Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

74-Year Old Woman With Triple Tick Attack Podcast

https://danielcameronmd.com/lyme-disease-podcast-74-year-old-woman-triple-tick-attack/  Go here for Podcast

LYME PODCAST: 74-YEAR-OLD WOMAN WITH A TRIPLE TICK ATTACK

Lyme Disease Podcast: 74-year-old woman with a triple tick attack

Welcome to an Inside Lyme case study. I find that the best way to get to know Lyme disease is through reviewing actual cases. In this case study, I will be discussing a 74-year-old woman with a triple tick attack. This case series will be discussed on my Facebook and made available on podcast and YouTube.

By

In this episode, I will be discussing a 74-year-old woman with a triple tick attack.

This case was described in the journal Cureus, written by Kumar and colleagues in 2019.

A 74-year-old woman had underlying medical problems.  She was a smoker with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). She also had hypertension. She was initially treated for pneumonia with ceftriaxone and azithromycin. She was also treated for Babesia.

Her red blood test contained parasites typical of Babesia.  That is, they were able to see a parasite typical of Babesia under the microscope. Babesia is a disease from a parasite found in a deer tick. This is the same deer tick that carries the spirochete that causes Lyme disease.  Over 9% of her red cells contained parasites typical of Babesia.

The doctors added atovaquone for Babesia.  Atovaquone is marked under the name Mepron in the US. The doctors also added doxycycline over concerns that the woman might also be infected with Lyme disease. She was quite ill.  She was also placed on a respirator.  She required medications to raise her blood pressure.

The doctors prescribed erythrocytapheresis due to the severity of her illness and the high number of parasites in her red cells. During erythrocytapheresis, some of the red blood cells are removed and replaced with blood from a donor. The number of parasites dropped from 9 to 5.54 percent, but the woman remained in shock. Her kidneys function worsened, which was believed due to hemolysis.

The woman’s blood test was positive for Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis.

There have been a number of studies showing three or more pathogenic infections in the same tick. 

The doctor made one last antibiotic change.  The doctors changed the treatment for Babesia from atovaquone and azithromycin to clindamycin and quinine.  Clindamycin and quinine are still used for difficult to treat cases of Babesia. She improved enough to take her off the respirator. Her blood counts and kidney function returned to normal after 14 days of treatment.

There have been a number of studies showing three or more pathogenic infections in the same tick.  “The incidence of a three pathogen infection is rare” writes Kumar. In actual practice, I have seen individuals with three pathogens who have not been published.

I support the Kumar’s call for a low level of suspicion; “A low threshold for suspicion should be held for a co-infection when patients exhibit a presentation that would be atypical for single pathogen exposure. A delay in diagnosis can lead to prolonged disease duration and increases the comorbidities associated with the infectious state.”

I agree with the doctor’s concerns with the reliability of testing for Babesia.  Kumar writes,  “A blood smear is the gold standard for the diagnosis of Babesiosis, however, if a patient has a low level of parasitic load, PCR is more sensitive.”

Kumar also raised concerns about the reliability of testing for Anaplasmosis.  Anaplasmosis has been seen in red cells in some patients.  “PCR and serological testing are also available, which are more sensitive than a thin smear.”

Finally, Dr. Kumar advised a longer course of treatment for Babesia.  “In case of immunocompromised individuals who are at risk of relapsing Babesia, treatment for a total of six weeks is preferred, including a period of two weeks after parasites are no longer visible on a thin smear” writes Kumar.

What can we learn from this case?

  1. It is important to look for a tick-borne infection even in patients with an underlying illness.
  2. Patients can suffer from more than one tick-borne infection at the same time.
  3. Their illness can be severe.

What questions does this case raise?

  1. Would Babesia have been discovered without seeing the parasite under the microscope?
  2. What is the best combination of treatment and length of treatment to prevent long-term complications?

