risk for Lyme Disease by Landscape Connectivity, New York, New York, USA.

VanAcker MC, Little EAH, Molaei G, Bajwa WI, Diuk-Wasser MA.

Abstract

Most tickborne disease studies in the United States are conducted in low-intensity residential development and forested areas, leaving much unknown about urban infection risks. To understand Lyme disease risk in New York, New York, USA, we conducted tick surveys in 24 parks throughout all 5 boroughs and assessed how park connectivity and landscape composition contribute to Ixodes scapularis tick nymphal densities and Borrelia burgdorferi infection. We used circuit theory models to determine how parks differentially maintain landscape connectivity for white-tailed deer, the reproductive host for I. scapularis ticks.

We found forested parks with vegetated buffers and increased connectivity had higher nymph densities, and the degree of park connectivity strongly determined B. burgdorferi nymphal infection prevalence.

Our study challenges the perspective that tickborne disease risk is restricted to suburban and natural settings and emphasizes the need to understand how green space design affects vector and host communities in areas of emerging urban tickborne disease.

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**Comment**

Until we can restrict movement of all birds, rodents, reptiles, lizards and people, ticks will be transported everywhere. The idea of looking at a map to diagnose and treat people is pure folly and has done nothing to hurt patients for over 40 years. Doctors desperately need education and to start using their brains rather than relying on ancient, unscientific information such as faulty maps and mythology.

Please watch this video of how ticks were found in the cracks of sidewalks in CA:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/17/video-showing-questing-ticks-in-the-middle-of-the-sidewalk/

Ticks have been found in caves, on rocks, underneath picnic benches, and have fallen from trees onto patios:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/07/ticks-on-beaches/

It’s a good thing they don’t fly.  But, they do blow in the wind. Advocates have told me stories of ticks blowing into their swimming pools. My neighbor with a farm field mowed his lawn, blowing the grass toward my house. I found ticks crawling on my basement screens and a few found their way inside the house on the walls.

Yeah…..we need to bust myths big-time.

Category:

Lyme, research, Ticks