Archive for the ‘Viruses’ Category

Seroprevalence of Bb, Bm, & Powassan in Residents Bitten by Ixodes Ticks

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/25/4/18-0202_article?fbclid=IwAR3Ul329rua5cLKPHHxRVaGsmiH22QIWqjngZyYPO5MJgucoBHdTjjkHFLM

Volume 25, Number 4—April 2019

Seroprevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, B. miyamotoi, and Powassan Virus in Residents Bitten by Ixodes Ticks, Maine, USA

Robert P. Smith, Susan P. EliasComments to Author , Catherine E. Cavanaugh, Charles B. Lubelczyk, Eleanor H. Lacombe, Janna Brancato, Hester Doyle, Peter W. Rand, Gregory D. Ebel, and Peter J. Krause
_____________________________________________
Reports of Lyme disease in Maine, USA, have increased from a few cases in the late 1980s to 1,848 cases in 2017 (1), coinciding with range expansion of Ixodes scapularis ticks over the past 3 decades (2). The Maine Center for Disease Control reported the first 2 cases of hard-tick relapsing fever caused by Borrelia miyamotoi during 2016 and an additional 6 cases during 2017 (1). Hard-tick relapsing fever might be present as a nonspecific febrile illness (3,4). Han et al. (5) found a B. miyamotoi infection prevalence of 3.7% in adult I. scapularis ticks in Maine, ≈10-fold less than that for B. burgdorferi infection (50%, range 32%–65%) (6).

Powassan virus (POWV) encephalitis can be a devastating human infection and has infected 10 residents of Maine during 2000–2017. There are 2 variants of POWV with distinct enzootic cycles and tick vectors. Lineage 1 is transmitted by I. cookei ticks and lineage 2, sometimes referred to as deer tick virus, is transmitted by I. scapularis ticks (7). Both lineages are present in Maine (7), but lineage 1 has a lesser risk for transmission because human bites by I. cookei ticks are infrequent (8). One fatal Maine case was demonstrated to be caused by lineage 2 POWV (7). Although POWV infection prevalence in Maine I. scapularis ticks is low (0.7%–1.8%) (9), frequent exposure to I. scapularis bites (8) and rapidity of POWV transmission (i.e., POWV might be transmitted to vertebrates after only 15 min from onset of the tick bite) (10) raise concern.

To clarify frequency of exposure to B. burgdoferi, B. miyamotoi, and POWV pathogens, our objective was to determine the seroprevalence of each of these pathogens in residents of Maine, USA, who had been bitten by I. scapularis or I. cookei ticks. We also anticipated that a serosurvey might provide evidence of asymptomatic POWV infection or self-limited illness in a few persons, as reported elsewhere (11,12).

The Study

The Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory of the Maine Medical Center Research provided a free, statewide tick identification service during 1989–2013 to monitor exposure to I. scapularis ticks during range expansion of this invasive vector of human and animal disease. Persons submitted ticks that they had removed from themselves, family members, and pets. As of 2014, 33,332 ticks representing 14 species were identified in Maine; I. scapularis ticks were predominant.

During 2014 (2), we used our tick identification service database to identify persons who had removed >1 attached I. scapularis or I. cookei tick(s) from any person in the household in the previous 5 years (2009–2013). We invited these persons to participate in a serosurvey to assess past exposure to B. burgdorferi, B. miyamotoi and POWV. At the clinics, accompanying family members who self-reported as being tick-bitten were also invited to participate. The study was approved by Maine Medical Center Institutional Review Board (Protocol #4222). Participants provided informed consent (assent for minors) and submitted 30 mL of blood. Blood was centrifuged at 3,500 rpm for 15 min. Serum aliquots were stored at −20°C and then shipped to testing laboratories.

Serologic testing for antibodies to B. miyamotoi was conducted at the laboratory of one of the authors (P.J.K.). An ELISA and confirmatory Western blot assay were used to detect serum reactivity to B. miyamotoi GlpQ protein (13). For the ELISA, serum samples were diluted 1:320 and a signal >3 SD above the mean of 3 B. miyamotoi–negative serum controls was considered positive for B. miyamotoi antibody. Serum samples were considered B. miyamotoi seropositive if ELISA IgG and Western blot IgG tests yielded positive results.

Serologic evidence of exposure to B. burgdorferi was detected by the standard 2-step ELISA and Western blot assay in the Lyme Disease Serology Laboratory at Yale New Haven Hospital by one of the authors (H.D.). A reactive serum was defined as reaction to a dilution >1:100. All borderline or reactive serum were further characterized by Western blot immunoassay. Specimens were considered positive for B. burgdorferi exposure if the IgG immunoblot contained >5 of the 10 most common B. burgdorferi–associated bands (14).