TREATING TICK-BORNE DISEASE IN MY PRACTICE

In my practice, each individual requires a careful assessment. That is why I order tests a broad range of tests, including blood counts, liver and kidney function, thyroid disease, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis in addition to tests for tick-borne infections. I also arrange consultations such as neurologists, rheumatologists, and ophthalmologists.

Many patients are complex, as highlighted in this Inside Lyme Podcast series.

We need more doctors with skills diagnosing and treating individuals with more than one tick-borne infection. We could use a reliable test to determine who has a tick-borne infection and when tick-borne infections have resolved. We need to determine the best course of treatment to prevent chronic illness. We hope a professional can use this case to remind them to look for more than one tick-borne infection and treat them accordingly.

We also need to give doctors the freedom to treat these difficult cases without undue interference by colleagues, insurance companies, medical societies, and medical boards.

Inside Lyme Podcast Series

This Inside Lyme case series will be discussed on my Facebook and made available on podcast and YouTube.  As always, it is your likes, comments, and shares that help spread the word about this series and our work. If you can, please leave a review on iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts.

Sign up for our newsletter to keep up with our cases.

References:
  1. Kumar M, Sharma A, Grover P. Triple Tick Attack. Cureus. 2019;11(2):e4064.

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**Comment**

A few details:

  • She was an avid gardner
  • It doesn’t specify if she saw a tick or not.  The title is misleading because it infers she was bitten 3 separate times when in fact 1 tick bite could transmit all 3 pathogens simultaneously.
  • The study states that it is COMMON to be infected with 2 pathogens but that being infected with 3 is rare, but that risk increases in endemic areas (like Wisconsin). It is my experience that infection with 3 pathogens or more in WI is fairly common.
  • Dr. Horowitz recommends treating Babesia for 9 months to a year.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/16/babesia-treatment/
  • They don’t state it but ALL Lyme/MSIDS patients are immunocompromised, which means we typically need longer treatment. Mainstream medicine completely ignores this issue.
  • The study states: A treatment duration of a total of 10 days has been shown to be highly effective in treating both Lyme disease and human granulocytic anaplasmosis [12-13].  I couldn’t disagree more.  The study in reference #12 studied 10 days of treatment to eradicate the EM rash.  It’s common knowledge that the disappearance of EM rash does not mean a systemic infection is eradicated.  In fact, the EM rash has been known to disappear without any treatment what so ever!  The study in reference #13 is really about the increased disease severity in those with Anaplasmosis who had a delay in treatment. The study also admitted that their study may have excluded those with PCR-negative cases as well as the fact they are assuming disease course and severity doesn’t differ with different species.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Category:

Anaplasmosis, Babesia, Lyme, research, Uncategorized

Evaluation of Natural & Botanical Medicines For Activity Against Growing and Non-Growing Forms of B. Burgdorferi (In Vitro)

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmed.2020.00006/full

Front. Med., 21 February 2020 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2020.00006

Evaluation of Natural and Botanical Medicines for Activity Against Growing and Non-growing Forms of B. burgdorferi

Jie Feng1†, Jacob Leone2, Sunjya Schweig3* and Ying Zhang1*
  • 1Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • 2FOCUS Health Group, Naturopathic, Novato, CA, United States
  • 3California Center for Functional Medicine, Kensington, CA, United States

Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease in the US and Europe. Although the current recommended Lyme antibiotic treatment is effective for the majority of Lyme disease patients, about 10–20% of patients continue to suffer from persisting symptoms. There have been various anecdotal reports on the use of herbal extracts for treating patients with persisting symptoms with varying degree of improvements. However, it is unclear whether the effect of the herb products is due to their direct antimicrobial activity or their effect on host immune system.

