Archive for the ‘Transmission’ Category

Microbiology Professor – “I’m Convinced Lyme Disease is Transmittable From Person to Person”

http://www.endowmentmed.org/pdf/endowmentupdatelymes2.pdf

lida-thumb  Dr. Lida Mattman

In this 2006 blast from the past, Dr. Lida Mattman, PhD, and author of “Cell Wall Deficient Forms:  Stealth Pathogens,” states,

“I am convinced that Lyme Disease is transmittable from person to person.”

Mattman has been able to recover live spirochetes of Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) from mosquitos, fleas, mites, semen, urine, blood, spinal fluid, and tears, indicating the potential to be spread on hands person to person. 

To watch her 2006 presentation:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/02/transmission-of-lyme-disease-lida-mattman-phd/  Transcript included.

In the 90’s, Mattman obtained positive cultures for Bb in 43 out of 47 chronically infected people.  All with Parkinson’s & Alzheimer’s had Bb, and many with MS and ALS had it.

This has been substantiated clinically as well

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Quite recently live Bb was found in a genital lesion of a chronically infected female patient:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/11/lyme-found-in-genital-lesion-sexual-transmission-studies-screaming-to-be-done/  Key Quote:

“Our findings demonstrate the complexity of Lyme disease,” said Fesler, a lead author of the published study. “It explains why the disease is more common than one would think if only ticks were involved in transmission.”

Why isn’t an alarm being spread throughout the land?
Because this information isn’t new.  It just keeps getting buried and ignored.

Mattman and her colleague, Dr. Joanne Whitaker, a victim of Lyme disease since childhood, developed a direct test for Bb and were the first to identify the cell wall deficient form of the spirochete.  Interestingly, the CDC has made 2-tier blood serology testing for Lyme a literal mandate, purposely avoiding direct detection:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/04/03/cdc-deliberately-avoids-direct-detection-testing-methods-for-ld/

There’s a long & sordid history of serology testing for Lyme:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/04/03/cdc-deliberately-avoids-direct-detection-testing-methods-for-ld/  Excerpt:

It would appear that there has been a deliberate avoidance of direct detection methods and it is believed that these efforts are to insure that the current thirty year dogma remain intact.

We have a dire need to develop rapid detection methods for a serious growing health threat which has the ability to disable its victim as described in the attached letter addressed to the previous Director of the CDC. (Please see attachment in link)

I would like to point out that employees of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control hold patents on metabolomics (Lyme tests).

CDC Employee Patent:  https://www.google.com/patents/EP2805168A1?cl=en

For nearly four decades now the only FDA approved test for Lyme disease is the indirect two-tiered antibody test. Direct detection methods to identify the causative agent responsible for the disease have been avoided, criticized and shelved.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/12/16/laboratory-testing-for-lyme-disease/  Direct detection laboratory testing (DNA/PCR Sequencing) is used for many infections (Ebola (1), Zika (2), Bartonella (3) etc.) but not Lyme disease.

The shenanigans don’t end there:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/13/suppression-of-microscopy-for-lyme-diagnostics-professor-laane/  Excerpt:

After publishing the 2013 article ‘A simple method for the detection of live Borrelia spirochetes in human blood using classical microscopy techniques’, professor Laane was invited to give a lecture at the 2014 Norvect conference in Oslo. An English patient saved the pdf, so you can still read it, via the link provided.

I was present at that conference and still remember how nervous he was. The reason was that several medical professors complained to his university. He was threatened with losing his job, if he would speak at the conference.

In fact, he did not literally speak – as you can see in the movie below – but used performing arts to show the slides of the spirochetes. Professor Laane was fired anyway and his laboratory was closed down.

According to Lyme patient and advocate Carl Tuttle:
“The CDC is responsible for the current Lyme disease crisis where patients cannot obtain a timely diagnosis through accurate early detection.”
For a great read on Lyme testing:  https://www.lymedisease.org/lyme-disease-test/  In this article you will read that most testing for Lyme is indirect.  Serology testing looks for antibodies to the organism. Another great read:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/12/paving-the-way-for-better-lyme-diagnostic-tests/
 “These serologic tests cannot distinguish active infection, past infection, or reinfection.”