Serologic testing for POWV was conducted by one of the authors (G.D.E.) by using a plaque-reduction neutralization test (PRNT) and a POWV–West Nile virus (WNV) chimeric virus (POWV–premembrane–envelope [prME]/WNV) assay as described (15). The specificity of the assay was determined by cross-neutralization studies, which demonstrated that antiserum raised against POWV efficiently neutralized chimeric POWV–prME/WNV but not WNV and that antiserum raised against WNV do not neutralize POWV–prME/WNV (15). Use of the chimeric POWV–prME/WNV assay virus enabled PRNT testing to be conducted on African green monkey kidney (Vero) cells according to standard procedures by using a 90% neutralization cutoff to be considered positive (15).

Of 230 enrolled persons, 190 were in our tick identification program database, and 40 were family members (Table 1). Among the 190 persons, 1 tick bite was from an I. cookei nymph, 13% of bites were from I. scapularis nymphs, and 86% of bites were from I. scapularis adult females. Engorgement of ticks ranged from slight (43%) to moderate (38%) to high (18%). Among the study population, 32 (13.9%) were seropositive for B. burgdorferi, 6 (2.6%) were seropositive for B. miyamotoi, and 2 (0.9%) were seropositive for both pathogens (Table 2). The serum of 1 person (0.4%) neutralized POWV at a titer of 1:20 and WNV at a titer of 1:10. We designated this serum as flavivirus positive. This person reported a history of neurologic illness for >1 year and a tick bite within the study year.

Conclusions

Among residents of southern Maine with a history of I. scapularis tick bites, the percentage who were seropositive for B. burgdorferi was 6 times greater than that for B. miyamotoi (13.7% vs. 2.1%) and 30 times greater than the percentage of deer ticks infected with POWV (0.4%). Because our study population consisted of persons bitten by I. scapularis ticks (with engorgement ranging from slight to high), we expected seroprevalence to be greater than that for the general population. The B. burgdorferi seroprevalence of 13.7% in our study population was ≈1.5 times higher than the seroprevalence of 9.4% reported by Krause et al. (13) in healthy residents of southern New England. In contrast, the B. miyamotoi seroprevalence of 2.1% was comparable to the seroprevalence of 3.9% reported by Krause at al. (13).

Of 1,854 cases of infection with Borrelia spp. reported in Maine in 2017, a total of 1,848 were attributed to Lyme disease and only 6 (0.3%) were attributed to B. miyamotoi (1). On the basis of a seroprevalence of ≈2% in this study and that B. miyamotoi might be transmitted by all tick stages, we believe that this disease is underdiagnosed in Maine (5). Our population was identified by history of tick exposure, rather than by symptoms. Our results therefore represent the relative frequency of exposure to these different agents rather than risk for illness.

Although the sensitivity and specificity of the 2-tier antibody assay for B. burgdorferi is better validated than those of the B. miyamotoi and POWV assays, the sensitivity and specificity of these assays are good (13–15). Nonetheless, our findings might represent overestimates or underestimates of actual exposure to these agents because of false-positive or false-negative results. These data provide evidence that humans are exposed to B. burgdorferi, B. miyamotoi, and POWV in Maine and help define the prevalence of human infection caused by each of these tickborne pathogens.

