Forty Years of Evidence on the Efficacy and Safety of Oral and Injectable Antibiotics for Treating Lyme Disease of Adults and Children: A Network Meta-Analysis
Lyme disease (LD) is a heavy public health burden. The most common manifestations of LD include erythema migrans (EM), Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB), and Lyme arthritis (LA). The efficacy and safety of antibiotics for treating LD is still controversial. Thus, we performed a network meta-analysis (NMA) to obtain more data and tried to solve this problem. We searched studies in the databases of Embase and PubMed from the date of their establishments until 22 April 2021. Odds ratios (ORs) were used to assess dichotomous outcomes. A total of 31 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving 2,748 patients and 11 antibiotics were included.
Oral amoxicillin (1.5 g/day)
oral azithromycin (0.5 g/day)
injectable ceftriaxone
injectable cefotaxime were effective for treating LD (range of ORs, 1.02 to 1,610.43)
Cefuroxime and penicillin were safe for treating LD (range of ORs, 0.027 to 0.98)
Amoxicillin was effective for treating EM (range of ORs, 1.18 to 25.66)
Based on the results, we thought oral amoxicillin (1.5 g/day), oral azithromycin (0.5 g/day), injectable ceftriaxone, and injectable cefotaxime were effective for treating LD
Cefuroxime and penicillin were safe for treating LD.
Amoxicillin was effective for treating EM.
We did not observe evidence proving the advantage of doxycycline in efficacy and safety for treating LD, LA, LNB, and EM of children or adults.
We did not have sufficient data to prove the significant difference of efficacy for treating LA and LNB in adults and LD in children, the significant difference of safety of oral drugs for treating LD, and the significant difference of safety of drugs for treating EM.
In short, it describes the harrowing experience of a family trying to help their special needs daughter while she was in the local hospital. An international lawyer with Disabled Rights Advocates and legal counsel to the Truth for Health Foundation describes how if a person goes into the hospital with even a broken arm, they will be tested for COVID, which has an extremely high false-positive rate. If they don’t test positive immediately, they keep testing until they do. Then, the patient is admitted, put on an IV bag with a tranquilizer that lowers their oxygen absorption, which then justifies putting the patient into isolation and on the anti-viral remdesivir and then given morphine and fentanyl while being deprived of nutrition.
COVID protocols are passed down hierarchically from the World Health Organization (WHO) to Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institute of Health (NIH), arising from the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) and Health and Human Services authorization to release funding for the declared pandemic that sets the protocols in motion.
From there, hospitals that are federally funded through Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) use coding tied to NIH and CDC-written protocols. If hospitals take that funding, they must follow those protocols, starting with ICD-10 codes (International Classification of Diseases).
The CDC and NIH protocols are based on the WHO’s 2005 International Health Regulations that directs each of its 196 signatory countries to cede all sovereign powers to the WHO in the case of a declared health emergency.
The WHO then directs the various state health bodies—in this case, the CDC and NIH—on treatment, which is why every country is responding in the same way at the same time globally.
When these protocols are passed down to the hospitals that take funding, under the emergency declaration, patients’ rights are waived under the CMS COVID waiver program in conjunction with the PREP and CARES Act, giving participating hospitals legal immunity.
This is a perfect moment to insert today’s post from a 3rd year law student’s paper advocating for a “federal” solution to Lyme. I will repeat: putting the power into the hands of the few will follow the ‘law of unintended consequences’ and will hurt patients and doctors in the end. COVID is a PERFECT example. Don’t do it!
Further muddying the swamp, two men are suing the city and state of New York for unconstitutional racial discrimination for directing medical providers to consider race in distributing lifesaving COVID treatments. The plaintiffs are ineligible for treatment because they are non-hispanic whites.
Still want to put all the power into the hands of the WHO and the federal government?
Dr. Peterson Pierre explains the reason hospitals are killing COVID patients. The information is a reiteration of the excellent article written by Dr. Vliet. In short, in vast government overreach, the government is paying hospitals to do the wrong things. The problem is so bad, some physicians have formed a new alliance, called the Pandemic Health Alliance and have drafted a “Physicians Declaration” and released it Sept. 12 at a global Covid summit in Rome, Italy.
