Human babesiosis co-infected with Lyme disease in a young patient is an important condition. Here, we describe a case of a 39-year-old male patient with concurrent babesiosis and Lyme disease. Co-infections of tick borne diseases are often difficult to diagnose and underreported, and resulting in significant morbidity and mortality to patients. While co-infections have been infrequently described, it is of paramount importance that clinicians should be able to diagnose early and treat them effectively according to the patient geographical area and history of tick bite.
**Comment**
“The powers that be” have their heads in the sand when it comes to all things TBI (tick borne infections). They speak of Lyme in terms of a single organism when most are infected with multiple organisms which complicate cases exponentially. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/01/co-infection-of-ticks-the-rule-rather-than-the-exception/ This link shows that 45% of tested ticks were coinfected and carried up to 5 different pathogens. This directly translates to human infection and a survey substantiates this: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2014/11/14/studies-show-why-its-tough-to-treat-lyme-and-co/The most common co-infections in the LDo study were Babesia (32%), Bartonella (28%), and Ehrlichia (15%) while a study by Dr. Janet Sperling in Canada found that the most common were Bartonella (36%), Babesia (19%), and Anaplasma (13%).
Besides the fact it is a misnomer to think it novel that a patient has concurrent Lyme and Babesiosis, it is also a huge mistake to base treatment on geographical area as time and time again, entomologists are finding ticks in places they just shouldn’t be and ticks that shouldn’t be carrying pathogens, carrying them. Also, using logic, until every bird, fox, squirrel, lizard, deer, and every other rodent on the earth read the memo that they are not supposed to cross state and country boundaries, ticks are going to continue to defy the box “experts” put them into. And, there are other ways for pathogens to travel across state lines: https://doi.org/10.1111/tid.12741
Abstract
The potential for transmission of Babesia microti by blood transfusion is well recognized. Physicians may be unaware that products used for transfusion may be collected from geographically diverse regions. We describe a liver transplant recipient in South Carolina who likely acquired B. microti infection from a unit of blood collected in Minnesota.
Also, one must be careful of the “history of tick bite,” as well, as many never see the tick or subsequent bite, and fail to get a rash. A nymphal tick is nearly impossible to see. Lyme/MSIDS is a CLINICAL diagnosis.
Accurately, the authors advise diagnosing and treating early, but herein lies the catch-22, if practitioners continue to follow the outdated and unscientific IDSA/CDC guidelines and take a “wait and see” approach, waiting for positive serology from tests which are so stringent and biased, most patients will be missed.
This is the topsy-turvy world Lyme/MSIDS patients live in.
The Jarisch-Herxheimer Reaction After Antibiotic Treatment of Spirochetal Infections: A Review of Recent Cases and Our Understanding of Pathogenesis.
Abstract
Within 24 hours after antibiotic treatment of the spirochetal infections syphilis, Lyme disease, leptospirosis, and relapsing fever (RF), patients experience shaking chills, a rise in temperature, and intensification of skin rashes known as the Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction (JHR) with symptoms resolving a few hours later. Case reports indicate that the JHR can also include uterine contractions in pregnancy, worsening liver and renal function, acute respiratory distress syndrome, myocardial injury, hypotension, meningitis, alterations in consciousness, seizures, and strokes. Experimental evidence indicates it is caused by nonendotoxin pyrogen and spirochetal lipoproteins. Mediation of the JHR in RF by the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor (TNF), interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 has been proposed, consistent with measurements in patients’ blood and inhibition by anti-TNF antibodies. Accelerated phagocytosis of spirochetes by polymorphonuclear (PMN) leukocytes before rise in cytokines is responsible for removal of organisms from the blood, suggesting an early inflammatory signal from PMNs. Rarely fatal, except in neonates and in pregnancy for African women whose babies showed high perinatal mortality because of low birth weight, the JHR can be regarded as an adverse effect of antibiotics, necessary for achieving a cure of spirochetal infections.