In plain English, these tests don’t show squat, yet have ruled Lyme-land for 40 years like the Iron Curtain.

WHY?

For those of you new to this game, the CDC/IDSA/NIH has spread malicious information about smaller labs that specialize in virology and bacteriology and are CLIA certified, one of the toughest certification standards a lab can undergo.  On their website, the CDC has called these labs, “home-brewed.” They control testing by stating it must be FDA approved.  I actually attended a public meeting at the WI capital where a pediatric doctor quoted right off the CDC website and called the IgeneX Lyme test, “Home-brewed.”  https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6315a4.htm

“Often these are laboratory-developed tests (also known as “home brew” tests) that are manufactured and used within a single laboratory and have not been cleared or approved by FDA. Recently, CDC has received inquiries regarding a laboratory-developed test that uses a novel culture method to identify Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete that causes Lyme disease. Patient specimens reportedly are incubated using a two-step pre-enrichment process, followed by immunostaining with or without polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. Specimens that test positive by immunostaining or PCR are deemed “culture positive” (2). Published methods and results for this laboratory-developed test have been reviewed by CDC. The review raised serious concerns about false-positive results caused by laboratory contamination and the potential for misdiagnosis (3).  CDC recommends that laboratory tests cleared or approved by FDA be used to aid in the routine diagnosis of Lyme disease. A complete searchable list of such tests is available online (4).”

I can only guess what it costs a lab to go through the FDA process. Let’s just say these small specialty labs have had it rough.  They have fought tooth and nail just to keep their doors open.

Besides requiring FDA approval, the CDC has also arbitrarily set the criteria of requiring  5 out of 10 bands for a positive test result.

According to Dr. Waisbren, an IDSA founder, in his illuminating book, “Treatment of Chronic Lyme Disease: 51 Case Reports and Essays in Their Regard,” he states,

“The Western Blot studies, which are essentially antibody studies, do seem to be the most positive finding in clinical Lyme disease, but setting an arbitrary level of these antibodies to diagnose a disease that has not been amenable to Koch’s postulates seems open to question.  By the same token, ignoring antibody results unless they meet arbitrary levels seems suspect.  The vast majority of patients in this series showed some Western blot antibody exposure, but many did not meet the arbitrary limits set.”  

And then wisely states,

“We all must remember that in our preset state of knowledge, the diagnosis of Lyme disease is a clinical one.”

This was all written in 2011, yet the only FDA “approved” testing is STILL the abysmal and arbitrary 2-tiered blood serology which only detects antibodies to the organism.

One gets the distinct feeling the CDC wants to control how many patients are accurately diagnosed.
Oh, and also collect money on tests they have patents on.

Little to no work has been done on the transmission of the organism.  Animal studies and the warnings of experienced microbiologists on the potential of human to human transmission since the 80’s have been completely ignored.  Even Canada has recognized congenital transmission:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/05/canada-acknowledges-maternal-fetal-transmission-of-lyme-disease/, largely because a group of women led by a nurse with congenitally infected children pushed the point and collected 33 years of data showing it:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/19/33-years-of-documentation-of-maternal-child-transmission-of-lyme-disease-and-congenital-lyme-borreliosis-a-review/

Here’s another example of work done way back in the 80’s which found Bb in a baby which died during the first week of life due to congenital heart disease which found Bb in the spleen, kidneys, and bone marrow.  The mother developed Lyme during the 1st trimester:  https://experts.umn.edu/en/publications/maternal-fetal-transmission-of-the-lyme-disease-spirochete-borrel

Do we seriously have to battle a chronic illness and keep doing ALL the work by ourselves?

The best description I’ve heard is that Lyme is a, “do it yourself” disease. Very accurate description.

For more on ancient animal studies showing various transmission routes:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/02/24/pcos-lyme-my-story/

Until these issues are fully and transparently dealt with, we can spray and check for ticks all the day long but still not address the very practical issue of other ways people are getting infected.

