Archive for the ‘research’ Category

Babesia and Heart Issues

Normally when Lyme/MSIDS patients have heart issues, Lyme is blamed; however, sometimes it’s not Lyme, but Babesia.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7840479_Cardiac_involvement_in_canine_babesiosis

Lobetti, Remo. (2005). Cardiac involvement in canine babesiosis. Journal of the South African Veterinary Association. 76. 4-8. Cardiac dysfunction in canine babesiosis has traditionally been regarded as a rare complication, with the majority of lesions reported as incidental findings at post-mortem examination. Recent studies have, however, demonstrated cardiac lesions in canine babesiosis. Cardiac troponins, especially troponin I, are sensitive markers of myocardial injury in canine babesiosis, and the magnitude of elevation of plasma troponin I concentrations appears to be proportional to the severity of the disease. ECG changes in babesiosis are similar to the pattern described for myocarditis and myocardial ischaemia and together with histopathological findings indicate that the heart suffers from the same pathological processes described in other organs in canine babesiosis, namely inflammation and hypoxia. The clinical application of the ECG appears to be limited and thus cardiovascular assessment should be based on functional monitoring rather than an ECG tracing. On cardiac histopathology from dogs that succumbed to babesiosis, haemorrhage, necrosis, inflammation and fibrin microthrombi in the myocardium were documented, all of which would have resulted in ECG changes and elevations in cardiac troponin. Myocardial damage causes left ventricular failure, which will result in hypotension and an expansion of the plasma volume due to homeostatic mechanisms.

Babesiosis – Monsters Inside Me

Great video showing the extreme fatigue a person with both Lyme and Babesia has.

https://www.envita.com/lyme-disease/chronic-lyme-diseases-parasitic-coinfection-babesiosis  An article put out by Envita explains that Babesia is rarely tested for – leaving many undiagnosed.  Like other coinfections, there are numerous infectious strains and symptoms can look like malaria but can also lead to death.  Evidently 41% can develop cardiovascular issues like acute respiratory failure, disseminated intravascular coagulation (thick blood which can lead to clotting), and even congestive heart or renal failure.  

**Complex Babesiosis is associated with severe anemia and high parasitaemia levels.

**Chronic Babesiosis can trigger cardiovascular, kidney, and liver problems.

Personally, I can attest to the importance of the anti-malarial medications my husband and I were both put on.  We both had chest pressure and dizziness but the headaches I had were out of this world.  My heart would also flop like a fish out of water and wake me up from a dead sleep – racing.  Neither of us had night sweats and we presented differently.  My husband developed hyper coagulation and anemia while I did not.  Heparin helped him tremendously.

If you are having heart involvement and antibiotics typically used for Lyme are not touching it, please discuss Babesia with your health care provider.  For us, treating for Babesia made a huge difference.  I’m happy to report ALL of those symptoms are completely gone after a full year hitting it hard with anti-malarials.  The best treatments overlap.  Please see the following link for treatment ideas to discuss with your doctor.

More on Babesia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/ (checklist within the link that you can print and fill out)

Good article by Dr. Rawls:  https://rawlsmd.com/health-articles/understanding-babesia

 

Category:

Activism, Babesia, Lyme, research, Treatment

Neglected Vector-borne Zoonoses in Europe

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29426471/

Neglected vector-borne zoonoses in Europe: Into the wild.

Tomassone L1, Berriatua E2, De Sousa R3, Duscher GG4, Mihalca AD5, Silaghi C6, Sprong H7, Zintl A8. Vet Parasitol. 2018.

Abstract

Wild vertebrates are involved in the transmission cycles of numerous pathogens. Additionally, they can affect the abundance of arthropod vectors. Urbanization, landscape and climate changes, and the adaptation of vectors and wildlife to human habitats represent complex and evolving scenarios, which affect the interface of vector, wildlife and human populations, frequently with a consequent increase in zoonotic risk. While considerable attention has focused on these interrelations with regard to certain major vector-borne pathogens such as Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. and tick-borne encephalitis virus, information regarding many other zoonotic pathogens is more dispersed. In this review, we discuss the possible role of wildlife in the maintenance and spread of some of these neglected zoonoses in Europe. We present case studies on the role of rodents in the cycles of Bartonella spp., of wild ungulates in the cycle of Babesia spp., and of various wildlife species in the life cycle of Leishmania infantum, Anaplasma phagocytophilum and Rickettsia spp.

