Archive for the ‘Testing’ Category

As Lyme Disease Expands Its Reach, New Research Offers Hope (But Not Really)

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2809395

Medical News & Perspectives
Climate Change and Health
September 6, 2023

As Lyme Disease Expands Its Reach, New Research Offers Hope

Anita Slomski
JAMA. Published online September 6, 2023. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.15358
JAMA Medical News

Public health warnings about vector-borne diseases in the US are heating up. In a May editorial, scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made a plea for a vaccine against West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquitoes and has no treatment. By midsummer, the CDC reported that as many as 450 000 people in the US may have a meat allergy from the bite of the lone star tick, while other CDC scientists warned that mosquitoes are becoming resistant to the insecticides used in abatement efforts. Mosquitoes struck in August, when public health officials reported 11 cases of locally acquired dengue fever in Florida and Maryland’s first known case of locally acquired malaria in more than 40 years.

Meanwhile, the most common vector-borne disease in the US, Lyme disease, is on the rise.

“Lyme disease is definitely increasing in the US as the environmental niche of the deer tick and deer populations expand,” John N. Aucott, MD, director of the Lyme Disease Research Center at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told JAMA in an interview. The incidence of Lyme disease in the US nearly doubled from 1991 to 2018, from 3.74 cases to 7.21 cases per 100 000 people, based on confirmed cases reported to the CDC. But the true numbers are believed to be much higher.

According to the nonprofit organization Fair Health, US private insurance claims with a Lyme disease diagnosis increased 357% in rural areas and 65% in urban areas from 2007 to 2021. Using insurance claims, the CDC estimates that as many as 476 000 people in the US are diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease each year.

“In the last 20 years, the numbers of Lyme disease have really exploded,” said Linden Hu, MD, director of the Lyme Disease Initiative at Tufts University School of Medicine. “We’ve seen people get Lyme disease just from stopping at a rest stop in Massachusetts. So the number of people at risk is greater than it was before.”

(See link for article)

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**Comment**

There is very little hope within this article.

Summary:

  • Climate change clap trap continues to be regurgitated and blamed for what we are experiencing, despite ticks being ecoadaptive and the last species to die on planet earth.
  • PTLDS is emphasized only due to the fact there is “no known treatment,” so vaccines can be pushed.
  • The article gives false hope by stating the NIH has announced $3.2 Million in funding to support research on PTLDS; however, what isn’t mentioned is this money will do NOTHING to help patients.  It will simply line the pockets of biased, bought out researchers who will continue with the accepted, politically motivated narrative.
  • The falsely low number of 10-20% who continue with lingering symptoms is regurgitated when the number is upwards of 40-60%.
  • Hu managed to mention the fact that persistent infection after treatment is one hypothesis for PTLDS along with immune responses and autoantibodies.
  • And Aucott also managed to mention that due to his magnetic imaging studies which showed there is underlying biology to explain patients’ symptoms, it is not psychosomatic.
  • Of course nothing would be complete without a huge section on vaccines. (This is getting very old)  It’s also a good time to reflect upon the conflict of interest disclosures:

Dr Hu reported having financial relationships with Moderna and Tarsus. Dr Fikrig reported that he is funded by the NIH, the Cohen Foundation, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Emerging Pathogens Initiative. Dr Wormser reported receiving research grants from Biopeptides Corp and Pfizer Inc; being an expert witness in malpractice cases involving Lyme disease; and serving as an unpaid board member of the nonprofit American Lyme Disease Foundation.