References

  1. Maine Center for Disease Control. Reportable infectious diseases in Maine, 2017 summary; 2018. [cited 2018 Sep 18]. https://www.maine.gov/dhhs/mecdc/infectious-disease/epi/publications/#annualreports
  2. Rand  PW, Lacombe  EH, Dearborn  R, Cahill  B, Elias  S, Lubelczyk  CB, et al. Passive surveillance in Maine, an area emergent for tick-borne diseases. J Med Entomol. 2007;44:1118–29. DOIPubMed
  3. Platonov  AE, Karan  LS, Kolyasnikova  NM, Makhneva  NA, Toporkova  MG, Maleev  VV, et al. Humans infected with relapsing fever spirochete Borrelia miyamotoi, Russia. Emerg Infect Dis. 2011;17:1816–23. DOIPubMed
  4. Krause  PJ, Fish  D, Narasimhan  S, Barbour  AG. Borrelia miyamotoi infection in nature and in humans. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2015;21:631–9. DOIPubMed
  5. Han  S, Lubelczyk  C, Hickling  GJ, Tsao  JI. Transovarial transmission rate and filial infection prevalence of Borrelia miyamotoi from Ixodes scapularis collected from hunter-harvested white-tailed deer. Presented at: International Symposium on Tick-Borne Pathogens and Disease; Vienna, Austria; September 24–26, 2017.
  6. Smith  RP, Elias  SP, Borelli  TJ, Missaghi  B, York  BJ, Kessler  RA, et al. Human babesiosis, 1995–2011, Maine, USA. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014;20:1727–30. DOIPubMed
  7. Cavanaugh  CE, Muscat  PL, Telford  SR III, Goethert  H, Pendlebury  W, Elias  SP, et al. Fatal deer tick virus infection in Maine. Clin Infect Dis. 2017;65:1043–6. DOIPubMed
  8. Smith  RP Jr, Lacombe  EH, Rand  PW, Dearborn  R. Diversity of tick species biting humans in an emerging area for Lyme disease. Am J Public Health. 1992;82:66–9. DOIPubMed
  9. Robich  RM, Lubelczyk  C, Welch  M, Henderson  E, Smith  RP Jr. Detection of Powassan virus (lineage II) from Ixodes scapularis collected from four counties in Maine. Poster LB-5175. Presented at: 66th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene; Baltimore, MD, USA; November 5–9, 2017.
  10. Ebel  GD, Kramer  LD. Short report: duration of tick attachment required for transmission of powassan virus by deer ticks. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2004;71:268–71. DOIPubMed
  11. Frost  HM, Schotthoefer  AM, Thomm  AM, Dupuis  AP II, Kehl  SC, Kramer  LD, et al. Serologic evidence of Powassan virus infection in patients with suspected Lyme disease. Emerg Infect Dis. 2017;23:1384–8. DOIPubMed
  12. El Khoury  MY, Camargo  JF, White  JL, Backenson  BP, Dupuis  AP II, Escuyer  KL, et al. Potential role of deer tick virus in Powassan encephalitis cases in Lyme disease-endemic areas of New York, U.S.A. Emerg Infect Dis. 2013;19:1926–33. DOIPubMed
  13. Krause  PJ, Narasimhan  S, Wormser  GP, Barbour  AG, Platonov  AE, Brancato  J, et al.; Tick Borne Diseases Group. Borrelia miyamotoi sensu lato seroreactivity and seroprevalence in the northeastern United States. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014;20:1183–90. DOIPubMed
  14. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Recommendations for test performance and interpretation from the second national conference on serologic diagnosis of Lyme disease.MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1995;44:590–1.PubMed
  15. Nofchissey  RA, Deardorff  ER, Blevins  TM, Anishchenko  M, Bosco-Lauth  A, Berl  E, et al. Seroprevalence of Powassan virus in New England deer, 1979-2010. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2013;88:1159–62. DOIPubMed

 

Category:

Borrelia Miyamotoi (Relapsing Fever Group), Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Viruses

Alumnus Works to Protect People From West Nile Virus, Lyme Disease

http://www.etownian.com/features/alumnus-works-to-protect-people-from-west-nile-virus-lyme-disease/

Alumnus works to protect people from West Nile Virus, Lyme disease

APRILLE MOHN FEBRUARY 23, 2019

Photo from Wikimedia Commons

Feb. 18, Elizabethtown College alumnus Jon Bachman, ‘17, returned to Elizabethtown College to speak to current students about his career as an aquatic biologist with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP).

Bachman is part of a team researching and working to increase awareness of arboviruses. Arboviruses are viruses that are transmitted by mosquitoes, ticks or other arthropods. Bachman and his colleagues work to protect people from tick and mosquito-borne pathogens, most prominently West Nile Virus (WNV), and more recently, Lyme disease.

The DEP is studying WNV and the mosquitoes that carry it, which according to Vector Disease Control International, are primarily Culex pipiens, Culex tarsalis, and Culex quinquefasciatus.

Bachman and his team look at mosquito habitat so larvae can be suppressed and killed. They also set traps so when a female mosquito lays eggs in their trap they are able to collect the samples. They then smash the eggs and conduct polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on the DNA in them. PCR is a process that can make many copies of specific DNA strands. By replicating the DNA they are able to see if the virus is carried by the eggs they collected.

Based on where large traces of the West Nile Virus is found the team determines where they’re going to spray for adult mosquitoes in order to prevent the spread of the virus.

This past year has had the most WNV positive mosquitoes. There were 7,500 positive samples, which was much higher than previous years. The second highest positives found in a year was in 2012 when around 6,000 positive samples were found.