These examples highlight the usefulness of surveillance strategies focused on neglected zoonotic agents in wildlife as a source of valuable information for health professionals, nature managers and (local) decision-makers. These benefits could be further enhanced by increased collaboration between researchers and stakeholders across Europe and a more harmonised and coordinated approach for data collection.

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**Comment**

They are neglected in the U.S. too, but all play a significant role in patient case complexity.

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Bartonella, research, Rickettsia

B. Miyamotoi in CA Ticks For a Long Time

The following article explains that Borrelia Miyamotoi is not new to California.  First considered nonpathogenic, it wasn’t even reported until 2011 in Russia.  http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMc1215469  Diagnosis relies on PCR testing during acute infection and two-tiered testing for Lyme will not pick it up.  It is not a reportable illness so prevalence is pure conjecture.  Dr. Horowitz states clinicians should be vigilant for clinical pictures that look like viral infections such as high fever, headache, and muscle and joint pain.  In publications, only 16% of patients presenting with BMD were seropositive for IgG and/or IgM antibody to B. miyamotoi rGlpQ, so PCR should also be considered in patients with a history of tick bites and appropriate clinical manifestations.

This is also an important reminder that new strains and species are being discovered continually, so nothing about Tick Borne Illness should be set in stone and open minds are a must.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/14/borrelia-miyamotoi-in-ca-serodiagnosis-is-complicated-by-multiple-endemic-borrelia-species/ (Study found here)

https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-sci-study-finds-lots-b-miyamotoi-california-ticks/  by Lonnie Marcum

LYME SCI: B. miyamotoi has been in California ticks for a long time

Like forensic detectives, using a bank of frozen blood serum from the 1980s, tick researchers from both the west and east coasts set out to determine how prevalent Borrelia miyamotoi infection is in California. What they discovered should set off more than a few alarms.

B. miyamotoi is a spiral-shaped bacterium in the same genus as Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease. But it is most closely related to the group of relapsing fever Borrelia spirochetes. It has recently been recognized as causing a form of borreliosis that is similar to Lyme disease—Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD).

B. miyamotoi is transmitted by the same hard-bodied ticks that carry Lyme disease—the blacklegged or deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the western blacklegged tick (Ixodes pacificus).

The symptoms of BMD are similar to Lyme disease but generally more severe, with the addition of a relapsing fever, and the absence of a typical bull’s-eye rash. Because BMD is not a reportable disease in the US, there is very little information about its symptoms or prevalence.

For this study, the researchers were given access to a biobank of 101 blood samples collected from a rural community in Mendocino County, California, after an outbreak of Lyme disease in the late 1980s. The area has since been the focus of many tick studies and is known for high prevalence of ticks that carry both BMD and Lyme disease.

Three quarters of the people in the study reported frequent tick bites in the one to two years prior to the blood draw. Later, a confirmatory blood test showed that 79% had antibodies to tick saliva—a rate nearly three times that of residents of Block Island, Rhode Island (29%), where Lyme disease is highly endemic.

For the BMD screening, researchers used two different methods to look for evidence of prior exposure to B. miyamotoi—a two-step glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase enzyme-linked immunosorbent (rGlpQ) assay and a whole-cell lysate (WCL) assay.

Twenty-six of the 101 samples were reactive for BMD. [Note: the B. miyamotoi GlpQ assay is not affected by Lyme disease infection because B. burgdorferi does not produce GlpQ antigen.]

The samples were also tested for Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia burgdorferi, to examine the possibility of cross-reactivity and/or dual infection.

The researchers feel there is probable cause of BMD infection for several reasons:

Studies showing 0.5% to 15% of Ixodes pacificus ticks carry B. miyamotoi infection in Northern California, B. miyamotoi is passed from parent to offspring (transovarial transmission), increasing risk of infection from nymphal ticks, and mild climates allow for nearly year-round activity of ticks in California.

