Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Lyme Found in All 50 States

https://www.lymedisease.org/lymesci-lyme-all-states/

LYME SCI: Lyme has been found in all 50 states and is on the rise

by Lonnie Marcum, August 2018
Quest Diagnostics has released its findings from over six million Lyme disease lab tests taken over the last seven years.  Quest’s report says Lyme has been detected in all 50 states and the District of Columbia—and that the number of cases continues to rise nationwide.  This report provides the first national analysis of Lyme disease based on laboratory data. (See here for similar data based on insurance claims.)

A Decided Spike 

According to Quest’s report, 60% of Lyme disease cases occur in the Northeastern United States, with a decided spike in the last few years.

Pennsylvania registered the most positive test results in the nation, with 10,001 cases in 2017, followed by six New England states (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont) reporting another 11,549 cases combined.

More surprising to me was the exponential increase in the number of positive test results found in California and Florida, two states often dismissed by the CDC as not having very much Lyme disease.

What’s most disturbing about these numbers is the huge discrepancy between the positive test results and the number of cases reported by the CDC.

Let me break it down…

First, let’s look at the big picture by comparing the CDC map (each dot represents one CDC positive case), and the Quest map showing the number of positive test results. Note, the Northeast looks pretty similar between the two maps, but what is going on in the South and West? Why such glaring discrepancy?

Now let’s compare Quest’s numbers to the latest CDC data.

In 2015, Quest found 164 cases of Lyme disease in California—while the CDC acknowledged only 83 cases. (California has mandatory lab reporting of Lyme disease. So, those cases from Quest were reported to state officials—and then what happened?)

That same year, Quest found 283 cases in Florida while the CDC reported 116.

In 2016, Quest again shows twice the CDC totals for California, but an even bigger gap emerges in Florida, with Quest reporting three times as many as the CDC. See below:

And look at 2017! According to Quest, California’s positive Lyme tests increased 195% over the two-year period from 2015 to 2017. Florida showed a 77% increase over the same time span. (CDC figures for 2017 are not yet available.)

And, keep in mind, Quest is only one of many laboratories in the U.S. What about positive Lyme tests from other labs?

Ticks are spreading

LymeDisease.org’s own research project, MyLymeData, has also detected discrepancies between the CDC-reported cases and the number of patients with positive tests for Lyme in the South and West. [See LYMEPOLICYWONK: Why Doesn’t the CDC Count Lyme Disease Cases in the South and the West? Everybody Else Does.]

The spread of Lyme disease makes sense with the latest NIH report showing the Ixodes scapularis tick, the primary source of Lyme disease, being found in nearly 50 percent more U.S. counties in 2015 than was detected in 1996.

Further confirming the increasing spread, a recent citizen science study also found Ixodes scapularis ticks in 83 counties (in 24 states) where these ticks had not been previously recorded. But why?

Dr. Harvey Kauffman, of Quest Diagnostics, says,

“Our data show that positive results for Lyme are both increasing in number and occurring in geographic areas not historically associated with the disease. We hypothesize that these significant rates of increase may reinforce other research suggesting changing climate conditions that allow ticks to live longer and in more regions may factor into disease risk.”

It’s past time to take ticks seriously

Lyme disease is only one of 16 tick-borne disease found within the United States. How many other illnesses are being undiagnosed and/or underreported? Is there also a 10-fold difference in reporting of anaplasmosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis and other tick-borne pathogens, including viruses?

The CDC recently acknowledged that 75% of all reported vector-borne illnesses come from ticks, and of those, most are cases of Lyme disease

Underreporting of Lyme and other tick-borne diseases is a huge problem. It’s time to fix it.

LymeSci is written by Lonnie Marcum, a Licensed Physical Therapist and mother of a daughter with Lyme. Follow her on Twitter: @LonnieRhea  Email her at: lmarcum@lymedisease.org .

Reference:

New Quest Diagnostics Data Shows Lyme Disease Prevalence Increasing and is Now Present in New U.S. States

_________________

**Comment**

According to an independent tick expert, Dr. Kauffman’s hypothesis of climate change driving ticks and Lyme is not only unsubstantiated but part of a nefarious plot being used to rationalize why nothing has been done about Lyme/MSIDS for decades.  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/14/canadian-tick-expert-climate-change-is-not-behind-lyme-disease/

Warmer weather actually reduces tick populations.  The climate models have numerous flaws as well:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/13/study-shows-lyme-not-propelled-by-climate-change/  Researcher John Scott shows ticks are marvelous ecoadaptors and will seek out and use leaf litter and snow when conditions are harsh.  Migrating birds are serving as transits for ticks and distributing them all over the word.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/09/why-the-cpis-article-on-how-a-climate-skeptic-is-holding-up-tick-borne-illness-research-is-dead-wrong/   Ticks have been found on beaches, in caves, underneath picnic benches, on rocks, on birds and other animals, blown into swimming pools, falling off trees, and I’ve found them climbing my walls.  “Tick guy” Tom Mather demonstrates ticks surviving 24 hours in 3 degree temps:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/01/20/polar-vorticks/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/16/ticks-that-carry-lyme-disease-are-spreading-fast/  According to Associate professor, Nate Nieto,

“People should be aware of ticks and tick-borne disease, even when they may think there’s not a recorded incidence of a tick in a county,” Nieto said. “These things, they’re not obeying borders. They’re going by biology. If they get moved there by a deer or bird or people or pets, they’re going to establish themselves and start growing.”

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/26/tickborne-diseases-confronting-a-growing-threat/  (For a bullet point list of issues that need to be researched regarding TBI’s please read my comment after the article.  Climate data has not helped patients at all.  Please understand my list is far from complete.)

Climate change regarding Lyme/MSIDS/ticks is as Scott says,

a red herring.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Uncategorized

Illinois – 10th Annual Lyme Disease Awareness Walk

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https://wizathon.com/lsn-walk/?id=3362  (Go here to Register, sponsor, or donate)

10th Annual Lyme Disease Awareness Walk

Benefiting: Lyme Support Network (Illinois)

When: Sunday, September 23, 2018

Where: Citizens Park Barrington Park District
511 Lake Zurich Road
Barrington, IL 6001010am

Time: 11am 2.5 Mile Walk/Run

Registration Fees:
$30.00 Adult
$20.00 Child

Live Entertainment
Food/Beverages
Children’s Activities
Raffles
T-Shirts

For More Details:  www.lymesupportnetwork.org

Goal: $25,000
Raised: $90

Our Mission
The Lyme Support Network is a non-profit service organization dedicated to making a difference by building awareness of Lyme Disease within the Illinois community.  Our primary goal is to serve as a support group for people with Lyme Disease and/or other tick-borne diseases. Our work also includes education and advocacy to promote knowledge and understanding of Lyme Disease among the general public, government agencies and within the medical community.

Contact: Kimberly Frank

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Uncategorized

Borrelia Miyamotoi Found to Occur Nationwide in Japan

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/30057339/

Case control study: Serological evidence that Borrelia miyamotoi disease occurs nationwide in Japan.

Sato K, et al. J Infect Chemother. 2018.

Abstract

Since 2011, Borrelia miyamotoi disease (BMD) has been reported in five countries in the northern hemisphere. The causative agent of BMD is transmitted by Ixodes ticks, which are also vectors of Lyme disease borreliae. In this study, we examined 459 cases of clinically suspected Lyme disease (LD group), and found twelve cases that were seropositive for the glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (GlpQ) antigen derived from B. miyamotoi.The retrospective surveillance revealed that the seroprevalence of anti-GlpQ in the LD group was significantly higher than in a healthy cohort. Seropositive cases were observed from spring through autumn when ticks are active, and the cases were geographically widespread, being found in Hokkaido-Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu, Kinki, and Kyushu-Okinawa regions. Seropositive cases for GlpQ were most frequent in the Chubu region (6.3%) where B. miyamotoi has been found in Ixodes ticks. Out of the twelve cases that were found in the LD group, three cases exhibited concomitant seropositivity to Lyme disease borreliae by western blot assay. This is the first report of serological surveillance for BMD in Japan, and we conclude that BMD occurs nationwide.

_______________

**Comment**

Please note that they are saying out of 459 cases of clinically suspected Lyme, 12 ALSO had B. miyamotoi.