Herxing for the Lyme/MSIDS patient varies from person to person. For me, shortly after taking antibiotics I feel like a balloon that someone’s let the air out of. Seriously, I could sleep forever. But, I’m 4 years into this. Upon my first dose (3 different antibiotics – pulsed MWF) I shuffled between the bed and the bathtub to soak in Epsom salts. Like a hippo, I would submerge all but my nose to breathe as my head, neck, and spine felt as if I’d been kicked by a horse and then dropped from a 20 story building. No amount of Ibuprophen would touch this. Only antibiotics and time.
Researching a lot myself, I finally asked – no, retract that – begged for my LLMD to give me minocycline daily with two other antibiotics that collectively kill all three forms of borrelia, as I knew it is one of the best antibiotics for crossing the blood brain barrier. I wondered if I’d ever wake up without an excruciating headache. The insomnia and pain were unbearable. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/04/minocycline-for-ms-and-much-more/
Finally, years later, I had an MRI to see if I had Chiari as that was about the only thing that could explain the pain. https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/04/02/chiari/ Per usual for Lyme/MSIDS patients, the tests were normal, and yet the pain went on unabated.
Finally, over time, and taking minocycline daily, it went away.
From my experience this is how this stuff rolls; symptoms peel away 1 layer at a time leaving the patient with what Wisconsin’s most experienced Lyme doctor describes as their, “hallmark symptom.” Mine is spine and neck pain and stiffness, and occipital headaches. One spot, to the right of my spine at about the T6-T7 can really take me to my knees. I’ve met a few other patients with the exact same symptoms.
But for every patient, the “hallmark” symptoms vary, which is often a reason the powers that be can’t put their finger on it and want to create a one size fits all approach to an illness that looks differently on everyone.
The DOD (Department of Defense) announced the experiential and mandatory anthrax vaccine, which was not FDA approved, in 1997. Since then many of America’s finest have become extremely ill with Gulf War Syndrome, a collection of symptoms ranging from severe fatigue, joint pain, respiratory and memory problems.
Firstly, the military doesn’t track any vaccine related effects or injuries. Secondly, those who refuse it are denied benefits for their injuries, do time in the brig, pay thousands of dollars in fines, and are discharged. Period.
This is where Lyme/MSIDS comes in.
Notice that the symptoms of Gulf War Syndrome are similar to tick borne infections, thereby muddying the diagnostic waters. Also, according to military buddies of mine here in Wisconsin, they are dropped in Northern Wisconsin, the highest prevalence of ticks in the state, and therefore, potential infections, and do training exercises. Picking hundreds of ticks off, is it no wonder that many come down with bizarre symptoms, are refused diagnosis and treatment and eventually have to leave the military? For one solder’s story: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/03/21/military-veterans-suicide-and-lymemsids/ Excerpt: Military risk assessments often find high risk of Lyme disease at installations all around this country. Yet, the ability to diagnose and treat Lyme disease is nearly nonexistent in the military and VA healthcare systems. Veterans with Lyme disease find themselves caught up in a devastating perpetual loop of misdiagnoses, failed treatments, and constant rejection that can only be resolved by proper diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. Lyme disease affects both the mind and body. However, mental health alone cannot cure Lyme disease.Sims says nothing will change about suicides in veterans until the CDC Lyme disease guidelines are addressed immediately.
The CDC is an arm of the DOD with the same people deciding American citizens’ fate in numerous health issues, including the attack on Lyme/MSIDS patients who have persisting symptoms. The issues with mandatory, experimental vaccines, are similar issues for Lyme patients and those who dare to treat them. Apparently, the answer for both groups is, “It’s all in your head and you are making it up.” I find it interesting that these soldiers are embraced and considered qualified to enter the military but all of a sudden become delusional when they refuse a vaccine! I also find it interesting that Lyme/MSIDS patients ranging from housewives to doctors, lawyers, and microbiologists who led productive lives before TBI infections, are also told they are delusional.