Hospitals are using what many are terming “The Fauci Death Protocol,” which is essentially remdesivir, ventilators, and even death.
Recently, a video was put out by an attorney explaining how it is very important to plan for the potential of hospitalization and that having legal documents ahead of time could save you a lot of heart-ache.
Many patients have had to resort to the court of law to obtain life-saving treatment; however, some have failed.
On January 24, 2022 Senator Ron Johnson invited a group of world renowned doctors and medical experts to the U.S. Senate to provide a different perspective on the global pandemic response, the current state of knowledge of early and hospital treatment, vaccine efficacy and safety, what went right, what went wrong, what should be done now, and what needs to be addressed long term. This 38 minute video highlights the 5-hour discussion. Click here for the entire event video: https://rumble.com/vt62y6-covid-19-a-…
Listen to doctors who have successfully treated COVID patients.
remdesivir: cost $3,300. FDA relied on ONE trial sponsored by the NIAID, headed by Fauci, which was NOT peer-reviewed, and which enrolled about 1,000 hospitalized COVID-positive patients, half of whom received the drug and the other half a placebo. Fauci announced that the drug “diminishes time to recovery” but doesn’t mention mortality, the true measuring stick. To date, Fauci has not made public his financial relations with the manufacturer, GileadSciences.
The treatment group had a median time to recovery of 10 days
placebo group had a time of 15 days
At 29 days, when monitoring concluded, the treatment group still had a somewhat higher recovery rate, but the difference was no longer statistically significant
Remdesivir is toxic and causes kidney poisoning, fluid in the lungs, organ damage, and death
Remdesivir received EUA designation in 2020 for COVID by the NIH panel, of which 9 had financial tiesto Gilead Sciences – Remdesivir’s manufacturer.
Under EUA designation, a product can not be mandated by law. Patients must provide consent including the facts:
they have a 99.7% chance of surviving COVID without it
their odds of dying increases exponentially if it is administered
odds of survival decrease exponentially when Remdesivir is combined with intubation Source
Convalescent Plasma: cost $5-10K. An unapproved treatment using antibodies from recovered patients.
In February, the FDA limited the treatments to hospitalized patients early in disease who had impaired humoral immunity
In December the FDA revised the EUA again for only patients with immunosuppressive disease or who receive immunosuppressive treatments
Baricitinib: cost $4,800. An FDA approved arthritis drug which had results barely in the range of statistical significance.
Monoclonal Antibody Therapy: cost $1,000-2,000K. While initial research showed it reduced mortality, a December study found it may no longer work on other variants. Only one trial showed reduced hospitalization rates between 45-93% and it appears to still work against Omicron.
A RCT trial using bamlavivimab, a SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing monoclonal antibody in combination with remdesivirdid not improve outcomes among hospitalized patients with COVID.
Sotrovimab, given EUA status, for mild-to-moderateCOVID inadultsandchildren(12yearsofageandolderweighingatleast88pounds) has been found to cause drug-resistant mutationswhich patients can transmit to others. The FDA now is telling 8 states to stop using it.
Tocukuzynab: cost $3,200. Another FDA arthritis drug, EUA was based on four trials.
3 smaller trials showed no statistically significant improvement in recovery time or mortality compared to placebo
one larger UK trial showed 31% mortality in the treatment group vs 35% in the “usual care” group – also near the edge of statistical significance.
Evusheld: cost $10. A non-approved monoclonal antibody treatment only used for prophylactic use in immunocompromised patients or those allergic to COVID shots.
Paxlovid: cost $530 for a treatment. Made by Pfizer, it received EUA in 2021 and is a combo of nirmatrelvir and ritonavir for “mild to moderate” COVID patients with high risk
ZERO studies show it’s an effective or safe COVID treatment, hence the EUA designation
The main outcome measured in the trial used to obtain EUA: proportion of people who were hospitalized due to COVID-19 or died due to any causeduring 28 days of follow-up
The U.S. government has agreed to buy 10 million treatment courses.
It is not authorized for the pre-exposure or post-exposure prevention of COVID-19
It is not authorized in those requiring hospitalization due to severe or critical COVID-19.