In the present study, we investigated the antimicrobial effects of 12 commonly used botanical medicines and three other natural antimicrobial agents for potential anti-Borrelia burgdorferi activity in vitro. Among them, 7 natural product extracts at 1% were found to have good activity against the stationary phase B. burgdorferi culture compared to the control antibiotics doxycycline and cefuroxime. These active botanicals include

  • Cryptolepis sanguinolenta,
  • Juglans nigra (Black walnut),
  • Polygonum cuspidatum (Japanese knotweed),
  • Artemisia annua (Sweet wormwood),
  • Uncaria tomentosa (Cat’s claw),
  • Cistus incanus, and
  • Scutellaria baicalensis (Chinese skullcap).

In contrast, Stevia rebaudiana, Andrographis paniculata, Grapefruit seed extract, colloidal silver, monolaurin, and antimicrobial peptide LL37 had little or no activity against stationary phase B. burgdorferi. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of Artemisia annua, Juglans nigra, and Uncaria tomentosa were quite high for growing B. burgdorferi, despite their strong activity against the non-growing stationary phase B. burgdorferi.

On the other hand, the top two active herbs, Cryptolepis sanguinolenta and Polygonum cuspidatum, showed strong activity against both growing B. burgdorferi (MIC = 0.03–0.06% and 0.25–0.5%, respectively) and non-growing stationary phase B. burgdorferi.

In subculture studies, only 1% Cryptolepis sanguinolenta extract caused complete eradication, while doxycycline and cefuroxime and other active herbs could not eradicate B. burgdorferi stationary phase cells as many spirochetes were visible after 21-day subculture.

Further studies are needed to identify the active constituents of the effective botanicals and evaluate their combinations for more effective eradication of B. burgdorferi in vitro and in vivo. The implications of these findings for improving treatment of persistent Lyme disease are discussed.

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**Comment**

Please remember this is in vitro and has not been studied in the human body.

They now say Stevia, Andrographis, Grapefruit seed extract, colloidal silver, monolaurin, and antimicrobial peptide LL37 didn’t do diddly.

And they keep stating that 10-20% go onto suffer with symptoms when that number is completely inaccurate and far too low:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/02/25/medical-stalemate-what-causes-continuing-symptoms-after-lyme-treatment/

Excerpt:

10-20% of Lyme disease patients who are promptly diagnosed and treated with an antibiotic within the first few weeks of infection, still end up with chronic disease. This is PTLDS.

30-40% of Lyme disease patients who have been infected for weeks to months before getting diagnosed, and THEN treated with an antibiotic, still end up with a chronic disease. This subgroup has no specific label but it has been referred to as “chronic Lyme disease,” or CLD.

60% OF LYME PATIENTS END UP WITH CHRONIC SYMPTOMS

Category:

Herbs, Lyme, research, Treatment, Uncategorized

How Can Mother to Fetus Transmission of Lyme disease Be Rare When No One Is Counting?

For those of you just tuning in, the CDC website recently admitted that Lyme disease can be spread congenitally (mother to baby) but that it’s “rare.”  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/01/cdc-website-updated-today-possibility-of-mother-to-fetus-transmission-of-lyme-disease/

https://www.lymedisease.org/cdc-mother-fetus-lyme-transmission/

But, Lyme advocate Carl Tuttle makes a great point.  How can it be “rare” when no one’s looking for it or counting it?

https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/25767675?

What’s going on here Secretary Azar?

FEB 18, 2020 — 

Please see today’s letter to the US Secretary of Health and Human Services……

——— Original Message ———-
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: Alex.Azar@HHS.GOV, tickbornedisease@hhs.gov
Cc: (92 undisclosed recipients)
Date: February 18, 2020 at 11:40 AM
Subject: U.S. health agency acknowledges Lyme disease mother-to-fetus transmission

Feb 18, 2020

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Attn: Alex Michael Azar II, United States Secretary of Health and Human Services

Dear Mr. Secretary,

I would like to call attention to the following Chronicle Herald article:

U.S. health agency acknowledges Lyme disease mother-to-fetus transmission
https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/provincial/us-health-agency-acknowledges-lyme-disease-mother-to-fetus-transmission-409641/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website was updated Jan. 27 to include mother to fetus as a possible way of transmitting the disease. The new section states,

“Untreated Lyme disease during pregnancy can lead to infection of the placenta. Spread from mother to fetus is possible but rare.”

