Category Archives: Research

CanLyme is dedicated to promoting advancements in Lyme disease research. More research is needed to accurately diagnose and treat Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses and CanLyme has taken measures to address this, see our Venture Grants Policy.

CanLyme board member Reuben Kaufman, PhD has an ambitious tick study project underway on Salt Spring Island, BC and his program is also able to feed ticks to another CanLyme board member Janet Sperling who is completing her doctorate on examining the various pathogens that are found in the guts of Canadian ticks.
The articles and abstracts below have primarily been sourced from: PubMed.gov or the individual journals in which they were published. Please click the PubMed or journal link to read the whole article on their site.

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Recent in: Research

Human Babesiosis Caused by Babesia duncani Has Widespread Distribution across Canada

John D. Scott * and Catherine M. Scott  published May 17, 2018 Abstract   Human babesiosis caused by Babesia duncani is an emerging infectious disease in Canada. This malaria-like illness is brought about by a protozoan parasite infecting red blood cells. Currently, controversy surrounds which tick species are vectors of B. duncani. Since the availability of a serological or molecular test in Canada for B. duncani has been Continues →

Aggressiveness, violence, homicidality, homicide, and Lyme disease

Letter Published May 14th, 2018    https://doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S168751 I read with great interest the article by Bransfield,1 wherein the author reviewed potential contributors to and manifestations of heightened loss of control in Lyme disease patients. As a child psychiatrist living in a Lyme-endemic state, New Jersey, in the USA, I have seen a number of children and adolescents who exhibit significant acute Continues →

Pediatric stroke related to Lyme neuroborreliosis: Data from the Swiss NeuroPaediatric Stroke Registry and literature review.

Eur J Paediatr Neurol. 2018 Jan;22(1):113-121 ABSTRACT BACKGROUND: Cerebrovascular complications of Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) are poorly documented in the paediatric population. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis from prospectively registered cases of acute ischemic stroke (AIS) from the Swiss NeuroPaediatric Stroke Registry (SNPSR) from 2000 to 2015. Only cases with serologically confirmed LNB were included. In addition, a literature review on Continues →

Professional Self-Regulation and the Public Interest in Canada

[CanLyme Note: The Lyme disease disaster for Canadians is an excellent example of how the ‘self-regulating’ medical colleges and medical associations have woven themselves into the publicly funded health care system positioning themselves as the only experts, and policing any physicians who disagree with them, out of business.  No outside scientific expertise is allowed no matter how much harm is done Continues →

Do Microbes Trigger Alzheimer’s Disease?

[CanLyme Note:  Judith Miklossy, PhD, was a founding Board member of CanLyme in 2003 and remained until she moved back to her home in Switzerland from British Columbia in 2009. Her research ethics and standards are impeccable and well recognized.] By Jill U. Adams TheScientist In late 2011, Drexel University dermatology professor Herbert Allen was astounded to read a new research paper Continues →

History of Morgellons disease: from delusion to definition

Middelveen, et al   https://doi.org/10.2147/CCID.S152343 Abstract: Morgellons disease (MD) is a skin condition characterized by the presence of multicolored filaments that lie under, are embedded in, or project from skin. Although the condition may have a longer history, disease matching the above description was first reported in the US in 2002. Since that time, the condition that we know as MD has Continues →

Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease

M. Middelveen, et al. PREPRINT Abstract Introduction: Lyme disease is a tickborne illness that generates controversy among medical providers and researchers. One of the key topics of debate is the existence of persistent infection with the Lyme spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, in patients who have been treated with recommended doses of antibiotics yet remain symptomatic. Persistent spirochetal infection despite antibiotic therapy has recently Continues →

Australia: Hope for Lyme sufferers with ‘groundbreaking’ pilot study

[CanLyme Note: Once again, it is the patients, true ethical scientists, and clinicians doing what the governments have refused to do for decades… appropriate research as opposed to the anti-science, anti-patient work of government and medical societies, such as the Infectious Disease Society of America who yield so much control over governments and medical societies internationally. Patients have found that Continues →

Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR

Melanie K. B. Wills, Andrea M. Kirby, Vett K. Lloyd Department of Biology, Mount Allison University J. Vis. Exp. (132), e56471, doi:10.3791/56471 (2018) Detecting the Lyme Disease Spirochete, Borrelia Burgdorferi, in Ticks Using Nested PCR ABSTRACT Lyme disease is a serious vector-borne infection that is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato family of spirochetes, which are transmitted to humans through the bite of Continues →

Combining public participatory surveillance and occupancy modelling to predict the distributional response of Ixodes scapularis to climate change

Volume 9, Issue 3, March 2018, Pages 695-706 David J Lieske, Vett K. Lloyd https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2018.01.018 Abstract Ixodes scapularis, a known vector of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto (Bbss), is undergoing range expansion in many parts of Canada. The province of New Brunswick, which borders jurisdictions with established populations of I. scapularis, constitutes a range expansion zone for this species. To better understand the current and potential future distribution Continues →

Citizen Science and Community Engagement in Tick Surveillance-A Canadian Case Study.

Healthcare 2018, 6(1), 22; doi:10.3390/healthcare6010022 Julie Lewis, Corinne R. Boudreau, James W. Patterson, Jonathan Bradet-Legris, Vett K. Lloyd Abstract Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in North America and Europe, and on-going surveillance is required to monitor the spread of the tick vectors as their populations expand under the influence of climate change. Active surveillance involves teams of researchers collecting Continues →

Canadian Lyme Consortium makes announcement to Lyme community

February 6th, 2018 On behalf of a growing team of scientists, advocates, and clinicians, we wanted to let you know about a national research network that is taking shape to confront the escalating Lyme disease crisis. The Canadian Lyme Consortium has evolved from the urgent need to accelerate progress in the understanding, detection, and treatment of Lyme disease, and to Continues →