“Direct Order” Documentary (Full) – Soldiers Ordered To Take Anthrax Vaccine & Got Brain Damaged
According to Dr. Mercola, there other other vaccines causing trouble for soldiers:
In the last decade (2007 through April 2017), 898 veterans were granted VA benefits for pericarditis; 2,896 were denied. Another 5,703 veterans were granted benefits for myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle itself, while 12,067 were denied benefits for the same.9 Since no one appears to be monitoring, tracking and reporting vaccine side effects in military personnel, there’s no telling how many of these cases of myocarditis and pericarditis might have been related to the smallpox vaccine.
Soldiers asking questions about the anthrax vaccine are refused answers.
According to Dr. Meryl Nass, an expert on the anthrax vaccine, “The anthrax vaccine was never proved to be safe and effective. It is one cause of Gulf War illnesses, and recent vaccinees report symptoms resembling Gulf War illnesses.”
She states the DOD acknowledges that systemic reaction rate for the anthrax vaccine is as high as 35%, NOT the 0.2% listed in the package insert, and experiments conducted by the military have reported rates as high as 48%. An unpublished survey at Dover Air Force Base found that 29% had “chronic, unresolved reactions.”
While anthrax is a potentially deadly bacterium, it is not contagious. Dr. Mercola states:
The anthrax bacterium is very responsive to antibiotics and, if administered before symptoms develop, antibiotics tend to be 100 percent effective, according to Nass. The only type of antibiotic that does not work is the cephalosporins, as anthrax is naturally cephalosporin-resistant. As noted by the NVIC, anthrax bacteria are also destroyed by hydrogen peroxide and diluted formaldehyde.17
and
Indeed, a decade-old VHC Network PowerPoint presentation19,20 claims the smallpox and anthrax vaccines are quite safe, blaming the high rate of injury instead on the practice of giving multiple vaccines simultaneously and/or drug-vaccine interactions. According to that presentation, of 2.4 million vaccinated service members, up to 48,000 of them (2 percent) sustained disability requiring them to be taught new skills and/or died as a result of serious side effects of the vaccines given.
This presentation, dating back to 2007, also touches on myo/pericarditis as a side effect of not only the smallpox vaccine but also the anthrax vaccine. For the smallpox vaccine, the risk of myo/pericarditis is listed as 1 per 6,000 to 7,000 vaccinated, but notes that the “actual risk may be higher.” Slide 12 also notes that “other new adverse events case definitions” are “in progress,” such as “new onset acute urticaria,” and “angioedema evolving to chronic disease after live virus vaccines.”
Approx. 7 min.
Target 5 WLWT: Secret Shots
Another reason this issue relates to Lyme/MSIDS patients is that the current two-tiered testing omits specific bands WB (IgM 2/3; IgG 5/10), from the Western Blot that would show a borrelia (Lyme) infection due to the marketing of the Lyme vaccine which they peddled with disastrous results with many developing chronic, persistent symptoms.
https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/06/09/medicine-is-behind-the-times-when-it-comes-to-treating-lyme/ The Lyme ELISA used for screening may not react with serum antibodies if at least a month has not elapsed between the tick bite and the test. If antibodies do develop, research in the Journal of the American Medical Association7 has shown that the antigen and the antibody produced by the patient can form a complex.Current commercial tests can only test for a free antibody, not an antibody in a complex, so patients can remain undiagnosed despite having produced antibodies.
Perhaps most noteworthy is that FDA-cleared commercial serological tests are based on one strain of Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria in contrast, for example, to a 2-strain Lyme test developed by one independent Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-approved lab. The recent discovery by Mayo Clinic/CDC of the Borrelia mayonii species in the Midwest, which can also cause Lyme, and the acknowledgement that Borrelia miyamotoi, a spirochete closely related to the relapsing fever bacteria and more distantly related to the Lyme bacteria, causes a Lyme-like disease in the United States, means Ixodes scapularis ticks transmit all three of those bacteria, further clouding the diagnostic picture. (And, isn’t picked up at all with current CDC testing) https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-sci-testing/ Please read this fantastic article about the abysmal testing by Lonnie Marcum of Lymedisease.org.