  • The article made Lymerix seem like the answer to all of life’s ills when in fact it was yanked off the market for causing Lyme-like symptoms.  To those who tout the narrative, Lymerix, like all other vaccines, is “safe and effective.”  (This too is getting extremely old)
  • But, there’s a new vaccine to save humanity in the pipeline! Yay! This “antitick vaccine” encodes a cocktail of 19 proteins in tick saliva.  What could possibly go wrong?! 
  • Hu is developing lotinaner, used in the veterinary world, of which the FDA has given an alert about potential neurological adverse events, muscle tremors, ataxia, and seizures.
  • Aucott mentioned that the “classic” bullseye rash is a myth as only 20-30% have a bullseye pattern, and that many have no rash at all.  So, sorry all you suckers that didn’t fit in the box, were told you had a spider bite, and sent home empty-handed to suffer in silence.  Oops!
  • Aucott mentons testing problems: test results take 4-8 weeks before an antibody test is definitive, and following treatment – serology results will remain positive.
  • Wormser of course dissuades from prophylactic treatment unless a confirmed deer tick has been attached for 36 hours – the notion of which has been proven to be false.  He’s more worried about staph than people getting Lyme/MSIDS and living a nightmare. Plus, there are other antimicrobials in the toolbox that can be used that wouldn’t promote resistance.
  • Alpha Gal meat allergy is all the rage now because of The Great Reset and the desire to eliminate meat and get us all eating bugs.  A report has even predicted that the next ‘pandemic’ will conveniently come from meat.  It’s a win, win for ‘the powers that be.’
  • The article falsely blames climate change and the Lone Star tick when other ticks are involved, or even NO ticks at all. They have only discovered that tick saliva contains trace quantities of the sugar alpha-gal a known human irritant that many believe induces an allergic response.
  • But alpha-gal is also is used in the manufacture of foods, personal care products, medical devices and drugs — including vaccines.  Source
  • The questions begging to be asked are: why are they putting this known human irritant in things that humans ingest?  And why the sole emphasis on ticks when it’s in plenty of other things including vaccines, and is only believed to be caused by ticks?
It should come at no surprise whatsoever that the media is suddenly pushing a fear narrative over a meat allergy.
Again – right on time.

Category:

Alpha Gal Meat Allergy, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Treatment

First Case Report of Pancreatitis in Lyme Disease

https://researchopenworld.com/first-case-report-of-pancreatitis-in-lyme-disease/

First Case Report of Pancreatitis in Lyme Disease

Publication history

Received: November 14, 2019
Accepted: November 21, 2019
Published: November 25, 2019

Citation

A Baisse, S Parreau, A Abdeh, N Pichon (2019) First Case Report of Pancreatitis in Lyme disease. Internal Med Res Open J Volume 4 (2): 1–2. DOI: 10.31038/IMROJ.2019423

Short Abstract

We report a case of Lyme disease, revealed by pancreatic damage in a 49-year-old man without any medical history. The Lyme disease was revealed by repeated abdominal pain for 4 weeks, a skin lesion of quadricipital region, biological and radiological results showing pancreatic abnormalities.

Case Report

A 49-year-old man, non-alcoholic forest worker, with no past medical history, consulted to the Emergency Department for fever and persistent abdominal pain for a week. The biological results including, C – reactive protein (CRP), lipase, hepatic assessment were normal as well as contrast-enhanced abdominal Computed Tomography (CT). On the day after, the evolution was favorable under symptomatic treatment including nefopam and paracetamol and the patient was discharged from the hospital. One week later, the patient was admitted to the Emergency Department with an identical symptomatology. A posterior quadricipital peeling skin lesion, appeared two weeks earlier according to the patient, was observed (Figure 1a.) A gastroscopy, a colonoscopy, other abdominal CT and biological tests were performed. An inflammation biomarker elevation was observed (CRP: 180 mg/L and hyperleukocytosis: 13.3 G/L) without other biological abnormalities (lipase: 48 UI/L, ALAT: 48 UI/L). The endoscopic examinations and abdominal CT were normal. The patient was discharged from the hospital without any treatment. Half a month later, the patient was admitted to the Emergency Department for the third time and recurrence of the abdominal pain. The clinical examination found a hemodynamic stability, an abdominal pain of the left hypochondrium associated with a cutaneous ulcerative and non-progressive skin lesion in the same region as previously mentioned (Figure 1b.). The biological assessment found a very mild inflammatory syndrome (CRP 86 mg/L, Procalcitonin < 0.2 ng/mL, leukocytes 9.5 G/L), a high lipase level at 1714 IU/L without hepatocellular abnormalities. The third abdominal CT revealed an aspect of pancreatic necrosis with a pseudocyst (6 cm) at the tail of the pancreas, in contact with the splenic hile and the posterior wall of the stomach (Figure 1c.). The patient was hospitalized in Intensive Care Department with the diagnosis of pancreatitis.