Lida H Mattman, PhD, has spent seven decades studying the different forms that bacteria can take. Her contributions to medical science can be summarized best by noting that in 1998 she was nominated for the highest honor attainable in her profession: The Nobel Prize in Medicine. Professor Mattman graduated with a M.S. in Virology from Univ. of Kansas and a Ph.D. in Immunology from Yale. She has taught Immunology, Microbiology, Bacteriology, Virology, Pathology, and for 35 years worked in these fields at various schools and institutions including Harvard Univ., Howard Hughes Institute, Oakland Univ. and Wayne State Univ. where she is Professor Emeritus. She is currently working for the Nelson Medical Research Institute studying the relationship between spirochetes involved in MS, Lyme disease, and ALS.

Category:

Lyme, research, Testing, Transmission

Diagnosis of Lyme Disease – Johns Hopkins

https://www.hopkinslyme.org/lyme-disease/diagnosis-of-lyme-disease/

Diagnosis of Lyme Disease

Many cases of Lyme disease are initially misdiagnosed. Lyme disease can be difficult to diagnose because early symptoms of fever, severe fatigue, and achiness are also common in many other illnesses. In addition, diagnostic blood tests are not always dependable, particularly in early disease. However, the round expanding red lesion rash is a unique sign that is more specific for Lyme disease, and many times a diagnosis can be made based on the tell-tale erythema migrans rash itself. Yet, it is important to understand that the erythema migrans rash is not always present or recognizable, and symptoms can fluctuate.

Think the Lyme disease rash is always a bull’s-eye? Think again.
Think it’s a spider bite? Think again.
Please refer to our poster of varied rash manifestations as a helpful Lyme disease rash identification tool.

Recognizing the Lyme disease erythema migrans rash can be crucial to early diagnosis and treatment.

Despite common belief, the stereotypical ring within a ring bullseye rash is only present in a minority of Lyme disease patients. Instead, the majority of Lyme disease rashes are uniformly red or blue-red and do not have a central clearing or bullseye. Sometimes the site of the tick bite is clearly visible in the center of this lesion. The erythema migrans rash is almost always round or oval and expands over days to a diameter greater than 2”. The Lyme rash is often confused with a spider bite, despite spider bites not expanding in this way.

Though less common, blisters may appear in the center of a Lyme disease rash and can be mistaken for a spider bite or the rash of shingles.

It is important to note that not all infected tick bites successfully transmit Lyme disease. Tick bite reaction may occur due to skin reactions to substances from the tick bite and may be confused with the rash of Lyme disease. Tick bite reactions may last days to weeks, but unlike the Lyme disease rash, tick bite reactions remain small, do not enlarge, and are not associated with fever or other systemic symptoms.

A typical tick bite site reaction is dime-sized or smaller and does not enlarge each day like the erythema migrans rash of Lyme disease.

Bacteria from the Lyme disease rash can disseminate through the bloodstream and create new erythema migrans skin lesions at other sites distant from the initial bite.

What are the Systemic Symptoms of Lyme Disease?

Systemic symptoms of Lyme disease include:

  • Severe fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, neurologic symptoms and cognitive impairment
  • Cardiac problems, including life-threatening inflammation of the heart called carditis
  • Facial palsy, meningitis, and headaches
  • Swollen knees and Lyme arthritis

How do you diagnose the later stages of Lyme Disease?

Disseminated Lyme disease, due to unsuccessful or delayed treatment, can become disabling. The bacteria can leave the skin where it was initially inoculated by the tick and travel through the bloodstream to numerous systems of the body, primarily joints, heart, brain, muscles and the nervous system.

Late disseminated Lyme disease has a wide range of presentations including joint pain, extreme fatigue, neuromuscular pain, cardiac problems, headaches, and other central nervous system dysfunction. There are some distinguishable signs of later stage Lyme disease including facial palsy in the second stage, and swollen knees in the third stage that are somewhat specific for Lyme disease, but not absolutely, because there are other causes of Bell’s Palsy and swollen knees.

Diagnosis can be confirmed by serology blood tests which measure the antibodies that are formed by the immune system in response to the Lyme disease bacterial infection. Collection of cerebrospinal fluid by lumbar puncture may be indicated in neurologic cases that may involve the central nervous system.