Comment:

Mother-to-fetus transmission is rare? If no one is looking; no one is counting.
___________________________________

The 1988 publication below identified mother-to-fetus transmission despite antibiotic treatment:

Borrelia burgdorferi in a newborn despite oral penicillin for Lyme borreliosis during pregnancy.
Published 1988 Paul H. Duray, Infectious Diseases
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3130607

The attached list of 26 references identified mother-to-fetus transmission of Lyme disease dating back to 1985 but it took 35 years for the CDC to acknowledge Congenital Transmission of Lyme?
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z10em0szgpm8bll/Congenital%20Transmission%20of%20Lyme%202015.doc?dl=0

What’s going on here Secretary Azar?

In reference to “other modes of transmission” please refer to the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group website:

Clinical Aspects of Lyme Disease Subcommittee Report to the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group
https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/tickbornedisease/reports/clinical-aspects-lyme-2020/index.html

Priority 3: Further evaluate purported human-to-human sexual transmission of Lyme disease.

“But because of the implications of sexual transmission, some members recommended that further studies be conducted to validate or refute this possible mode of transmission,….” [1]

Please see the following 2003 publication

‘Lyme disease’: ancient engine of an unrecognized borreliosis pandemic?
http://www.samento.com.ec/sciencelib/4lyme/lymediseasepandemic.pdf
T. Harvey, P. Salvato Diversified Medical Practices, Houston, Texas, USA

“The data suggest there may exist a much larger unrecognized pool of Bbsl-infected individuals sustained by persistent intra-human transfer that we provisionally call “Epidemic Borreliosis” Treatment modalities and schedules to eradicate B. burgdorferi from all patients regardless of infection route or duration must be created. If our experience holds, this will be a difficult task and will require serious and rapid commitment from all nations.”

“Our clinical experience strongly suggests that predictable, possibly inevitable Lyme disease transfer between sexually active couples occurs. The preponderance of infected spouses we have tested to date also exhibit positive serology or PCR for Bbsl presence.”

“Substantial data support the probability that human Bbsl infection can persist indefinitely.”
______________________________________

The attached PDF published in 1999 by the Canadian Office of Biosafety Information which was edited by the Colorado State University Office of Biosafety references laboratory acquired infections. https://www.dropbox.com/s/pjqxu42638071sq/Infectious%20Agent.pdf?dl=0

Section VI: LABORATORY-AQUIRED INFECTIONS: 45 reported cases up to 1976 with  2 deaths

SURVIVAL OUTSIDE HOST: Infected guinea pig blood – 28 to 35 days at room temperature, survives for short periods in urine.

Transmission by Contact via Feces, urine or Tick excretes-can Borrelia burgdorferi enter through intact mucous membranes?http://lymerick.net/Transmission-Bb-contact.htm

Per the study below, North Carolina has gone from the CDC declaring there was no Lyme disease 15 or so years ago to now declaring it an “emerging” state. Shows what happens when you exercise sufficient medical neglect: an unbridled epidemic!

Trends and Patterns in Lyme Disease: An Analysis of Private Claims Data
A FAIR Health White Paper, December 2019
https://s3.amazonaws.com/media2.fairhealth.org/whitepaper/asset/Trends%20and%20Patterns%20in%20Lyme%20Disease%20-%20An%20Analysis%20of%20Private%20Claims%20Data%20-%20A%20FAIR%20Health%20White%20Paper.pdf

__________________________

Summary:

It would appear that the US Centers for Disease Control has failed to recognize the severity of Lyme disease while aligning itself with the academics focused on suppressing evidence of Congenital Transmission along with persistent infection after aggressive antibiotic treatment. (Racketeering scheme)