On admission, the work-ups looking for the usual causes of pancreatitis (alcohol, gallstones, medications induced, hypercalcemia, traumatic, chemical exposures, hereditary diseases, infections) were negative. Regarding the skin patient’s lesion and anamnesis, the diagnosis of Lyme disease was evoked. His Lyme serology was strongly IgM positive and confirmed by Western Blot. He was treated with ceftriaxone associated with effective analgesic therapy. The clinical and biological course was uneventful and the patient was discharged from the hospital after 3 weeks. The relationship between Lyme disease and acute pancreatitis was strongly suspected.

Discussion

Lyme disease is an endemic zoonosis, transmitted to humans by a tick bite causing a multisystemic impairment due to a Gram-negative bacillus, Borrellia burgdorferi [1]. The disease schematically includes two phases and a polymorphism in clinical manifestations: a primary phase with chronical migrans erythema and articular signs (80% of cases), a secondary phase of heterogeneous and lymphatic dissemination, inaugurated by flu-like symptoms and associating neurological, cardiac or articular signs that could become chronic [2]. Each of these attacks could be inaugural or/and isolated [3]. Concerning the anamnesis, only 30% of patients remember a tick bite [4].

The heterogeneity of presentation in Lyme disease includes the serodiagnosis as a central investigation for confirmation [5]. Hepatic impairment due to Lyme disease, including hepatitis and hepatomegaly, is inconsistent, commonly found in early stage but often asymptomatic and with plasmatic manifestations [6]. A moderate hypertransaminasemia (2 to 3 N) could be noted, predominating on the ALAT. This hepatic biologic involvement is present in 27 to 66% of cases [7]. This can be explained by a systemic, lymphatic migration of the incriminated bacteria and a secondary hepatic sequestration [8]. To our knowledge, this physiopathological evolution to explain liver disorders has never been described for pancreas but is probably similar.

Regarding the treatment of Lyme disease, the cycline are recommended for the uncomplicated forms. An antibiotic treatment with cephalosporins could be considered for cardiac, neurological or complicated cases [2]. The evolution is favorable in 85% of patients, including hepatic acute injuries [9].

In our case, the skin lesion associated with a supposed tick bite, the anamnesis, the absence of other cause of pancreatitis, the favorable evolution under antibiotic treatment and especially the strong positivity of the serology are in favor of a Borrelia burgdoferi infection.

Conclusion

The authors report the first case of pancreatitis revealing a Lyme disease. Clinical, biological and evolutionary findings support the responsibility of Lyme disease in the pathogenesis of our pancreatitis case.  (See link for article and pictures)

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**Comment**

How many patients have had this or similar issues but didn’t have the rash, had negative serology and didn’t fit the other arbitrary standards that mainstream medicine has imposed that thousands of other patients don’t fit?  God only knows.

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing, Treatment

2 Insects, 2 Bites, 1 Patient: A Lyme Disease & Jamestown Canyon Co-infection

https://www.cureus.com/articles/161559-two-insects-two-bites-one-patient-a-lyme-disease-and-jamestown-canyon-co-infection#!/

Two Insects, Two Bites, One Patient: A Lyme Disease and Jamestown Canyon Co-infection

Nicholas S. Weiler • Eric Niendorf • Igor Dumic

Published: June 10, 2023

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.40222

Peer-Reviewed

Cite this article as: Weiler N S, Niendorf E, Dumic I (June 10, 2023) Two Insects, Two Bites, One Patient: A Lyme Disease and Jamestown Canyon Co-infection. Cureus 15(6): e40222. doi:10.7759/cureus.40222

Abstract

Lyme disease (LD) is the most common tick-borne illness across the United States, caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato and transmitted to humans by the bite of infected Ixodes ticks. Jamestown Canyon Virus (JCV) is an emerging mosquito-borne pathogen found mostly in the upper Midwest and Northeastern United States. Co-infection between these two pathogens has not been previously reported since it would require the host to be bitten by the two infected vectors at the same time. We report a 36-year-old man who presented with erythema migrans and meningitis. While erythema migrans is a pathognomonic sign of early localized Lyme disease, Lyme meningitis does not occur in this stage but in the early disseminated stage. Furthermore, CSF tests were not supportive of neuroborreliosis, and the patient was ultimately diagnosed with JCV meningitis. We review JCV infection, LD, and this first reported co-infection to illustrate the complex interaction between different vectors and pathogens and to emphasize the importance of considering co-infection in people who live in vector-endemic areas.