Can you use a serology test to diagnose during the first stage of Lyme disease?

Serology antibody tests are generally more helpful for second and third stages of Lyme disease than first stage Lyme disease. Antibodies take weeks to develop, and if the initial presentation of Lyme disease is in the early stage those antibody tests may be falsely negative because the immune system has not yet had enough time to produce antibodies. If a physician is suspicious of Lyme disease but cannot make a diagnosis by the rash, then the antibody test in that first stage should be repeated 3 to 4 weeks later since a Lyme disease diagnosis can be missed with a false negative test in the first few weeks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends measuring antibodies by using a two-tier testing process. If an ELISA test is positive, it is then followed by a Western blot test. However, this system can produce some false positive results and high numbers of false negative results, particularly in early infection.

In addition, the immune response to borrelia is heterogeneous, and not all cases are captured by current antibody-based diagnostics. Antibody testing can also be a problem in patients with early disease who are treated with antibiotics. In these cases, a follow up antibody test done after treatment may be negative and never turn positive.

Thus, a negative antibody test does not necessarily rule out Lyme disease and should always be considered in the context of a full health history and clinical assessment.

Current problems with Lyme disease diagnosis & patient care

  • Diagnostic tests cannot yet accurately identify the earliest stage of Lyme disease when making the diagnosis is crucial.
  • The rash is not always present or easily recognized
  • Misdiagnosis and delayed diagnosis can make Lyme disease more difficult to treat and lead to prolonged and debilitating illness
  • Early symptoms can be mistaken for a summer flu
  • Lyme disease can involve several parts of the body, including joints, connective tissue, heart, brain, and nerves, and produce different symptoms at different times.
  • Antibody testing done after early treatment may be negative and never turn positive for some cases
  • Borrelia burgdorferi can evade our protective immune system and trigger immune system dysfunction.
  • No reliable blood test is presently available to measure treatment success, necessitating close clinical follow up and improved physician education.
  • Presently there is no vaccine to prevent Lyme disease.

What is the difference between this “indirect” blood diagnostic test and a “direct” test?

Direct diagnostic tests measure the presence of the bacteria directly and are much more reliable than tests looking for indirect measurement of antibodies that measure a person’s immune response to an infection. Lyme disease diagnoses and disease management would benefit from validated diagnostic tests that directly measure the infection such as a culture, PCR test, or antigen detection tests. Those are the kind of tests relied on in the management of other infectious diseases like HIV, hepatitis C or strep.

Does the time of year matter in the diagnosis of Lyme disease?

Since Lyme disease is a tick-borne infection, the seasonality of the disease is linked tightly to the life cycle and behavior of ticks. May, June, July, and early August are the biggest risk months for acquiring first stage Lyme disease in the US. This is the feeding time for nymph and adolescent ticks which are difficult to see. A viral-like illness in those early summer months might be Lyme disease. There is also some transmission of Lyme disease via adult ticks in the fall and winter and throughout the year anytime the temperature is above 40 degrees, but to a lesser degree.

The risk of acute Lyme disease is more of a year-round risk in more temperate regions such as northern California and the pacific northwest. Later stage Lyme disease, however, can manifest at any time.

Is Johns Hopkins trying to discover new ways to diagnose Lyme disease more directly?

Our Center is working on identifying biomarkers to improve diagnostics and to measure treatment success. Our research also supports the advancement of direct diagnostic tests to directly identify the Lyme disease bacteria.

USE OF THIS SITE

All information contained within the Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Research Center website is intended for educational purposes only. Physicians and other health care professionals are encouraged to consult other sources and confirm the information contained within this site. Consumers should never disregard medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something they may have read on this website.