Rather than deal with the multitude of issues, the CDC vilifies small, CLIA certified labs that produce tests far more sensitive, train doctors to think the same, and announce that while on one hand it’s much better to treat Lyme/MSIDS quickly, they take a “wait and see” approach waiting for the results of their mandated abysmal tests, allowing the patient to become sicker and sicker and far more difficult to treat, and completely ignore co-infections such as Bartonella, Babesia, Mycoplasma, viruses, nematodes, and many more. They then announce that IV antibiotics are too dangerous to use on Lyme/MSIDS patients due to a case report of 5 people that demonstrate the dangers of IV treatment of this group are no different than any other group of patients with different diseases, yet Lyme/MSIDS is purposely singled out and targeted.
The CDC denies worldwide literature on TBI’s and disallows publication of any research that doesn’t fit their dogma: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/13/lyme-science-owned-by-good-ol-boys/ Excerpt: Sin Lee, a pathologist and scientist who directs Milford Molecular Diagnostics, is speaking out about it as he has received numerous publication rejections when he attempted to rebut the oft repeated dogma that has ruled the medical world for decades regarding tick borne illness. Lee believes the current standard advises doctors to take a “wait and see” approach and postpone treatment in patients until diagnosis can be confirmed by serologic tests.
Similarly to the anthrax vaccine, and true to form, the powers that be keep pushing a Lyme Vaccine despite the lack of safety and former devastating results:
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/28/business/sole-lyme-vaccine-is-pulled-off-market.html Did you know that the LYMERIX vaccine which was pulled off the market due to “poor sales” caused 640 emergency room visits, 34 life threatening reactions, 77 hospitalizations, 198 disabilities, and 6 deaths? In a vile cesspool of conflicts of interest are university patent holders, drug companies, and the FDA itself as another patent holder. It generated 40 million dollars before it was yanked. (2008, Drymon) http://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/lymerix One doctor stated that 21 patients developed severe arthritis after receiving the LYMERIX vaccine. http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/index.php/about-lyme/controversy/vaccine/261-lymerix-meeting“Given that Dr. Marks lead the clinical trials for Lymerix’s competitor, the OspA vaccine produced and then abandoned by Aventis Pasteur, his conclusions mean a lot. “In my opinion,” he told FDA officials, “there is sufficient evidence that Lymerix is causally related to severe rheumatologic, neurologic, autoimmune, and other adverse events in some individuals. This evidence is such as to warrant a significantly heightened degree of warnings and possible limitations or removal from marketing of Lymerix.”
Yet the media: makes no mention of Dr. Offit’s glaring conflict of interest: Offit is the patent holder of the RotaTeq vaccination, a vaccine which is mandated by the CDC, and presumably provides Offit with millions in income each year. Clearly, he has a vested interest in insisting that as many people as possible should be vaccinated.
Essentially, the CDC keeps belching out that everything is fine in Mayberry and it’s all in our heads.
Researchers at the University of Basel’s Biozentrum have discovered that Bartonella bacteria exchange genes efficiently using a domesticated virus encoded in their genome. As the findings published in Cell Systems demonstrate, the exchange of genetic material only takes place between bacteria with a high level of fitness. The gene transfer between pathogens prevents the accumulation of genetic defects, promotes the spread of beneficial gene mutations and thus keeps the bacteria fit.
Bartonella are bacteria that can cause diverse infectious diseases in man, such as cat-scratch disease. In order to prevent the accumulation of mutations during the infection cycle, pathogens require efficient DNA repair mechanisms. Therefore, the sharing of intact genes within bacterial populations plays an important role, as errors in the gene pool can be eliminated and the genetic material kept fresh.
In collaboration with the ETH Zurich Prof. Christoph Dehio’s team at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has discovered that for the efficient exchange of genes Bartonella use virus-like particles, so-called gene transfer agents. They also demonstrated that damaged bacteria are excluded from this gene transfer process and so it is much less likely that detrimental genetic material is spread in thepopulation.
Gene transfer using domesticated viruses
Gene transfer agents evolved as derivatives of bacteriophages, viruses that attack bacteria. However, other than bacteriophages packing their own genome they package random pieces of the bacterial genome and transfer these to other bacteria. Using these domesticated bacteriophages, bacterial populations can efficiently exchange DNA fragments. This type of gene transfer, however, comes at a high price: The fraction of the bacterial population that produces gene transfer agents dies while releasing the particles. But what are the advantages for the surviving bacterial population that takes up the gene fragments?
As the bacterial populations grow, bacteria divide regularly. For each cell division, the genome is duplicated and passed on to the two daughter cells. Errors creep in regularly during this recurrent process. Only efficient repair mechanisms, including the exchange of flawless genetic material, can prevent the accumulation of genetic aberrations. In short: The genetic material is kept fresh.
“A further evolutionary advantage of gene transfer agents is the spread of new genetic material throughout the bacterial population, endowing it with new properties. This may also include antibiotic resistance,“ explains Dehio. But this survival advantage for bacteria means, on the other hand, a threat to humans.
Only the fittest bacteria transfer genes
It has long remained unknown how the exchange of genetic material between bacteria using gene transfer agents works and how it is regulated. In their study, Dehio’s team has comprehensively identified the involved components. In particular, stress signals are key players in this process. Only bacteria in good condition exchange genetic material, whereas bacteria stressed as a result of unfavorable gene mutations do not transfer genes.
“In other words only the fittest and genetically most promising bacteria in a population divide and exchange genetic material. In genetically weakened and therefore stressed bacteria this mechanism is switched off,” says Maxime Québatte, the first author of the study.
The sharing of intact genetic materialendows the fittest part of a bacterial population to persist in the host and to be passed onto new hosts successfully. This knowledge may, in turn, be used to develop new strategies to combat infections caused by the pathogen Bartonella.
More information: Maxime Québatte et al. Gene Transfer Agent Promotes Evolvability within the Fittest Subpopulation of a Bacterial Pathogen, Cell Systems (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2017.05.011
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate the association between suicide and Lyme and associated diseases (LAD). No journal article has previously performed a comprehensive assessment of this subject.
Introduction: Multiple case reports and other references demonstrate a causal association between suicidal risk and LAD. Suicide risk is greater in outdoor workers and veterans, both with greater LAD exposure. Multiple studies demonstrate many infections and the associated proinflammatory cytokines, inflammatory-mediated metabolic changes, and quinolinic acid and glutamate changes alter neural circuits which increase suicidality. A similar pathophysiology occurs in LAD.
Method: A retrospective chart review and epidemiological calculations were performed.
Results: LAD contributed to suicidality, and sometimes homicidality, in individuals who were not suicidal before infection. A higher level of risk to self and others is associated with multiple symptoms developing after acquiring LAD, in particular, explosive anger, intrusive images, sudden mood swings, paranoia, dissociative episodes, hallucinations, disinhibition, panic disorder, rapid cycling bipolar, depersonalization, social anxiety disorder, substance abuse, hypervigilance, generalized anxiety disorder, genital–urinary symptoms, chronic pain, anhedonia, depression, low frustration tolerance, and posttraumatic stress disorder.
Negative attitudes about LAD from family, friends, doctors, and the health care system may also contribute to suicide risk. By indirect calculations, it is estimated there are possibly over 1,200 LAD suicides in the US per year.
Conclusion: Suicidality seen in LAD contributes to causing a significant number of previously unexplained suicides and is associated with immune-mediated and metabolic changes resulting in psychiatric and other symptoms which are possibly intensified by negative attitudes about LAD from others. Some LAD suicides are associated with being overwhelmed by multiple debilitating symptoms, and others are impulsive, bizarre, and unpredictable. Greater understanding and a direct method of acquiring LAD suicide statistics is needed. It is suggested that medical examiners, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other epidemiological organizations proactively evaluate the association between LAD and suicide.
Besides suicides, Bransfield estimates around 14,000 incidents of self-harm and 31,000 suicide attempts may be attributed to Lyme and associated diseases each year. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/07/19/how-lyme-disease-might-triggering-hundreds-suicides/493934001/ “It’s a constant action that comes up and isn’t adequately addressed in the scientific literature,” Bransfield said. “… Failure to adequately diagnose, failure to adequately treat and the progression of the disease over a span of many years often leads to suicide.”