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Category:

Lyme, mosquitoes, research, Testing, Ticks, Viruses

Documentary: Why Am I Still Sick? The Silent Role of Biofilm “Culturing Methods Detect Less Than 5% of all Known Bacteria”

http://  1 hour 30 min

The Silent Role of Biofilm in Chronic Disease

This film explores bacterial biofilm infections and how they cause debilitating illnesses for tens of millions of Americans. People with “sub-clinical infections” suffer for months, years or even decades; others will lose life or limb because of the failure to treat chronic wounds or hospital acquired infections. More than 550,000 patients lose their lives annually because of hospital infections and twice that number will acquire sepsis. The majority of hospital infections involve bacterial biofilms and affect every area of specialized medicine and every part of the human body.

Paradoxically, the applications of biofilm eradication methods are slow to propagate into the many silos of western medicine. With patients and doctors in the dark about what is truly causing chronic diseases, millions of people remain undiagnosed and are denied effective treatments for their medical problems.

This ground-breaking documentary explores a new disease model on a scientific and human level. This film leverages interviews from top clinical experts with patients affected by bacterial biofilms to reach as wide an audience as possible. By breaking down complex topics of biofilm infections to a human level, showing staggering statistics, and using high quality animations, the message becomes accessible, compelling and obvious: biofilm infections are a gargantuan problem that has been overlooked by American society, and we as a nation are paying a terrible price.

However, with the advent of new molecular diagnostics, and a new way to understanding disease, Americans can effectively catalyze credible healthcare change by sharing this information that helps eliminate needless suffering, save lives and reduce the costs of health care.

Why Am I Still Sick? https://whyamistillsick.com/

Please donate to our foundation: https://www.adrsupport.org/donations/

John G. Thomas, MS, Ph.D. International Educator and Global Microbiologist Professor, WVU Dept. of Pathology, School of Medicine Clinical Professor, WVU Dept. of Periodontics, School of Dentistry Director(s) WVU High Complexity Laboratory & Biofilm Research Laboratory for Translational Studies

J. William Costerton, Ph.D. “The Father of Biofilms” Director, Microbial Research, Department of Orthopedics, Allegheny General Hospital Director, Biofilm Research, Center for Genomic Sciences, Allegheny-Singer Research Institute

Dr. Randy Wolcott, MD CWS Medical Director, Southwest Regional Woundcare Center Founder, Pathogenius Laboratories Timothy K. Lu, M.D., Ph.D. Assistant Professor Synthetic Biology Group MIT Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science MIT Synthetic Biology Center

Wilmore C. Webley, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Department of Microbiology University of Massachusetts Amherst

Vincent A. Fischetti, Ph.D. Professor and Chairman Laboratory of Bacterial Pathogenesis and Immunology The Rockefeller University

Michael Wilson, GRSC, MSc, PhD, DSc, FRCPath Professor of Microbiology Eastman Dental Institute, University College London

David C. Kennedy, DDS Past President International Academy of Oral Medicine and Toxicology

Doyle Williams, DDS Chief Dental Officer Delta Dental of Massachusetts

Eva Sapi Ph.D. Associate Professor and University Research Scholar Director of Lyme Disease Program Department of Biology and Environmental Science University of New Haven

Rodney M. Donlan, Ph.D. Research Microbiologist Biofilm Laboratory Clinical and Environmental Microbiology Branch Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

L. Clifford McDonald, MD Senior Advisor for Science and Integrity Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH, FACE Oral Healthcare Expert Founding Member American Academy of Oral Systemic Health

Trisha E. O’Hehir, RDH, MS Editorial Director of Hygienetown Magazine President of Perio Reports Press

Nicolas G. Loebel, Ph.D. Chief Technology Officer & President Ondine Biomedical Inc.