“No human cases of B. miyamotoi previously have been reported from the western United States even though I. pacificus ticks in northern California have a spirochete-infection prevalence similar to or exceeding that of I. scapularis ticks in the Northeast and upper Midwest,” according to the authors.

The authors go on to warn, “Healthcare professionals in the far-western United States should be aware that B. miyamotoi disease may occur throughout the geographic distribution of I. pacificus and that improved relapsing fever group spirochete antibody assays are urgently needed.”

In summary, while B. miyamotoi is considered an “emerging” infectious disease, it is not new to California. The fact that there are no previously reported cases is because 1) until recently there have been no commercially available tests and 2) since BMD is not a reportable disease, nobody collects such information.

This study highlights the pressing need to develop better diagnostic tests capable of detecting all tick-borne diseases–and to collect the results of those tests in a way that’s accessible to the public.

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org .

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**Comment**

Interestingly, the CDC states that PCR and antibody-based testing for Bm are under development and not widely available but can be ordered from a few CLIA-approved labs.

Now that’s sweet isn’t it?  Up until now the CDC has vilified all CLIA approved labs – especially for Lyme testing.

Dr. Cameron points out the hypocrisy marvelously here:  http://danielcameronmd.com/fda-test-borrelia-miyamotoi/  Researchers have had to diagnose B. miyamotoi based on blood smear, direct detection of spirochetes in cerebrospinal fluid and follow-up polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and molecular detection of B. miyamotoi DNA in acute whole blood from patients.  These are all non FDA-approved tests. So, where would these patients be if the FDA insisted on only its tests being utilized?

You gotta love fate.

 

 

 

 

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Ticks, Transmission

Bb in Small Kentucky Mammals

Borrelia burgdorferi in small mammal reservoirs in Kentucky, a traditionally non-endemic state for Lyme disease

Buchholz MJ, Davis C, Rowland NS, Dick CW.
Parasitology Research, online first 2018 Feb 7.

https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5794-xhttps://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-018-5794-x

Abstract

The incidence of tick-borne zoonoses such as Lyme disease has steadily increased in the southeastern United States. Southeastern states accounted for 1500 of over 28,000 confirmed cases of Lyme disease reported in the United States during 2015. Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiologic agent of Lyme disease, is maintained in small mammal reservoirs and vectored to new hosts by ixodid ticks.

This study examined ecological relationships of the B. burgdorferi/vector/reservoir system in order to understand the dynamics of Lyme disease risk in Kentucky. Small mammals were captured using live traps from November 2014 to October 2015. Ticks were removed and blood and tissue collected from small mammals were screened for B. burgdorferi DNA by PCR with primers specific to the OspA gene.

Prevalence of B. burgdorferi (21.8%) in Kentucky small mammals was comparable to the lowest recorded prevalence in regions where Lyme disease is endemic. Moreover, infestation of small mammals by Ixodes scapularis, the primary vector of B. burgdorferi, was rare, while Dermacentor variabilis comprised the majority of ticks collected.

These findings provide ecological insight into the relative paucity of Lyme disease in Kentucky.

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**Comment**

The conclusion of this study is all wrong.  Bb was found Kentucky mammals.  That in itself is important.  Also, the fact the preponderance of ticks were dermacentor variabilis (wood tick or American dog tick) which supposedly has not been proven to be a competent vector of Bb as supposedly it doesn’t efficiently pass Bb from inside the tick to humans or other hosts), it does transmit Tularemia and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever.

BTW:  these transmission studies given as references for this fact were done from 1997-2006.  It’s now 2018.  http://labs.russell.wisc.edu/wisconsin-ticks/wisconsin-ticks/dermacentor-variabilis/  Notice it states, “It doesn’t efficiently pass Bb.”  What if it passes it inefficiently?  It still passes!

Regardless of whether the wood tick can transmit Bb or not, they do transmit pathogens.  The fact that nearly 22% of small Kentucky mammals have Bb due to the black legged deer tick and most of the ticks they picked up were wood ticks, those deer ticks were particularly infected.

Hear ye, hear ye, the South has Lyme.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/06/remembering-dr-masters-the-rebel-for-lyme-patients-who-took-on-the-cdc-single-handedly/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/24/arkansas-kids-denied-lyme-treatment/  According to Dr. Naveen Patil, Director of the Infectious Disease Program, ADH,

“We don’t have Lyme Disease in Arkansas, we have the ticks that transmit Lyme Disease but we don’t have any recorded cases of Lyme Disease.”