Some important information about the disease Bachman shared was that WNV is not spread between people—birds are the reservoir species for the virus, meaning that the mosquitoes must first get it from birds before they can transmit it to any humans.

Another distinction is that the mosquitoes which often carry West Nile Virus are not the large groups of mosquitoes people encounter. Those are typically the inland floodwater species of mosquito, or Aedes vexans.

Floodwater mosquito eggs often hatch all at once because the adult female mosquito lays eggs that dry out and don’t hatch until they get wet. On years with large amounts of flooding, such as this year, all the eggs get wet and all hatch at same time.

There are 62 species of Mosquitoes in Pennsylvania, but the vast majority do not carry West Nile Virus.

“If you’re being swarmed with mosquitoes they are not the ones carrying the disease,” Bachman said. “If you’re getting swarmed you don’t have to worry about getting the virus. It’s the one mosquito you don’t feel—that’s how you get the virus.”

This year, Bachman’s team has begun to do research on Ixodes scapularis, more commonly known as the deer tick, because of the Lyme disease they carry. Pennsylvania is the worst state for Lyme disease almost, if not every, year. For this reason, the DEP’s research is being funded by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) through the Department of Health.

Bachman’s team is trying to find 50 adult deer ticks in each county in Pennsylvania to determine the rate of Lyme disease for each region of the state.

According to Bachman, it takes a lot of work to catch 50 ticks.They have to look at three different sites and so they try to pick sites they know people will be at.

Bachman said he has the most luck along the edges of soccer fields with woodlines.

Each search is different, as well. Bachman spent six days in Fulton County, PA and was unable to catch a single tick, and yet in the next county over, Bedford County, he was able to catch over 100 ticks in half an hour.
Bachman said he has a “very, very unique job. It’s more of a public health job.”

To determine the best ways to control West Nile Virus and Lyme disease, he and his peers need to understand the habitats and life cycles of the organisms that spread the illnesses.

Bachman was an environmental science major with a minor in political science. While his career is much more focussed on ideas from environmental science Bachman found his minor helpful to learn and understand environmental law and regulations.

Moreover, his political science minor taught Bachman more about public speaking, which is important as part of his career is to work with representatives of different countries who come to him for advice regarding mosquitoes and ticks.

While at Etown, Bachman was involved with the SEEDS Ecology Club. He was the club’s treasurer his senior year, which was the first year that the College had a chapter of the nationwide program.

Bachman also has a U.S. Army background as he was a member of the Army from 2005 to 2012. He first worked as an Infantry man and later he worked with hazardous materials, or hazmat.

This work in the Army with hazmat led Bachman to the job he held prior to his position with the DEP, which was a job as the hazmat supervisor at a Harley Davidson in York, PA.

One piece of advice Bachman had for students in regards to finding jobs after college is to study the jobs they are applying for closely. “Look into every detail of a job before you go to an interview,” Bachman said.

Bachman recommends students learn about as many fields as they can, and make themselves well rounded in preparation for finding a career.

_______________

**Comment**

Please notice the alarming statement of where Bachman finds the most ticks:

Bachman said he has the most luck along the edges of soccer fields with woodlines.

Please educate your family, friends, neighbors, and school systems.  Wisconsin children should all be wearing permethrin treated shoes and socks at the very least as they are at risk.  For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/05/27/study-conforms-permethrin-causes-ticks-to-drop-off-clothing/

Also, I’d like to see Wisconsin go back to ditch burning:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/04/03/fire-good-news-for-tick-reduction/

For a similar topic in Wisconsin, see:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/03/13/wed-nite-the-lab-talk-on-mosquitoes-ticks-disease/

Wisconsin has cases of West Nile, La Crosse Virus, & Jamestown Canyon Virus.
Wisconsin is 4th in the nation for Lyme disease.

The CDC says the cases are hugely underestimated – more like 30,000 cases per year in WI.  WI is a hotspot for newly emerging TBI – Anaplasma, Ehrlichia muris, borrelia miyamotoi (relapsing fever), Babesia divergens (in Michigan but Dr. Paskowitz feels it’s probably here too). Anaplasma seeing 400-600 cases a year in WI.  Again, much underreporting.

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, mosquitoes, research, Ticks, Viruses

Powassan Virus on the Up-tick

http://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/news/local-news/2019/02/powassan-virus-on-the-up-tick/?