Kris Koss, D.V.M. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Carlene Patterson, D.V.M. Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Sheep Meadow Animal Hospital Thomas Webster, Ph.D. Associate Professor Division of Engineering and Orthopedic Surgery Director of Nanomedicine Laboratory Brown University

Carolyn Cross Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Ondine Biomedical, Inc.

Steve Holland, MD Chief, Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases Chief, Immunopathogenesis Section National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Garth D. Ehrlich, Ph.D. Executive Director, Center for Genomic Sciences Allegheny-Singer Research Institute

John P. Kennedy, R. Ph., Ph.D Assistant Professor South University, School of Pharmacy Savannah, Georgia

Dr. “Lon” H. Jones, D.O Retired Osteopathic Family Physician Founder, Xlear, Inc. Author, No More Allergies, Asthma or Sinus Infections Tom Masterson Operations Manager Ondine Biomedical, Inc.

Scot E Dowd, Ph.D. Molecular Microbiologist & Microbial Geneticist Molecular Research LP

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Category:

Activism, Biofilm, research, Testing

Chronic Lyme Disease Patients Want to Be Treated, Not “Managed” By Physicians

https://danielcameronmd.com/recommendations-to-clinicians-on-how-to-handle-chronic-lyme-disease-patients/

CHRONIC LYME DISEASE PATIENTS WANT TO BE TREATED, NOT ‘MANAGED’ BY PHYSICIANS

Over the past month, a series of articles, focusing on multiple aspects of Lyme disease, from pediatric Lyme to chronic Lyme to life after Lyme, have been published in the May and June issues of Infectious Disease Clinics of North America and Clinical Infectious Diseases. The articles echo messages that, for the most part, minimize a disease that impacts hundreds of thousands of people each year — many of whom are children.

By 

“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when open.” This particular quote by Thomas Dewar came to mind after reading an article, Chronic Lyme Disease (1) in the June issue of Infectious Disease Clinics of North America.

In it, the author writes, “the scientific community has largely rejected chronic, treatment-refractory Borrelia burgdorferi infection.” This is based on “the failure to detect cultivatable, clinically relevant organisms after standard treatment.”

The intention of the Chronic Lyme Disease article is evident — convince readers that chronic Lyme disease does not exist, and that antibiotics prescribed for more than 14- to 28-days are of no benefit and most patients have no lingering symptoms.

It is particularly troublesome that the author, Paul Lantos, MD, a Duke University Medical Center researcher, is co-chair on a panel responsible for updating the Infectious Disease Society of America’s (IDSA) treatment guidelines for Lyme disease. Dr. Lantos holds a position not to be taken lightly. The IDSA recommendations will determine, for the most part, the types of treatment patients diagnosed with Lyme disease will receive.

Additionally, Dr. Lantos includes a section entitled, “Clinical Approach to Patients with Chronic Lyme Disease Diagnosis,” in which he offers suggestions to physicians on how to ‘manage’ patients complaining they have chronic Lyme disease. Recommendations include listening patiently during the consultation and then explaining to the patient why their symptoms are not related to Lyme disease.

“…a certain amount of time must be spent reviewing past experiences and past laboratory tests … then explaining why Lyme disease may not account for their illnesses.”

“Even if chronic Lyme disease lacks biological legitimacy, its importance as a phenomenon can be monumental to the individual patient,” says Lantos. “Many have undergone frustrating, expensive, and ultimately fruitless medical evaluations. And many have become quite disaffected with a medical system that has failed to provide answers.”

Managing patients, who insist they have chronic Lyme disease can be challenging, he warns. This subset of patients can have “great variation in their ‘commitment’ to a chronic Lyme disease diagnosis. Some patients are entirely convinced they have chronic Lyme disease, they request specific types of therapy, and they are not interested in adjudicating the chronic Lyme disease diagnosis.”

Should a clinician have a patient who believes they have chronic Lyme disease, there are several ways to manage the evaluation, he explains. First, “the physician needs to suppress preconceptions or biases about such patients.”

