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Detection and heterogeneity of Borrelia burgdorferi in Ixodes ticks by culture-dependent and culture-independent methods

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Authors:   Xu G, Wesker J, White C, Campbell J, Reich NG and Rich SM Citation:   J. Clin. Microbiol. 2012(Nov) Location:  Laboratory of Medical Zoology, Department of Microbiology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003, USA. DOI: 10.1128/JCM.03009-12 Abstract Ability to detect heterogeneity of ospC genotypes of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in the tick vector…

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Comparison of the Babesia duncani (WA1) IgG Detection Rates among Clinical Sera Submitted to a Reference Laboratory for WA1 IgG Testing and Blood Donor Specimens from Diverse Geographic Areas of the United States

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Abstract All reported cases of WA1 babesiosis have occurred in the Pacific coast region of the United States, suggesting that WA1 is limited to this geographic area. However, we detected WA1 IgG in 27% of clinical sera sent to our laboratory for WA1 IgG testing from across the United States over a 2-year period, suggesting…

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Lyme disease counting is uncertain, imprecise [US CDC agrees it is underreported]

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Cases soar in the Northeast; CDC admits undercounting but declines ‘epidemic’ label New York state — the veritable epicenter of tick-borne diseases in America — counted 23,600 cases of Lyme disease from 2009 to 2011. When the federal government posted the state’s numbers, however, only 13,500 were listed. Those lost cases help explain why Lyme…

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Characterization of Biofilm Formation by Borrelia burgdorferi In Vitro

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Abstract   Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, has long been known to be capable of forming aggregates and colonies. It was recently demonstrated that Borrelia burgdorferi aggregate formation dramatically changes the in vitro response to hostile environments by this pathogen. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that these aggregates are indeed…

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Lyme disease antiscience – The Lancet

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Paul Auwaerter and colleagues1 are among the handful of individuals who have controlled the Lyme disease research agenda for decades and ultimately which data have been reported. Why is it that, in my experience, many people in New Hampshire have been severely debilitated by Lyme disease or know someone who has, whereas Auwaerter and co-workers…

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Persisting atypical and cystic forms of Borrelia burgdorferi and local inflammation in Lyme neuroborreliosis

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Abstract Background The long latent stage seen in syphilis, followed by chronic central nervous system infection and inflammation, can be explained by the persistence of atypical cystic and granular forms of Treponema pallidum. We investigated whether a similar situation may occur in Lyme neuroborreliosis. Method Atypical forms of Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes were induced exposing cultures…

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Tuskegee Part 2 – Lyme disease – A far larger fraud?

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The Tuskgegee experiment that started in the 1930’s ruined over 600 people’s lives who had syphilis, a spirochetal infection like Lyme disease who unknowlingly had antibiotics withheld from them by being given placebos. “The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, cited as “arguably the most infamous biomedical research study in U.S. history,” ” Here in this speech, Lyme disease is said…

Vascular binding of a pathogen under shear force through mechanistically distinct sequential interactions with host macromolecules

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Summary Systemic dissemination of microbial pathogens permits microbes to spread from the initial site of infection to secondary target tissues and is responsible for most mortality due to bacterial infections. Dissemination is a critical stage of disease progression by the Lyme spirochaete, Borrelia burgdorferi. However, many mechanistic features of the process are not yet understood….

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Cotransmission of Divergent Relapsing Fever Spirochetes by Artificially Infected Ornithodoros hermsii

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Paul F. Policastro,* Sandra J. Raffel, and  Tom G. Schwan Medical Entomology Section, Laboratory of Zoonotic Pathogens, Rocky Mountain Laboratories, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Hamilton, Montana 59840 Abstract The soft tick Ornithodoros hermsi, which ranges in specific arboreal zones of western North America, acts as a vector for…

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Is multiple sclerosis (MS) a symptom of Lyme disease?

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…. and why is there no current ongoing aggressive human pathology being done in Canada specific to looking for Lyme in patients diagnosed with MS considering that Canada has some of the highest per capita rates of MS in the world? Lyme on the Brain (Part 3-A) Lecture Notes of Tom Grier Tomgrier2001 [at] yahoo…

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Bartonella spp. Bacteremia and Rheumatic Symptoms in Patients from Lyme Disease–endemic Region

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In Response: We offer the following comments to Beard et al. (1) and Raoult (2) regarding their respective responses to our recent article (3). Before 1990, Bartonella species were not known to infect animals or humans in North America. If not for the AIDS epidemic, the expansion of literature about Bartonella spp. might not have…

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Job posting for physicians – Vancouver, BC

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Physicians – Complex Chronic Medicine Complex Chronic Diseases Program (CCDP) BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre UBC Faculty of Medicine Vancouver, BC Part Time (0.05-0.4 FTE, to be determined based on availability) The Complex Chronic Diseases Program (CCDP) is a multidisciplinary program that treats patients with Lyme disease, Fibromyalgia and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis /Chronic Fatigue Syndrome….

Santé Canada – Trousses d’analyse pour la maladie de Lyme et limites

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Points clés •Les résultats d’analyses sérologiques sont un supplément au diagnostic clinique de la maladie de Lyme et ne devraient pas constituer la base principale du diagnostic ni des décisions thérapeutiques. •Les trousses d’analyse pour la maladie de Lyme ont des limites de sensibilité et de spécificité. •Les professionnels de la santé devraient connaître ces…

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Large differences between test strategies for the detection of anti-Borrelia antibodies are revealed by comparing eight ELISAs and five immunoblots.

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Ang CW, Notermans DW, Hommes M, Simoons-Smit AM, Herremans T. Source VUMC, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. w [dot] ang [at] vumc [dot] nl Abstract We investigated the influence of assay choice on the results in a two-tier testing algorithm for the detection of anti-Borrelia antibodies. Eighty-nine serum samples from clinically well-defined patients were tested in eight…

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Characterization of Biofilm Formation by Borrelia burgdorferi in Vitro

ByTeam

Abstract   Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, has long been known to be capable of forming aggregates and colonies. It was recently demonstrated that Borrelia burgdorferi aggregate formation dramatically changes the in vitro response to hostile environments by this pathogen. In this study, we investigated the hypothesis that these aggregates are indeed…