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/02/hold-the-press-arkansas-has-lyme/  A news report emphasizing the CDC’s belief Arkansas is a “low incident” state in regards to Lyme Disease, is countered by the Arkansas Lyme Foundation that claims at least 150 cases, and they just started counting. http://www.thv11.com/news/local/arkansas-lyme-foundation-claims-over-150-lyme-disease-cases-in-state/414489522 (Video here)

“People are dying and I’m not exaggerating, people are calling us every week in desperate situations,” said Sikes.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/24/no-lyme-in-oklahoma-yeah-right/  Last summer, a friend who lives in Oklahoma found a classic bullseye rash on her seven-year-old daughter.

“That’s a spider bite,” a local pediatrician told her. “We don’t have Lyme in Oklahoma.”

The doctor was wrong. Had my friend taken his advice, her daughter would not have been diagnosed in a timely fashion and she would likely have developed symptoms over the next few months or years. She probably would have become severely debilitated, and the infections might have crossed the blood-brain barrier and become chronic.

Get the picture yet?  Lyme/MSIDS is everywhere.

Quit saying it’s rare!

Category:

Lyme, research, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Ticks, Transmission, Tularemia

Borrelia Miyamotoi in CA: Serodiagnosis is Complicated by Multiple Endemic Borrelia Species

Human Borrelia miyamotoi infection in California: Serodiagnosis is complicated by multiple endemic Borrelia species

Krause PJ, Carroll M, Fedorova N, Brancato J, Dumouchel C, Akosa F, Narasimhan S, Fikrig E, Lane RS.
PLoS One. 2018 Feb 8;13(2):e0191725. eCollection 2018.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0191725

Abstract

To determine whether human Borrelia miyamotoi infection occurs in the far-western United States, we tested archived sera from northwestern California residents for antibodies to this emerging relapsing fever spirochete. These residents frequently were exposed to I. pacificus ticks in a region where B. miyamotoi tick infection has been reported.

We used a two-step B. miyamotoi rGlpQ assay and a B. miyamotoi whole-cell lysate (WCL) assay to detect B. miyamotoi antibody. We also employed Borrelia hermsii and Borrelia burgdorferi WCL assays to examine if these Borrelia induce cross reacting antibody to B. miyamotoi. Sera were collected from 101 residents in each of two consecutive years.

The sera of 12 and 14 residents in years one and two, respectively, were B. miyamotoirGlpQ seroreactive. Sufficient sera were available to test 15 of the 26 seropositive samples using B. miyamotoi and B. hermsii WCL assays. Two residents in year one and seven residents in year two were seroreactive to both Borrelia antigens.

Although discernible differences in seroreactivity were evident between the B. miyamotoi and B. hermsii WCL assays, infection with one or the other could not be determined with certainty. Sera from two Borrelia burgdorferi /B. miyamotoi seropositive subjects reacted strongly against B. miyamotoi and B. hermsii WCL antigens. Ecological, epidemiological, and clinical data implicated B. miyamotoi as the probable cause of infection among those whose sera reacted against both antigens.

Our findings suggest that human B. miyamotoi infection occurs in northern California and that B. hermsii and B. burgdorferi infections produce antibodies that cross-react with B. miyamotoi antigens. Health care professionals in the far-western United States should be aware that B. miyamotoi disease may occur throughout the geographic distribution of I.pacificus and that improved relapsing fever group spirochete antibody assays are urgently needed.

 

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**Comment**

This study points out one the biggest reasons we are in this quagmire:  poor testing and cross reactivity of antigens.  Remember, testing for miyamotoi is new so folks could have been infected with this pathogen for a long time and it flew under the radar. They got tested for borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme) with a test that misses over half of all cases, and are sent home and told, “Go home and be well.”  

There very probably are other strains and pathogens we don’t have testing for yet.

It also demonstrates Tick borne illness is everywhere, despite Speilman’s maps:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/01/19/how-ticks-find-you/  (Scroll down to comment section after article)

 

 

 

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks