Lyme Borreliosis and Associations With Mental Disorders and Suicidal Behavior: A Nationwide Danish Cohort Study

ByCanlyme

Abstract Objective: Lyme borreliosis is a tick-borne infectious disease that may confer an increased risk of mental disorders, but previous studies have been hampered by methodological limitations, including small sample sizes. The authors used a nationwide retrospective cohort study design to examine rates of mental disorders following Lyme borreliosis. Methods: Using Denmark’s National Patient Register…

Don’t throw away that deer tick. Researchers at Mount Allison want to study it

ByCanlyme

CBC News: June 12, 2022 Study may help reduce the risk of humans contracting Lyme disease When most Maritimers find a tick on themselves or their animals, their first instinct is to pull it off and destroy it. But researchers at Mount Allison University are trying to get people to send those ticks their way…

Hyperacusis (sound sensitivity), tinnitus (ringing in the ears), sudden hearing loss in Lyme disease – literature references

ByCanlyme

Sound Sensitivity (Hyperacusis) and the Lyme Disease Connection (Increased sensitivity to certain frequency and volume ranges of sound) Carbamazepine in the Treatment of Lyme Disease–Induced Hyperacusis https://neuro.psychiatryonline.org/…/10.1176/jnp.11.1.97 AETIOLOGY AND CLINICAL PRESENTATIONS OF AUDITORY PROCESSING DISORDERS—A REVIEW HTTP://ADC.BMJ.COM/CONTENT/85/5/361.SHORT TINNITUS, HEARING LOSS, SOUND SENSITIVITY AND THE LYME DISEASE CONNECTION Otolaryngologic aspects of Lyme disease. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2041438 Central Auditory Processing Disorder https://link.springer.com/…/10.1007%2F978-0-387-79948-3… Lyme…

BCCDC releases map of risk areas where people could contract Lyme disease

ByCanlyme

The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control has updated its information on Lyme disease in the province. A Facebook post shows a map of the province and includes the areas the BCCDC considers ‘high-risk’ Lyme disease zones. “It’s certainly an update, and contradicts much of what doctors have been telling patients throughout the province for…

UoGuelph’s G Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab receives $1.2M for research

ByCanlyme

May, 2022 “With more ticks and tick bites occurring in Canada year after year, better diagnosis of Lyme disease is the goal of renewed funding from the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases supporting a dedicated Lyme disease research program at the University of Guelph. The G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab will receive a three-year, $1.2-million grant…

The Platelet Fraction is a Novel Reservoir to Detect Lyme Borrelia in Blood

ByCanlyme

Abstract Serological diagnosis of Lyme disease suffers from considerable limitations. Yet, the technique cannot currently be replaced by direct detection methods, such as bacterial culture or molecular analysis, due to their inadequate sensitivity. The low bacterial burden in vasculature and lack of consensus around blood-based isolation of the causative pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi, are central to this…

Capture Sequencing Enables Sensitive Detection of Tick-Borne Agents in Human Blood

ByCanlyme

March 7, 2022 Abstract Assay sensitivity can be a limiting factor in the use of PCR as a tool for the detection of tick-borne pathogens in blood. We evaluated the performance of Tick-borne disease Capture Sequencing Assay (TBDCapSeq), a capture sequencing assay targeting tick-borne agents, to test 158 whole blood specimens obtained from the Lyme…

Two-tier testing no better than a flip of a coin: Molecular Microbiological and Immune Characterization of a Cohort of Patients Diagnosed with Early Lyme Disease

ByCanlyme

ABSTRACT Lyme disease is a tick-borne infection caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. Current diagnosis of early Lyme disease relies heavily on clinical criteria, including the presence of an erythema migrans rash. The sensitivity of current gold- standard diagnostic tests relies upon antibody formation, which is typically delayed and thus of limited utility in early…

Neuropathogenicity of non-viable Borrelia burgdorferi ex vivo

ByCanlyme

[CanLyme Note: We disagree that “appropriate treatment” has been established for borreliosis. Also, this study involved deceased monkeys and is a primary tissue study so it is not representative of what occurs in a living human. There are interesting point made including that dead borrelia remnants can cause havoc.] Abstract Even after appropriate treatment, a proportion…

Neuropathogenicity of non-viable Borrelia burgdorferi ex vivo

ByCanlyme

January 2022 Abstract Even after appropriate treatment, a proportion of Lyme disease patients suffer from a constellation of symptoms, collectively called Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS). Brain PET scan of patients with PTLDS have demonstrated likely glial activation indicating persistent neuroinflammatory processes. It is possible that unresolved bacterial remnants can continue to cause neuroinflammation. In…

Multidisciplinary Management of Suspected Lyme Borreliosis: Clinical Features of 569 Patients, and Factors Associated with Recovery at 3 and 12 Months, a Prospective Cohort Study

ByCanlyme

Abstract Introduction. Because patients with a suspicion of Lyme borreliosis (LB) may have experienced difficult care paths, the Tick-Borne Diseases Reference Center (TBD-RC) was started in 2017. The aim of our study was to compare the clinical features of patients according to their final diagnoses, and to determine the factors associated with recovery in the…

Ticks survive for 27 years in entomologist’s lab

ByCanlyme

by Binghamton University February 22, 2022 Food is necessary for survival, but an East African species of ticks adapted to survive without feeding for eight years. Not only did they live for a total of 27 years, but they healthily reproduced long after the last male tick died. Julian Shepherd, associate professor of biological sciences, discovered…

Risk of post-treatment Lyme disease in patients with ideally-treated early Lyme disease: A prospective cohort study.

ByCanlyme

Abstract Purpose Post-treatment Lyme disease (PTLD) is characterized by patient-reported symptoms after treatment for Borrelia burgdorferi infection. The primary aim of this study was to assess whether participants with a history of Lyme disease (LD) would be more likely to meet criteria for PTLD than those without a history of LD. Methods We conducted a longitudinal, prospective…

Estimating the Frequency of Lyme Disease Diagnoses, United States, 2010–2018

ByCanlyme

Abstract By using commercial insurance claims data, we estimated that Lyme disease was diagnosed and treated in ≈476,000 patients in the United States annually during 2010–2018. Our results underscore the need for accurate diagnosis and improved prevention. Lyme disease is caused by Borrelia burgdorferi spirochetes, which are transmitted to humans by certain Ixodes spp. ticks (1). The infection can…

Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi in Atlantic Canadian wildlife

ByCanlyme

Abstract Borrelia burgdorferi and Borrelia miyamotoi are tick-vectored zoonotic pathogens maintained in wildlife species. Tick populations are establishing in new areas globally in response to climate change and other factors. New Brunswick is a Canadian maritime province at the advancing front of tick population establishment and has seen increasing numbers of ticks carrying B. burgdorferi, and more recently B. miyamotoi. Further, it…

Lyme-carrying ticks live longer—and could spread farther—thanks to warmer winters

ByCanlyme

[CanLyme Note: The research referred to in this article was aided by a grant via the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation’s Venture Grant’s program.] “Experiments suggest infection makes ticks more active in winter PHOENIX—Fearing a case of potentially debilitating Lyme disease, countless hikers postpone their trips to the woods until winter, when the ticks that carry the…