Please see this important video that compares ivermectin to paxlovid.
Molnupiravir: cost $700. Made my Merck, it received EUA in 2021 and has been used heavily despite federal guidelines recommending Paxlovid due to accessibility.
It is not authorized for use in patients younger than 18 years of age because it may affect bone and cartilage growth.
It is not authorized for the pre-exposure or post-exposure prevention of COVID-19 or for initiation of treatment in patients hospitalized because benefit has not been observed in people when treatment started after hospitalization due to COVID-19.
the largest trial showed mortality risk decreased between 14-99%
relative risk of hospitalization or death was decreased between 1-51%
this states it only showed 30% efficacy against hospitalization and death
it showed reduced efficacy against the Delta variant
researchers are concerned that due to the fact it induces mutations in a virus, which could lead to new, perhaps more dangerous variants
The U.S. government has agreed to buy 1.7 million rounds of treatment
But in a slick move, the FDA has removed COVID testing requirements to make it even easier to obtain Pfizer (Paxlovid) and Merck (Molnupiravir/Lagevrio) COVID treatments. Now, exposed individuals with signs and symptoms (that look like any other flu-bug), can simply waltz into their doctor’s office and be diagnosed with COVID, even if they have a negative test result: however, they still can not obtain cheap, safe, effective drugs like ivermectin, HCQ, or even vitamin C.
one of the most extensively studied drugs as a potential COVID therapeutic, there are more than 100 studies in 27 countries involving over 129,000 people Source
most of the studies show positive effects, especially early on
a minority were small randomized, controlled trials
the exception was in Singapore with over 3,000 low risk patients showing a 50% reduced risk of symptomatic infection when combined with HCQ, povidone-iodine, zinc, and vitamin C used as a prophyllactic
a meta-analysis of 19 RCTs indicated a risk of death reduction between 38-85%.
A study in Brazil showed a 44% reduction in infection rates, 67% reduction in hospitalization rates, and 70% reduction in mortality.
doctors are suing the FDA for prohibiting ivermectin to treat COVID
courts are getting involved and to date all patients allowed to use it survive yet the Wisconsin Supreme Court has ruled that patients can’t force hospitals to administer it – even when they’ve tried everything else and the patients will die
HCQ: costs $7. The first to receive EUA for hospitalized patients, the anti-viral was “too little, too late” in blocking the virus in the inflammatory phase, but few things work at that stage
nicotine Dr. Lee Merritt suggests chewing Lucy gum whenever you expect to be exposed and/or at the first signs of symptoms and Dr. Bryan Ardis states he will be wearing a 3.5 mg nicotine patch every day for the rest of his life.
Please notice the price difference between approved and unapproved treatments. As they say, “follow the money,” and you will have your answer.
The issue of treatment is critical because if there are effective treatments, it makes the COVID shots null and void, which is why effective treatments are being heavily censored, denied, and banned. Hospitals and professional medical groups are completely in on the scam and are persecuting the doctors that are actively trying to help patients. It’s been a similar story in Lyme-land.
On a personal note, and again this is not a recommendation or treatment advice – I always defer you to your doctor for your own treatment, I’ve now personally seen miraculous results with ivermectin three times. I write about the first time here in the comment section. I used a combination of IV vitamin C, IV ozone, and ivermectin. The second time was in my husband.
The third time was just this past week after I developed what appeared to be a head cold that morphed into laryngitis, making it hard to speak. After fighting it for 5 days I could feel I was losing the battle and took ivermectin at night before bed. Dr. Kory’s group, FLCCC, has increased the dosage for acute, early cases:
0.4–0.6 mg/kg per dose (take with or after a meal) — one dose daily, take for 5 days or until recovered. Use upper dose if:1)in regions with aggressive variants (e.g. Delta);2)treatment started on or after day 5 of symptoms or in pulmonary phase; or3)multiplecomorbidities/risk factors.
and/orHydroxychloroquine(preferred for Omicron): 200mg PO twice daily; take for 5 days or until recovered.
Since I’m taking it on or after day 5, I’m taking the upper dose of .6mg/kg, and since I responded so beautifully to it the first time, I’m omitting HCQ.
I routinely take zinc with selenium, vitamin C, D, a good multi, magnesium, fish oil, niacin, and other nutriceutricals and hormones, supplementing what my body lacks. I’ve also starting sprouting seeds again and also making vegetable smoothies with limited fruit to up my vitamin and mineral uptake.
This time, I also upped the strength of the nebulized hydrogen peroxide treatment by Dr. Levy to 3% and did it 3-4 times a day but was still losing the battle until the addition of ivermectin. Please reacquaint yourself with Dr. Levy’s Rapid Virus Recovery document to read about the treatment: RapidVirusRecovery Levy states 3% is perfectly safe but will work more effectively due to the strength. It did burn a little bit, but wasn’t a deal-killer. If this bothers you, you can add a tad of saline solution as the salt water has a soothing effect.
I can tell you that similarly to the first time I took it, my body immediately responded to the ivermectin. It completely dried me up (had leaking eyes and nose), and felt my immune system back on track fighting within hours of the first dose. Speaking also became easier. I expect nothing but further improvement, just like the last time.
I can definitely see why the ‘powers that be’ are coming against this effective treatment. When I consider the thousands upon thousands that could be alive today had they had access to this, my blood boils. Please share with others. We need to get the word out.
NOTE: Please consult with your healthcare provider if you have questions about whether the COVID-19 vaccine is right for you or the treatment options available to you should you become ill.
To say that these last two years have been overwhelming is a massive understatement. With over 375 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, the virus that has swept the globe continues to be top-of-mind for many people. But despite the rise in numbers, there’s still a lot we don’t know about the long-term effects, the prevalence of and recovery from long COVID, and more specifically, how the virus affects people with Lyme disease.
To help you cope, we’ve rounded up some video insights and perspectives from Dr. Bill Rawls, MD, Medical Director of RawlsMD and Vital Plan to offer suggestions and sort through some of the lingering questions and concerns you may have about the pandemic. In time, we hope emerging research brings about a renewed sense of awareness for people struggling with chronic illness and bears additional healing opportunities for those with symptoms.
1. What Can I Do to Prepare My Body for the Vaccine if I Have Lyme Disease?
To prepare yourself for the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Rawls emphasizes the importance of creating a healing environment to implement to give your body the tools it needs for recovery.
2. Is There a Way to Track Healing from Lyme and Long COVID?
If you’re dealing with the symptoms of Lyme disease, coinfections, and long COVID, it can be a challenge to figure out which illness is causing you to feel lousy. In actuality, there’s a good chance it’s all of them due to an overtaxed, dysfunctional immune system that can no longer keep things in check.
Here, Dr. Rawls explains how the immune system works when invaded by microbes and how that infection can pop up later in life and cause illness.
3. Would Herbal and Detox Protocols be the Same for Lyme and COVID?
Detoxing is a common part of Lyme disease treatment. But what do you do if you’ve been diagnosed with Lyme, then COVID? Do you need to do things differently? Listen as Dr. Rawls discusses natural solutions, including several herbs with a range of antimicrobial and antiviral properties, which may be beneficial for people with both Lyme and COVID.
4. Are People with Lyme at Greater Risk of COVID? Is There Any Data?
In this short video clip, Dr. Rawls discusses the data (or the lack thereof) on whether people with Lyme are at a greater risk of contracting the virus than the general population. As long COVID garners widespread medical, research, and media attention, perhaps more funds will be allocated to similar overlapping conditions like tick-borne diseases and ME/CFS (myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome).
5. What about Herbs for Viruses, Including COVID?
In addition to being vaccinated for COVID, Dr. Rawls shares the type of herbal therapy protocol he’s used to combat viral infections over the last decade. The program includes vitamin C and an array of herbs several times a day to augment the immune system and provide much-needed nutrients and resources to heal.
The Bottom Line
Whether you’re dealing with the symptoms of Lyme disease, COVID, or both, create a healing environment, support your body with herbal therapy, vitamins, and minerals, and take the necessary precautions to give your immune system the support it needs to work toward recovery and better health. But be patient with yourself; healing often takes time, and your immune system is always working on your behalf to make it happen.