These actions have misguided an entire medical community as some physicians here in New Hampshire claim they don’t believe in Lyme disease as depicted in the attached caricature. (Reference available upon request) We have lost three decades to this racketeering activity [2] while the attention and research dollars should have been used to find new approaches to fight this antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dljlsmjbvk2trur/lyme%20toon.JPG?dl=0

“We are seeing so many young people, previously completely healthy & vital with lives totally de-railed by (the disease that does not exist) chronic Lyme disease.  The medical profession is entirely ‘blind’ to this devastating, complex, multi-system illness that, in aggregate, can be totally disabling. (not to mention, of course, the compounding factors of co-infections making their illnesses even more complex). To me, like playing 3 simultaneous games of chess against 3 opposing ‘Chess-masters’”  -Kenneth Liegner, MD

We are dealing with a life-altering/life-threatening infection with faulty/misleading antibody tests, inadequate treatment, no medical training and absolutely no disease control whatsoever; a public health disaster.

Lyme disease is a 21st Century plague hidden in plain sight as patient testimony all across America is describing a disease that is destroying lives, ending careers while leaving its victim in financial ruin. ….. Lyme disease is a public health emergency Secretary Azar!

Respectfully Submitted,

Carl Tuttle
Lyme Endemic Hudson, NH

Cc: New Hampshire Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the NH Medical Society.

References:

1 Stricker, R. B., & Middelveen, M. J. (2015). Sexual transmission of Lyme disease: Challenging the tickborne disease paradigm. Expert Review of Anti-Infective Therapy, 13(11): 1303–1306.

2 Racketeering antitrust lawsuit against the Infectious Diseases Society of America
https://www.change.org/p/the-us-senate-calling-for-a-congressional-investigation-of-the-cdc-idsa-and-aldf/u/22161412

Circular reasoning: “Suppress all evidence and then proclaim there is no evidence”

_________________

**Comment**

A moratorium on ALL Lyme vaccines should be demanded until the issues of congenital, sexual, and other means of transmission are cleared up as well as the very real issue of persistent infection.

Funny how the CDC will admit things (congenital transmission) right before they want to promote a vaccine that will line their pockets.  Coincidence?  I think not.

The following news story is a great example.  They used sick patients to explain how devastating this is only to be supposedly “saved” by a new magic-bullet vaccine:

 

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Uncategorized

News Story on WKOW Tonight at 10 pm

https://wkow.com/2020/02/14/researchers-move-forward-with-shot-to-prevent-lyme-disease/ News video here 

News story on WKOW tonight at 10 pm.

(WKOW) — Lyme Disease cripples hundreds of people in Wisconsin each year and now researchers are working on a shot to prevent the problem.

The Badger State is a hot spot for the tick-borne disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average number of cases has more than doubled over the last decade. In 2018, Wisconsin saw 1,121 cases.

Now researchers are looking for a way to prevent the spread of Lyme disease with medicine.

“You give the shot right at the beginning of the season,” said Dr. Mark Klempner, a researcher from the University of Massachusettes Medical School. “Take the shot sometime in March or April and then we are anticipating that it would work for eight months.”

The shot will enter the human testing phase this spring.

Monday on 27 News at 10, we explore what this shot could mean for you and your family ahead of tick season.

Rebecca Ribley

Wake Up Wisconsin Anchor

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**Comment**

You never know what pieces and parts reporters are going to use when reporting a story.  For the record, I am opposed to any and all Lyme vaccines until they clear up the issues concerning the last one that maimed hundreds of people and dogs.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/10/new-effort-for-lyme-disease-vaccine-draws-early-fire/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/26/lyme-vaccine-to-be-tested-on-humans/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/10/28/researchers-race-to-develop-lyme-disease-vaccine/

For a great read on Lymerix, the first vaccine that caused horrific debilitating side-effects:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/10/the-bitter-feud-over-lymerix/

Category:

Lyme Vaccine, Uncategorized

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Happy Valentine’s Day With An Honest Valentine :)

iu-44

Written

on February 14, 2020