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**Comment**

Fairly accurate article but deceiving at the same time.  A few points for consideration:

  1. The emphasis on having a rash is hurting patients. In the first ever patient sample in Lyme, Connecticut, only a quarter had a rash. The percentages vary from 25-80%. Hardly a done deal.  While the rash IS diagnostic for Lyme, not having the rash means NOTHING.
  2. I’m thankful the author states it can disseminate quickly.  This can happen far quicker than mainstream medicine cares to admit.  Case in point:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/12/07/igenex-presentation/  Within 4-6 hours after tick bite, little girl develops facial palsy and can’t walk or talk. That’s quick.
  3. Treat each and every tick bite as seriously as a heart attack.  This “wait and see” approach has been dooming patients for decades. To wait for a rash to enlarge is pure folly.  Everyone knows and admits early treatment is everything, so why are we WAITING?
  4. The symptoms listed don’t do this monster justice.  People can have severe psychological dysfunction (hallucinations, memory loss, anxiety, rage, and much more).  Please quit putting this into a 1 minute sound bite.
  5. Can we quit talking about the use of abysmal serology testing?  Seriously, throw that sucker into the trash can. We need doctors to become educated. Until a better test is created, this is a clinical diagnosis that needs astutely trained doctors.
  6. IT MATTERS NOT what time of year you become ill.  Not ONE iota.  To state otherwise shows a complete under appreciation for this organism.  It can sequester anywhere in the body and pop out at will.  Plus, there’s much to show there is FAR more at play than ticks:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/04/02/transmission-of-lyme-disease-lida-mattman-phd/  My initial symptoms were gynecological and in January in Wisconsin – hardly tick weather, yet, seriously infected I became:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/02/24/pcos-lyme-my-story/  Animal studies have existed since the 80’s showing contact transmission, via urine, congenitally, orally, ocularly, via synovial fluid, cow milk, colostrum, and on and on, yet nobody is touching this.  It’s just the Black legged tick, don’t ya know?
  7. Lastly, even ticks are defying the authorities and going everywhere on the backs of birds:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/  These ticks are chuck full of pathogens and are infecting people with a plethora of things. We need to admit the polymicrobial nature of this and the fact nobody knows what the cumulative effect is on the human body:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/30/study-shows-lyme-msids-patients-infected-with-many-pathogens-and-explains-why-we-are-so-sick/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak in Africa

http://outbreaknewstoday.com/crimean-congo-hemorrhagic-fever-cchf-outbreak-declared-namibia-11626/

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) outbreak declared in Namibia

May 21, 2019
By NewsDesk  @bactiman63

The Ministry of Health and Social Services of Namibia officially declared an outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) on May 6 after reporting a number of cases from different regions of the country.

Namibia
Image/ Alvaro1984 18

As of 15 May 2019, seven suspected cases of CCHF were reported from five regions, including one laboratory confirmed case out of seven samples tested and one death (case fatality ratio 14%).

The Ministry of Health and Social Services detail the cases/locations in the following press statement.

The World Health Organization says CCHF outbreaks have been recurrent in Namibia in the past
two years, with cases reported from Omaheke, Omusati and Kharas regions. The last recorded outbreak occurred in March 2018 in Kharas region, where one fatal confirmed case was reported.

The current outbreak arises in the context of a national drought emergency that can intensify the risk of transmission and geographical spread of the disease, with livestock movements from arid to less dry areas, if mitigating measures are not implemented in a timely manner.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever is a widespread disease caused by a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family. The CCHF virus causes severe viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks, with a case fatality rate of 10–40%.

Animals become infected by the bite of infected ticks and the virus remains in their bloodstream for about one week after infection, allowing the tick-animal-tick cycle to continue when another tick bites. Although a number of tick genera are capable of becoming infected with CCHF virus, ticks of the genus Hyalomma are the principal vector.

The CCHF virus is transmitted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected animal blood or tissues during and immediately after slaughter. The majority of cases have occurred in people involved in the livestock industry, such as agricultural workers, slaughterhouse workers and veterinarians. Human-to-human transmission is possible.

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For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/14/crimean-congo-the-asian-ebola-virus/

CCHF is transmitted by ticks, though it can also be spread human-to-human.