Dr. Rawls is a physician who overcame Lyme disease through natural herbal therapy. You can learn more about Lyme disease in Dr. Rawls’ new best selling book, Unlocking Lyme. You can also learn about Dr. Rawls’ personal journey in overcoming Lyme disease and fibromyalgia in his popular blog post, My Chronic Lyme Journey.
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**Comment**
Many great insights in this article; however, I caution you to think long and hard before agreeing to becoming a Guinea Pig in the greatest experiment upon the human populace. A few points of consideration regarding COVID shots:
These mRNA injections, which don’t stop transmission or infection, have caused more adverse reactions and deaths than any other vaccine in the history of VAERS.
Despite the mainstream media and corrupt public health ‘authority’ narrative, “vaccinated” people are in fact dangerous to others by having a false sense of security, yet transmitting the virus and forcing the virus to mutate into different variants. Israel and the UK are perfect examples as severe cases and deaths there are among the “vaccinated”
variants are not as dangerous and are less virulentwhich is always the case in infectious diseases
the epidemic is OVER in manycountries worldwide, yet governments are forcing these injections upon their citizens which is tyranny against medical freedom, which Lyme/MSIDS patients should care about.
the WHO’s statement that herd immunity will be achieved when 80% of the population is “vaccinated” is not based on science and should be considered null and void
immunologist Dolores Cahill states once you’ve been infected and have recovered you have antibodies FOR LIFE
Dr. Bhakdi based on new scientific evidence states:
your immune system is your best defense against SARS-CoV-2
if you have been infected, even if you experienced no symptoms at all, you are immune to all variants
we have already reached herd immunity
there is no scientific reason to vaccinate against SARS-CoV-2
there is no benefit and the rollout must be stopped
a Spanish team has been reportinggraphene oxide entering the brain, and is causing Guillain-Barré syndrome, and that is eating up the myelin, the coating on the nerves
polyethylene glycol. This goes into your brain. It can cross the blood-brain barrier. Normally, it shouldn’t, but it can go and pass into your brain. And there is also this graphene oxide. Basically, everything about this injection is poisonous: not just messenger RNA and spikeprotein, which cause inflammation and can be integrated into your DNA, but also the graphene oxide.
Lyme/MSIDS patients often already struggle with blood issues and hypercoagulation/clotting. The injections also cause this, exacerbating the problem.
And on top of it all, there are many, many effectivetreatments for COVID, thereby nullifying the need for a vaccine.
The question must be asked, why would you purposely beef up your immune system to take a shot(s) that hurts your immune system by causing blood clotting and repeatedchronic inflammation, things that Lyme/MSIDS patients already suffer from?
Severe acute lung injury has few treatment options and a high mortality rate. Upon injury, neutrophils infiltrate the lungs and form neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), damaging the lungs and driving an exacerbated immune response. Unfortunately, no drug preventing NET formation has completed clinical development. Here, we report that disulfiram —an FDA-approved drug for alcohol use disorder— dramatically reduced NETs, increased survival, improved blood oxygenation, and reduced lung edema in a transfusion-related acute lung injury (TRALI) mouse model. We then tested whether disulfiram could confer protection in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection, as NETs are elevated in patients with severe COVID-19. In SARS-CoV-2-infected golden hamsters, disulfiram reduced NETs and perivascular fibrosis in the lungs, and downregulated innate immune and complement/coagulation pathways, suggesting that it could be beneficial for COVID-19 patients.
In conclusion, an existing FDA-approved drug can block NET formation and improve disease course in two rodent models of lung injury for which treatment options are limited.
Disulfiram has previously been associated in observational studies with lowering the risk of infection from SARS-CoV-2, and one study of the drug in human patients with moderate COVID-19 was completed in 2021, but results haven’t yet been posted. A separate trial testing the drug against COVID-19 in humans has not yet been completed.
Other drugs approved for different uses have shown some success against COVID-19, including ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, and fluvoxamine, though U.S. health officials primarily recommend ones such as paxlovid that are specifically approved.
Madison Area Lyme Support Group 