This is a prime example of people having more than one tick borne illness and the need to change the current CDC Lyme guidelines as they are woefully out of touch.  In my experience, coinfection is the rule not the exception and until people are treated appropriately, they will never get better.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/07/01/one-tick-bite-could-put-you-at-risk-for-at-least-6-different-diseases/  (The actual number is 18 and counting)

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/01/co-infection-of-ticks-the-rule-rather-than-the-exception/

The Ixodes ricinus tick species is able to transmit a large number of bacteria, viruses and parasites. Ticks may also be co-infected with several pathogens, with a subsequent high likelihood of co-transmission to humans or animals.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/11/co-infection-patterns-in-wisconsin-black-legged-ticks-show-associations-between-viral-eukaryotic-bacterial-microorganisms/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/07/16/this-family-learned-tick-bites-can-transmit-more-than-lyme-disease/

 

 

 

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Uncategorized

Cyclosporiasis Update For Wisconsin

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/outbreaks/2018/a-062018/index.html

Multistate Outbreak of Cyclosporiasis Linked to Del Monte Fresh Produce Vegetable Trays

CDC and federal, state, and local public health partners are investigating an increase in reported cases of Cyclospora infection.

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/  Cyclosporiasis is an intestinal illness caused by the microscopic parasite Cyclospora cayetanensis.  People can become infected with Cyclospora by consuming food or water contaminated with the parasite.

https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/cyclosporiasis/disease.html  Symptoms of cyclosporiasis begin an average of 7 days (range, 2 days to ≥2 weeks) after ingestion of sporulated oocysts (the infective form of the parasite).

Symptoms of cyclosporiasis may include the following:

  • Watery diarrhea (most common)
  • Loss of appetite
  • Weight loss
  • Cramping
  • Bloating
  • Increased gas
  • Nausea
  • Fatigue
  • Other symptoms that may occur but are less common include the following:
  • VomitingLow-grade fever

LAST UPDATED JULY 19, 2018 7:30 PM EDT

On June 15, 2018, Del Monte Fresh Produce recalled 6 oz., 12 oz., and 28 oz. vegetable trays containing fresh broccoli, cauliflower, celery sticks, carrots, and dill dip. Recalled products were sold in clear, plastic clamshell containers.

Recalled products were distributed to the following stores: Kwik Trip, Kwik Star, Demond’s, Sentry, Potash, Meehan’s, Country Market, FoodMax Supermarket, and Peapod.

Recalled products have a “Best If Enjoyed By” date of June 17, 2018.
The recalled 6 oz. Del Monte Fresh Produce vegetable tray has a UPC code of 7 1752472715 2 found on the package label.

  • The recalled 12 oz. Del Monte Fresh Produce vegetable tray has a UPC code of 7 1752472518 9 found on the package label.
  • The recalled 28 oz. Del Monte Fresh Produce small vegetable tray has a UPC code of 7 1752478604 3 found on the package label.

Do not eat or sell recalled vegetable trays. Throw them away.
CDC, public health and regulatory officials in several states, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are investigating a multistate outbreak of Cyclospora infections.

As of July 19, 2018 (1pm EDT), CDC has been notified of 237 laboratory-confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis in persons who reportedly consumed pre-packaged Del Monte Fresh Produce vegetable trays containing broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and dill dip. The reports have come from four states.

Seven (7) of these people have been hospitalized, and no deaths have been reported.

Epidemiologic evidence indicates that pre-packaged Del Monte Fresh Produce vegetable trays containing broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and dill dip are the likely source of these infections.

The investigation is ongoing. CDC will provide updates when more information is available.

 

Category:

Activism, Uncategorized

FREE Online – Making Herbal Medicine Series

http://thegrownetwork.pages.ontraport.net/mhmk-registration-aff?oprid=52634

Go to the Link to register for a Free 4-Part Video Training Series on how to make 95% of your common health care needs safely at home.

You will also receive “Garlic:  Your First Home Medicine,” a Free eBook, plus a Free quick-reference chart of the “8 Herbal Preparations Guide.”

The series is taught by Marjory Wildcraft the founder and CEO of The Grow Network which is the premier community of people who are making their own medicine, growing their own food, and becoming extraordinarily healthy.

Marjory has been featured by National Geographic as an expert in sustainable living, she has hosted Mother Earth News “Online Homesteading Summit”, she was honored in Reuters “Food Sustainability Media Award”, and is a creator of several books and videos with over 500,000 copies in use by gardeners, herbalists, survivalists, missionary organizations, and universities in more than 35 countries around the world.

 

Category:

Uncategorized