CCHF is often treated with Ribavirin: http://infectious-diseases-and-treatment.imedpub.com/research-advances-on-epidemiology-of-severefever-with-thrombocytopenia-syndrome-asystematic-review-of-the-literature.php?aid=17986

Ribavirin is reported to be effective for treating Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) infections and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome, but it is still inadequate to judge the effect of ribavirin on SFTS patients because of the study limitation without adequate parameters were investigated [45]. Host immune responses play an important role in determining the severity and clinical outcome in patients with infection by SFTSV.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/19/monster-ticks-found-in-germany-threaten-europe-with-deadly-disease-crimean-congo-fever/

The ticks, known as Hyalomma marginatum have the potential to spread the viral disease Crimean-Congo fever (CCHF).

Symptoms of CCHF include fever, muscle pains, headache, vomiting, diarrhoea, and bleeding into the skin. A QUARTER of those contracting Crimean-Congo fever will die.

https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/crimean-congo/index.html  Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) can be transmitted to humans through infected ticks, animal blood, and infected human blood and/or bodily fluids (so human to human).   CCHF has also been spread in hospitals due to improper sterilization.  Fatality rate in hospitalized patients has ranged from 9-50%.  Being a virus, care is supportive; however, it is sensitive in vitro to ribavirin, an anti-viral drug.  Recovery is slow.

Signs and symptoms:

  • Sudden onset of symptoms
  • headache
  • high fever
  • back pain
  • joint pain
  • stomach pain
  • vomiting
  • red eyes
  • flushed face
  • red throat & petechiae (red spots on palate are common)
  • jaundice
  • mood changes
  • sensory perception
  • severe bruising
  • sever nosebleeds
  • uncontrolled bleeding at injection sites

crimean-congo-fever-1463771

 

Category:

Activism, Ticks, Transmission, Viruses

CDC Creates Interactive Training For Diagnosis, Management of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2019/p0513-rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-training.html

CDC Creates Interactive Training for Diagnosis, Management of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Press Release

For Immediate Release, Monday, May 13, 2019
Contact: Media Relations
(404) 639-3286

 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has created a first-of-its-kind education module to help clinicians recognize and diagnose Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), a sometimes serious and fatal disease spread by the bite of an infected tick.

“Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be deadly if not treated early – yet cases often go unrecognized because the signs and symptoms are similar to those of many other diseases,” said CDC Director Robert R. Redfield, M.D. “With tickborne diseases on the rise in the U.S., this training will better equip healthcare providers to identify, diagnose, and treat this potentially fatal disease.”

The module includes scenarios based on real cases to help healthcare providers recognize the early signs of RMSF and differentiate it from similar diseases. Continuing education credit is available for physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, veterinarians, nurses, epidemiologists, public health professionals, educators, and health communicators.

In 2017, a record number of cases of tickborne spotted fever rickettsiosisexternal icon, including RMSF, were reported to the CDC. While the number of spotted fever cases in 2017 is striking (6,248 cases, up from 4,269 the previous year), fewer than 1% of those cases had sufficient laboratory evidence to be confirmed, pointing to the need to better train health care providers on the best methods to diagnose tickborne diseases.

RMSF is treatable with doxycycline, the antibiotic of choice in people of all ages. Disability and death from RMSF can be prevented when doxycycline is prescribed within the first five days of illness, meaning that early recognition and treatment can save lives. RMSF begins with non-specific symptoms such as fever and headache, and sometimes rash, but when left untreated, the disease can lead to devastating consequences. Severely ill patients may require amputation of fingers, toes, or limbs due to poor blood flow; heart and lung specialty care; and management in intensive care units. Roughly 1 in 5 untreated cases are fatal. Half of those deaths occur within the first 8 days of illness.

For more information about Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other rickettsial diseases:

###
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICESexternal icon

CDC works 24/7 protecting America’s health, safety and security. Whether disease start at home or abroad, are curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats. CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.

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For More:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/10/first-rmsf-death-in-wisconsin/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/14/rocky-mountain-spotted-fever-rmsf/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/16/new-tick-causes-epidemic-of-rmsf/  Excerpt:

It’s usually spread by the American dog tick and the closely related Rocky Mountain wood tick. But in recent years the bacterial infection has also been spread by the brown dog tick — a completely different species.