Second, “the process of clinical information gathering in medicine … is no different in the context of chronic Lyme disease. Even if much discussion is centered on chronic Lyme disease.”

And, lastly, “it is of utmost importance to not seem to be impatient, dismissive, or rushed. Many patients who seek care for chronic Lyme disease already have accumulated frustration. … Each patient’s clinical story and personal history is unique and valid, even if one concludes that they do not have Lyme disease.”

For the patients who do remain chronically symptomatic, Dr. Lantos explains, there has been “little evidence of active infection, and their symptoms do not respond to antibiotics any better than to placebo.”

When dealing with complex, chronic illnesses, physicians need to develop a trusting and understanding relationship with their patients. It is impossible for a clinician to provide the highest level of care to their patients, which includes a thorough evaluation, if they enter into the doctor-patient relationship with preconceived notions, not only about an extremely complex disease but about the patient who is reporting the symptoms, which are often subjective.

Should the patient not have any of the three objective signs of Lyme disease — the bulls-eye rash, swollen knee and/or Bell’s Palsy, identifying the infection is dependent on a strong evaluation. Patients want physicians to provide effective treatments. They don’t want to be ‘managed.’

It is time for a new narrative. One that recognizes the complexity of the Lyme spirochete and acknowledges the ineffective simplicity of the ‘one-size fits all’ treatment approach.

References:

  1. Lantos PM. Chronic Lyme Disease. Infect Dis Clin North Am, 29(2), 325-340 (2015).

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**Comment**

Lantos is obviously unaware of this which showed a 70% complete remission of symptoms:   https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2023/07/24/paralyzed-by-lyme-they-were-helped-with-combo-treatments/

Also, it’s imperative to point out that coinfections are rarely taken into consideration, yet chronically infected patients are notoriously coinfected with other pathogens.  The fact they don’t improve is most probably due to the fact they are not treating these coinfections which can be as bad if not worse than Lyme.  Bartonella and Babesia are two such pathogens that can knock you off your feet but require very different medications than Lyme meds.  This is simply never discussed.

My husband and I are two chronically infected patients that have improved vastly with extended antimicrobial treatment.  Without this treatment, I’m not sure either of us would be alive.  I know many others in this boat as well.  We don’t make the research papers because none of us fit the criteria to even enter a study:

These parameters that continue to be used will continue to give a preconceived outcome: no chronic/persistent infection.  It’s circular reasoning of the worst kind that hasn’t budged in over 40 years.

Compare this to Dr. Lee Merritt’s informative talk where she describes experiments done on prisoners in the 1900’s that would see them deliberately infected with the Spanish Flu.

The experiments would see some of the prisoners injected with infected lung tissue from sick or deceased patients, have infected tissue dropped in their eyes, and sprayed in the nose and mouth with infectious aerosols. Others would see mucus taken from critically ill patients and put it into the noses and throats of prisoners. In other parts of the trials, experimenters would take the blood of the sick and inject it into the healthy, to see if it was spread through infectious microorganisms in the blood.

As well as the various fluid exchanges mentioned above, a further part of the experiments saw ten healthy prisoners taken into a hospital for patients who were dying of the disease. There, they were asked to stand over the sick and dying, lean over their faces and breathe in heavily while they exhaled. Just to be sure of exposure, the flu patients would cough into the face and mouths of the prisoners.

Guess what?  Not a single patient in the experiment died of the disease – they didn’t even become ill. 
Ponder this for a moment.  
I mean, what is the likelihood?
Yet, despite this fact, we are told that the Spanish Flu is the most deadly virus on the planet.
According to many experts, this lack of proof of viral infectivity is a big deal but has resulted in a massively lucrative “vaccination” program that only worsens with time – now forcing people to concede to these injections or lose their jobs.
Meanwhile, back in Lymeland, lack of definitive proof stops the show.  Experts claim, “If we can’t see it, smell it, touch it, it doesn’t exist.” 
Anyone with half a brain would see this comparison and acknowledge that something is truly rotten in Denmark.

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Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Treatment, vaccines, Viruses