Powassan virus on the up-tick

Paul Smith’s research shows spread risks funding cut

From left, seniors, Anna Mehner, Becky Raymond, Lee Ann Sporn, Katherine Gale, William Tobin, Mason Fountain, Benjamin McInerney and Lillian Meunier are seven of the eight students in Sporn’s class, which tracked the deadly tick-borne Powassan virus in the North Country. The eighth student is Jared Barnhart. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

PAUL SMITHS — A group of Paul Smith’s College students, researching the tick-borne Powassan virus for the state, has discovered that the disease is prevalent throughout the North Country.

Though professor Lee Ann Sporn said research on the Powassan spread is just starting, the group may lose its state funding in March.

The students, who are the first and only researchers of Powassan in the North Country, found that around 25 to 50 percent of deer in the northern half of the Adirondacks tested positive for exposure to Powassan, less than 25 percent were exposed in the southern and most eastern parts and 75 to 100 percent were exposed in the western edge.

“This was completely student driven,” Sporn said. “The state Department of Health was incredibly pleased with what we were able to do.”

The study involved students — funded by the state Senate Task Force on Lyme and other Tick Borne Diseases, and doing research through the Adirondack Watershed Institute — working with deer processors and hunters from St. Lawrence, Franklin, Essex, Clinton, Washington and Warren counties to establish the northern edge of the Powassan virus’ reach.

The pipette and vial used to take a sample of deer blood come in a kit with rubber gloves and a cloth. These kits were used by Paul Smith’s College students to research the tick-borne Powassan virus. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Cerbone)

“The punchline is there really wasn’t a northern edge,” Sporn said.

Powassan does not affect everyone exposed to it, but the ones who are effected can develop a serious brain infection, for which there is no vaccine or antibodies. Powassan has a 10 percent mortality rate, mimics dengue and can be misdiagnosed as the flu. Those who recover from it can often have neurological damage.

The transfer of Powassan from a tick to a human can take as little as 15 minutes.

Powassan is often found in the ticks and deer of southern New York. However, until around two years ago it was unheard of in the North Country.

“It’s probably driven by climate change,” Sporn said of the northward crawl. “Warmer and wetter, with less extended periods of cold.

“In some areas of the state (the south) nearly all deer have antibodies to Powassan,” Sporn continued.

Despite its high prevalence in deer, Powassan is rarely found in humans.

There are under 50 human cases of Powassan ever recorded in New York. However, nine of those were in the past two years, including three in Saratoga County in 2017, one which was fatal.

Powassan-carrying ticks are also pretty rare. Sporn estimates that less than 1 percent are positive in the Tri-Lakes area.

Students tested deer blood because it acts as a sentinel for Powassan in the area. Deer can be bit by thousands of ticks over their lifetime, and once a tick with Powassan bites a deer the deer creates antibodies in its blood which last the rest of its life.

The blood came from samples collected by processors such as Woods and Water and Blue Line Sports, outdoors stores in Saranac Lake, individual hunters and processors around the North Country. Sporn said she wanted to thank everyone that contributed to the study because she was able to get around 100 samples, evenly spread around the park.

“We wouldn’t have done that without the processors,” Sporn said. “What they did provided so much important information.”

Sporn said she doesn’t want this new information to cause panic, but said people shouldn’t be cavalier about it either.

“It doesn’t mean that people are going to get the disease, because there are other places where ticks test positive and no human cases show up,”Sporn said. “No one really understands the relationship between positive ticks, positive deer and human cases.

“Just because you’re exposed doesn’t mean you’re going to get sick,” she added. “The risk to humans is incredibly low.”

To avoid being bitten, Sporn recommends dressing to cover all lower body skin, wearing repellents and being knowledgeable of where ticks will be.

She said to tuck pants into socks, wear light colors to easily see ticks and be aware when walking through high grasses. She said the locally made repellent Wild Wood is effective.

Sporn said it is okay to eat and touch deer infected with it.

Funding troubles

The study was funded through the state Senate Task Force on Lyme and other Tick Borne Diseases, a Republican initiative, with the support of state Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury. It is up to the majority party to organize the task force. Democrats took the Senate majority in last year’s election and has not done that yet.

Last year Sporn said she received $30,000 in funding from the task force, including $5,000 for the Powassan project. She is asking for the same level of funding this year.

Sporn said she has been contacting Senate Democrats using a list supplied by Little. Funding will need to be secured for the task force and research by the time the state’s budget is voted on April 1.

Sporn said this research is important for human health in New York, and that it is about catching things early and preempting a health emergency. She wants to research the spread of the virus for several years to see what patterns emerge.

“If you don’t watch over a long time, you may never see that happen,”Sporn said. “I really wish we had done this a few years ago.”

The project also translates its results into public information and literature provided to health clinics and medical professionals to educate them and the public about tick-borne diseases. There is a fair amount of rejection of the research that shows Lyme disease has spread into the Adirondacks by the medical community.

“That’s just kind of human nature, for people to resist the change,” Sporn said.

Sporn said she has talked with the Cloudsplitter Foundation about continuing with private funding. She said the Paul Smith’s students have created a good model for other schools to use to research Powassan or other tick-borne illnesses. She said she has not seen research on if the virus has spread into Vermont or Canada.

__________________

**Comment**

Climate change has nothing to do with this:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/08/13/study-shows-lyme-not-propelled-by-climate-change/  In this link there is a video showing ticks surviving 3 degrees in snow cover.  Canadian tick researcher, John Scott, has disproven the climate change theory regarding tick expansion and pathogen expansion.  He found that photo-period and songbird migration are behind it.

His study summed up:

  • during bad weather ticks adapt by finding cover
  • warmer temperatures actually reduce tick populations
  • temperature and precipitation have no bearing on tick abundance
  • climate change alarmists have used Canadian studies making 1970 their benchmark for models but didn’t take into account established tick populations that had already been in existence for decades, centuries, or even millennia at northern latitudes
  • Black-legged ticks require 14 hours of daylight to molt.  Photoperiod is innate and can not be altered by the climate
  • Yearly bidirectional, songbird migration in spring and fall is behind tick expansion and the climate change model actually reflects migratory flight not warmer futuristic temperatures

Although Scott’s study specifically deals with Lyme disease, tick and pathogen spread is the same regardless of the disease.

Scott’s study:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/scott-scott-2018-ticks-and-climate-change-jvsm.pdf

For an interview with Scott:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/08/14/canadian-tick-expert-climate-change-is-not-behind-lyme-disease/

“The climate change range expansion model is what the authorities have been using to rationalize how they have done nothing for more than thirty years. It’s a huge cover-up scheme that goes back to the 1980’s. The grandiose scheme was a nefarious plot to let doctors off the hook from having to deal with this debilitating disease. I caught onto it very quickly. Most people have been victims of it ever since.  This climate change ‘theory’ is all part of a well-planned scheme. Even the ticks are smarter than the people who’ve concocted this thing.  Climate change has nothing to do with tick movement. Blacklegged ticks are ecoadaptive, and tolerate wide temperature fluctuations…..It’s all a red herring to divert your attention.”- John Scott

Due to this research, researchers need to quit going down the rabbit-hole of climate change as it has not and will not help patients one iota.

 

 

 

Category:

Activism, Viruses

Anti-viral Therapy in Alzheimer’s- Clinical Trial

https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03282916

Anti-viral Therapy in Alzheimer’s Disease

The safety and scientific validity of this study is the responsibility of the study sponsor and investigators. Listing a study does not mean it has been evaluated by the U.S. Federal Government. Know the risks and potential benefits of clinical studies and talk to your health care provider before participating. Read our disclaimer for details.
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03282916

Recruitment Status : Recruiting

First Posted : September 14, 2017
Last Update Posted : January 25, 2019
Sponsor:
Collaborators:
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Davangere P. Devanand, New York State Psychiatric Institute
Study Description
Brief Summary:
Anti-viral therapy in Alzheimer’s disease will investigate the efficacy of treating patients with mild Alzheimer’s disease with the U.S.A marketed generic anti-viral drug Valtrex (valacyclovir, 500mg oral tablet). Valacyclovir at 2 g to 4 g per day, repurposed to treat Alzheimer’s disease, will be compared to matching placebo in the treatment of 130 mild AD patients (65 valacyclovir, 65 placebo) who test positive for herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV1) or HSV2. The study will be a randomized, double-blind, 18-month Phase II proof of concept trial.
Condition or disease Intervention/treatment Phase
Alzheimer DiseaseHerpes Simplex 1Herpes Simplex 2 Drug: ValacyclovirDrug: Placebo Phase 2
Detailed Description:

Many viruses are latent for decades before being reactivated in the brain by stress, immune compromise, or other factors. After the initial oral infection, herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV1) becomes latent in the trigeminal ganglion and can later enter the brain via retrograde axonal transport, often targeting the temporal lobes.

HSV1 can also enter the brain via olfactory neurons directly. HSV1 (oral herpes) and HSV2 (genital herpes) are known to trigger amyloid aggregation and their DNA is commonly found in amyloid plaques. Anti-HSV drugs reduce Aβ and p-tau accumulation in brains of infected mice. HSV1 reactivation is associated with tau hyperphosphorylation in mice and may play a role in tau propagation across neurons. In humans, recurrent reactivation with newly produced HSV1 particles, ‘drop by drop,’ may produce neuronal damage and eventually lead to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology, partly due to effects on amyloid and tau. Clinical studies show cognitive impairment in HSV seropositive patients in different patient groups and in healthy adults, and antiviral treatments show robust efficacy against peripheral HSV infection. The study team will conduct the first-ever clinical trial to directly address the long-standing viral etiology hypothesis of AD which posits that viruses, particularly the very common HSV1 and HSV2, may be etiologic or contribute to the pathology of AD.

In patients with mild AD who test positive for serum antibodies to HSV1 or HSV2, the generic antiviral drug valacyclovir, repurposed as an anti-AD drug, will be compared at oral doses of 2 to 4 grams per day to matching placebo in the treatment of 130 patients (65 valacyclovir, 65 placebo) in a randomized, double-blind, 78-week Phase II proof of concept trial. Patients treated with valacyclovir are hypothesized to show smaller decline in cognition and functioning compared to placebo, and, using 18F-Florbetapir PET imaging, to show less amyloid accumulation than placebo over the 78-week trial. Through the use of tau PET imaging with the tracer 18F-MK-6240 at baseline and 78 weeks, patients treated with valacyclovir are hypothesized to show smaller increases in 18F-MK-6240 binding than patients treated with placebo from baseline to 78 weeks. Apolipoprotein E genotype at baseline, as well as changes in cortical thinning on structural MRI, olfactory identification deficits, and antiviral antibody titers from baseline to 78 weeks, will be evaluated in exploratory analyses. In patients who agree to lumbar puncture, plasma and CSF acyclovir will be assayed to establish the degree of CNS penetration of valacyclovir in mild AD, and the investigators will obtain CSF Aβ42, tau, p-tau for subset exploratory analyses with changes in outcome measures.

If this trial is successful, the investigators will apply for funding to conduct a larger, multicenter, Phase III study using a study design that will be informed by the results of this Phase II trial. This innovative Phase II proof of concept trial clearly has exceptionally high reward potential for the treatment of AD.

Study Design
Go to  sections
Study Type : Interventional  (Clinical Trial)
Estimated Enrollment : 130 participants
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Triple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator)
Primary Purpose: Treatment
Official Title: Anti-viral Therapy in Alzheimer’s Disease
Actual Study Start Date : February 12, 2018
Estimated Primary Completion Date : August 2022
Estimated Study Completion Date : August 2022
___________________
**Comment**
Remember, Alzheimer’s is a label, nothing more.  They are still trying to figure out what causes it.
Dr. Klinghardt has gone on record stating that he’s not had one MS, ALS, or Parkinson’s patient NOT test positive for Lyme:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/01/23/never-had-a-single-ms-als-or-parkinsons-patient-in-past-5-years-who-didnt-test-positive-for-lyme-dr-klinghardt/

Category:

Activism, Alzheimer's, research, Treatment, Viruses

What’s in the TBDWG Report For Morgellons Patients?

https://www.morgellonssurvey.org/whats-in-the-tbdwg-report-for-morgellons-patients/What’s in the TBDWG Report for Morgellons Patients?

What’s in the TBDWG Report for Morgellons Patients?

by

 

In December of 2018, the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group released its first report to Congress regarding the epidemic of emerging disease. This article gives a basic rundown of relevant statements contained in the first of three TBDWG reports to Congress.

What is the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group?

The TBDWG is a fourteen-member panel of infectious disease professionals called together in light of the 21st Century Cures Act and organized by the Department of Health and Human Services. This group is tasked with reviewing the current science and treatment progress of the various tick-borne diseases and reporting their findings to Congress every two years in December. December 2018 saw the first report, there will be a second report in December 2020 followed by final recommendations at the end of 2022.

So what does this first report detail regarding Morgellons disease? Let’s dive in and find out!
Chronic Lyme Disease

At the start of the first TBDWG report it is stated,

“While most Lyme disease patients who are diagnosed and treated early can fully recover, 10 to 20% of patients suffer from persistent symptoms, which for some are chronic and disabling. Studies indicate that Lyme disease costs approximately $1.3 billion each year in direct medical costs alone in the United States.”