The researchers were investigating an epidemic of the infection that broke out in the border town of Mexicali starting in 2008. It’s already sickened at least 4,000 people, according to Mexican government estimates. Several hundred have died, and at least four people have died in the U.S. after crossing the border, according to this report and others.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/08/13/severe-case-of-rmsf-had-to-remove-patients-arms-and-legs/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/10/21/all-his-symptoms-pointed-toward-the-flu-but-the-test-was-negative-rmsf-in-connecticut/

Again, testing is abysmal.  Doctors NEED education.

If interested:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/19/calling-all-doctors-please-become-educated-regarding-tick-borne-illness-heres-how/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/06/06/lyme-education-for-healthcare-professionals/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/03/15/global-lyme-alliance-announces-new-partnership-with-delaware-lyme-board-to-help-educate-physicians-about-lyme-disease/

 

Category:

Activism, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Testing, Ticks, Transmission, Treatment

How a Tick Bite Can Give You a Red Meat Allergy

https://www.consumerreports.org/outdoor-safety/how-a-tick-bite-can-give-you-a-red-meat-allergy/

How a Tick Bite Can Give You a Red Meat Allergy

Scientists think that lone star ticks can induce an allergy to red meat. Here’s how to protect yourself.

By Catherine Roberts

A close-up of a lone star tick, and an image of ground beef.

Most of us worry about Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever when getting a tick bite. But different species of ticks can transmit a variety of diseases—and at least one very unusual ailment, scientists have learned: an allergy to red meat.

A growing body of evidence shows that the lone star tick—most prevalent in the southeastern U.S.—could be the cause of an allergy to a carbohydrate known as alpha-gal, which is found in red meat.

Scientists aren’t sure just how common this allergy is. But lone star ticks are spreading—their habitat now extends from the Southeast almost all the way to the Canadian border—which means more people may encounter them. Scientists who study the alpha-gal allergy estimated back in 2013 that more than 5,000 people in the Southeast U.S. alone could have the allergy.

A 2018 study in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology suggests that a meat allergy caused by ticks may be more common than previously known, and could explain some previously unexplained cases of severe allergic reactions.

Here’s what you need to know about this allergy.

What Recent Research Reveals

Initially, scientists connected the dots between lone star ticks and meat allergies because of overlap between the geographic areas where the tick and the allergy were most common, according to an analysis published earlier this year in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Other studies showed that people who had the allergy tended to have a history of being bitten by ticks, or worked in jobs where they were likely to be exposed to ticks.

And in two recent cases reported in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, people who had an allergic reaction to red meat developed hives around the area where they had been previously bitten by a tick.

The 2018 study looked at just one allergy clinic in Tennessee, and found that in cases where they were able to pinpoint the cause, the alpha-gal allergy was behind about a third of anaphylaxis (severe allergic reaction) cases seen there between 2006 and 2016. That’s more than were caused by food allergies to peanuts, shellfish, or others, the researchers found.

Study author Jay Lieberman, M.D., associate professor at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and vice chair of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Food Allergy Committee, is quick to point out that these results do not mean that a third of severe allergic reactions nationwide are due to the effects of lone star tick bites, or that alpha gal is the number one cause of anaphylaxis in the country.

But Lieberman says the clinic has performed similar analyses in previous years, before the alpha-gal red meat allergy was discovered. In those earlier studies, doctors weren’t able to determine a cause for a greater percentage of anaphylaxis cases.

The newer study suggests that a significant number of those earlier cases with an unknown cause may actually have been due to this recently discovered allergy.

Understanding Meat Allergies

It’s not entirely clear to scientists why a bite from a tick could cause a person to develop an allergy to red meat, Lieberman says, or how common such an allergy is. And it doesn’t happen to everybody who’s bitten.

Only some people who’ve been bitten by lone star ticks will develop the antibodies that indicate a possible allergy to alpha-gal, a substance in red meat. Of the people who do develop those antibodies, Lieberman says, some won’t ever show symptoms of an allergic reaction to red meat.

There’s also an intriguing difference between the alpha-gal red meat allergy and every other type of food allergy. Typically, allergic reactions to food occur immediately after exposure, within a few minutes. With an alpha-gal allergy, however, a reaction typically doesn’t start until several hours after eating red meat—which can make it challenging to pinpoint the culprit.

Researchers first linked tick bites to red meat allergies almost a decade ago. But there are still a lot of questions left to answer about why some people develop the allergy and some don’t, how many people have been affected, and why the reaction to red meat is delayed, rather than immediate.

What to Watch For

Early signs of anaphylaxis may include a metallic taste, burning, tingling, or itching of the tongue or mouth, headache, and feelings of fear or confusion. A reaction can progress quickly, and severe symptoms include throat swelling, difficulty breathing, vomiting, diarrhea, and more.

If you think you may be experiencing anaphylaxis, even if you’ve never had an allergic reaction before, you should call 911. (If you know you have an allergy to food, and you experience symptoms of anaphylaxis, especially trouble breathing, wheezing, or throat swelling, you should use an epinephrine auto-injector if you have one.)

When the reaction is under control, talk to your doctor about whether red meat could have been the cause of your symptoms, since some doctors may not be aware of the alpha-gal allergy, suggests Princess Ogbogu, M.D., division director of allergy and immunology at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

There’s no cure for red meat allergy, so if you’re diagnosed, you’ll need to avoid the foods that trigger a reaction. Commonly, that includes various kinds of red meats. But some people can also become sensitive to other items that contain alpha-gal, including dairy, and even, rarely, sweets that contain gelatin or medications derived from animal byproducts.

In some cases, Lieberman says, if people who’ve developed alpha- gal allergies avoid all future tick bites from lone star ticks (or the varieties that cause the allergy in other countries), their levels of the antibodies to alpha-gal may diminish, and the allergy could subside. It’s unknown how common this is, however.

About the Lone Star Tick

Lone star ticks, so named for the white splotch on the backs of adult females, are most common in southern and eastern states. Like other ticks, however, their geographic distribution is expanding, according to Ellen Stromdahl, a retired entomologist from the tickborne disease laboratory of the U.S. Army Public Health Center in Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.

Lone star ticks don’t cause Lyme disease, as a recent analysis that Stromdahl conducted shows. But along with spreading the alpha-gal allergy, they can also transmit the bacteria that cause another disease called ehrlichiosis. Ehrlichiosis can cause fever, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, and, rarely, rash. It’s fatal in about 1.8 percent of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although it can be treated with antibiotics.

A lone star tick is much less likely to carry ehrlichiosis than a blacklegged tick is likely to carry Lyme disease, notes Stromdahl. But lone star ticks are much more aggressive than other common types of ticks in the U.S. “You’re more likely to be mobbed by lone star ticks,” she says, and finding multiple bites is common if you’ve been in their habitat.

Protect Yourself From Ticks

As with any tick bite, it’s important not to panic if you discover one, Lieberman says. “The vast majority in this country and elsewhere who get bitten by ticks don’t develop alpha-gal allergy,” he says.

Still, you can take reasonable precautions to protect yourself from ticks and the diseases—or allergies—they can cause. Here’s what to do:

Wear an effective bug spray if you’re going to be in an area where ticks are common. Lone star and other types of ticks prefer wooded areas, brush, and long grass. Consumer Reports’ insect repellent testing has found that products containing 25 to 30 percent deet provide the most reliable protection. (Check out our top-rated repellents.)

Dress carefully. Wear long pants and long sleeves, and tuck your pants into your socks. Wearing clothing commercially treated with the pesticide permethrin, or treating your clothes and gear with permethrin yourself, is also a good option for additional protection.

Check yourself for ticks at the end of every day you’ve been out in their territory. Taking a shower soon after you come in is a good opportunity to wash away any ticks that may be crawling on your skin without having yet bitten you, and to carefully look for any that have attached. If you find them on you, remove them properly.

Be careful with the clothes you were wearing in tick habitats, Stromdahl recommends. Run them through a cycle in a hot dryer to kill any ticks that may be clinging on, and leave your shoes outside in the sun.

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Activism, Alpha Gal Meat Allergy, Prevention, research, Ticks, Transmission