Sounds promising, but what about the insensitive testing methods? What does the report say about early diagnosis and why there are so many false negatives? Amazingly the report addresses these concerns directly, “Today, available diagnostic tests can be inaccurate and complex to interpret, especially during the earliest stage of infection when treatment is most effective. Unlike in other infectious disease settings, tests to directly measure the presence of the infecting organism, such as cultures or tissue biopsies, are not available for some tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease. This leaves physicians without the tools needed to diagnose; and without an accurate diagnosis, it is challenging for physicians to provide early treatment.”

Wow! With that kind of admission about standard Lyme testing, you would expect similar honesty regarding other controversial aspects of Lyme disease. What about congenital transmission then, what does this report state about Lyme infecting unborn children?

Lyme Congenital Transmission

From the report, the sole instance of recognition appears on page 53 in the chapter titled “Treatment”. It states,

“Pregnancy: Transplacental infection of the human fetus has been recognized for relapsing fever borreliosis, as well as Lyme disease, babesiosis, and certain arthropodborne flaviviruses. Pregnancy poses particular challenges for treatment because few antimicrobials have been approved and are safe to use during pregnancy. Additional research into appropriate treatment options are needed.”

It’s right there in black and white and from the red, white and blue state of American Freedom and Democracy! Why then would the World Health Organization remove such an apparent consideration from its medical coding system?

But what about Morgellons specifically? What does this report elicit about those afflicted with this particular skin manifestation that’s been thoroughly associated with tick-borne disease?

What’s in the report for Morgellons?

Keyword analysis of the report reveals seventeen instances of the term “skin” speckled throughout. The first instance is regarding frequent skin lesions that occur early in the infectious process. It continues to state that with early treatment the better prognosis can be achieved. While that’s great and everything, what else does it say about skin lesions that may be particularly relevant?

Morgellons Disease

The next two instances of “skin” in the report occur regarding utilizing skin agents to deter ticks from attaching to the skin. The following six instances regard the characteristic erythema migrans bullseye rash and that relates to early diagnosis. This section is interesting in that it elaborates on the many kinds of erythema migrans that can occur and gives a visual presentation of each. Still, none of these erythema migrans look anything at all like Morgellons ulcerations.

The tenth and eleventh occurrence of the term “skin” in the first of three TBDWG reports to Congress are of interest as they describe Figure 10 in the report, “Skin Rashes of Tick-Borne Diseases”. Figure 10.a depicts Tularemia which is a Tick-Borne Infection (TBI) that produces lesions in the skin. The difference between Tularemia and Morgellons, however, is Tularemia does not produce collagenous fibers, which are the defining characteristic of Morgellons disease.

Tularemia Lesion

Occurrence twelve describes how skin rashes present early in dissemination and appears alongside a figure that demonstrates how the IgM response falls off over time, leaving a patient with primarily elevated IgG antibodies.

“Skin” appears for the thirteenth and fourteenth time in the report regarding the challenges of diagnosing skin rashes in individuals with darker skin tone. This section stresses the importance of TBI education in areas where Lyme is not considered endemic, as a lapse in diagnosis can result in severe patient complications.

The fifteenth and sixteenth use of the term “skin” appear alongside information regarding how the disease disseminates from the skin to other organs of the body in the sixth chapter which details treatment. This section is completely fascinating, eliciting how infected patients are more susceptible to re-infection and how mice vaccinated against influenza produced a suppressed immune response to the flu in light of their infection with Borrelia burgdorferi.

If Lyme disease can suppress the immune response for diseases other than itself, what else can it accomplish?

The final instance of the term “skin” in the TBDWG report to Congress is alongside recognition of NIAMS, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. We went to the NIAMS website and was not at all surprised to produce a lack of search results for the term “Morgellons“.

Is the TBDWG Report Good?
Canines Ticks Diseases https://www.maxpixel.net/Canines-Ticks-Diseases-185885

The first TBDWG Report is surprising. It’s not at all littered with propaganda and falsehoods that plague our esteemed medical establishments. Besides not directly addressing Morgellons the report does reveal several controversial facts about Lyme disease that many in official health agencies currently disagree about. This is a refreshing move in what could be considered a positive direction.

This report did not try to appease the establishment, but at the same time, it doesn’t explore the full extent of the Lyme pandemic. The fact is the fourteen members of the TBDWG have two more reports to produce, and we know for certain many of them are aware of the significance Morgellons has relating to their efforts.

If a grade was to be applied to the first report it feels like this initial effort deserves a solid B+.

https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/tickbornedisease/index.html

 

Category:

Activism, Babesia, Lyme, Morgellons, Tickborne Relapsing Fever, Tularemia, Viruses