Lyme

BACKGROUND: The true burden of Lyme disease in primary care in Scotland is unknown. Epidemiological data is currently based on laboratory confirmed reports as there is no mandatory reporting of clinical cases AIM: To analyse data from general practice in NHS Highland (North) over a six year period to assess the incidence and management of Lyme disease in primary care. DESIGN & SETTING: This was a retrospective descriptive study. Study data was extracted from all 63 general practices within NHS Highland (North) from 2017 to 2022...

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INTRODUCTION: Lyme disease (LD), caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States. Although most surveillance-reported cases are in people who are White, data suggest worse outcomes among people from racial and ethnic minority groups. METHODS: We conducted a systematic literature review to describe racial disparities in LD. We described the epidemiology of LD by race and ethnicity, including clinical presentation at diagnosis, and summarised the literature on knowledge, attitudes and practices related to LD and ticks by race and ethnicity...

In Europe, the main vector of tick-borne zoonoses is Ixodes ricinus, which has three life stages. During their development cycle, ticks take three separate blood meals from a wide variety of vertebrate hosts, during which they can acquire and transmit human pathogens such as Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the causative agent of Lyme borreliosis. In this study conducted in Northeastern France, we studied the importance of soil type, land use, forest stand type, and temporal dynamics on the abundance of ticks and their associated pathogens...

Dear Editor, Ticks carry many diseases, bacteria, and viruses and represent a very important healthcare issue both in Croatia and globally. Although most ticks are not infected with pathogens dangerous to humans, some ticks can transmit infectious diseases with significant morbidity and mortality. This is caused by the increasing incidence of many tick-borne diseases over a growing geographical area. Many factors influence which species of ticks are present in a given geographical area, as well as the density of their population and the risk of human exposure to infected ticks...

Ticks are responsible for the vast majority of vector-borne illnesses in the United States. The number of reported tick-borne disease (TBD) cases has more than doubled in the past 20 years. The majority of TBD cases occur in warm weather months in individuals with recent outdoor activities in wooded areas. The risk of contracting a TBD is also highly dependent on geographic location. Between 24 and 48 hours of tick attachment is required for most disease transmission to occur. Only 50% to 70% of patients with a TBD will recall being bitten by a tick, and TBDs are often initially misdiagnosed as a viral illness...

Arthritis associated with Lyme disease is frequent in regions of the United States where the illness is widespread; nonetheless, periprosthetic joint infections (PJI) caused by Lyme are exceptionally rare. As of October 2023, only five cases of Lyme PJI have been documented in the literature. Four of these cases were managed successfully with surgical intervention, while one was managed successfully with oral and IV antibiotics. Because of limited documented cases, there are no recommended treatment guidelines...

In previous studies, we showed that fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) contribute to inflammatory mediator output from primary rhesus microglia in response to live Borrelia burgdorferi . We also demonstrated that non-viable B. burgdorferi can be as pathogenic as live bacteria, if not more so, in both CNS and PNS tissues. In this study we assessed the effect of live and non-viable B. burgdorferi in inducing FGFR expression from rhesus frontal cortex (FC) and dorsal root ganglion (DRG) tissue explants as well as their neuronal/astrocyte localization...

BACKGROUND: Lyme borreliosis is a tick-borne disease caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi (Bb) sensu lato complex. Previous studies have suggested an association between Lyme borreliosis and heart failure, which have been suggested to be a possible manifestation of Lyme carditis. We aimed to investigate the risk of heart failure among individuals tested for serum Bb antibodies, and serum Bb seropositive individuals. METHODS: We performed a matched nationwide cohort study (Denmark, 1993-2020) and included 52,200 Bb seropositive individuals, and two age- and sex-matched comparison cohorts: 1) 104,400 Bb seronegative comparison cohort members, and 2) 261,000 population controls...

The diagnosis of Lyme disease is becoming more common in Turkey. Nonetheless, some physicians are not aware of the diagnostic principles that should be followed when faced with a suspected patient and could use tests that are not recommended, such as darkfield microscopy. Dark field microscopy is a diagnostic technique to visualize the spirochetes that cause Lyme disease; however, it is not recommended for the diagnosis of Lyme disease. One of the main limitations of dark field microscopy is its low sensitivity...

BACKGROUND: The aetiology of secondary complete atrioventricular blocks includes ischaemia, cardiac sarcoidosis, electrolyte imbalance, drug use, rheumatic fever, and infections such as Lyme disease and endocarditis. Diagnosis is important since some of these causes are reversible. Although several studies have reported on aortic valve calcification causing complete atrioventricular blocks, no study has described improvement of complete atrioventricular blocks by removal of the calcification...

Warming winters will change patterns of behaviour in temperate and polar arthropods, but we know little about the drivers of winter activity in animals such as ticks. Any changes in behaviour are likely to arise from a combination of both abiotic (e.g. temperature) and biotic (e.g. infection) drivers, and will have important consequences for survival and species interactions. Blacklegged ticks, Ixodes scapularis, have invaded Atlantic Canada and high proportions (30-50%) are infected with the bacteria causing Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi...

Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne infectious disease in Europe and the USA. Borrelia burgdorferi, as the causative agent of Lyme disease, is transmitted to the mammalian host during the tick blood meal. To adapt to the different encountered environments, Borrelia has adjusted the expression pattern of various, mostly outer surface proteins. The function of most B. burgdorferi outer surface proteins remains unknown. We determined the crystal structure of a previously uncharacterized B. burgdorferi outer surface protein BBK01, known to belong to the paralogous gene family 12 (PFam12) as one of its five members...

PURPOSE: The aim of this neurophysiological study was to retrospectively analyze visual evoked potentials (VEPs) acquired during an examination for diagnosing optic nerve involvement in patients with Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB). Attention was focused on LNB patients with peripheral facial palsy (PFP) and optic nerve involvement. METHODS: A total of 241 Czech patients were classified as having probable/definite LNB (193/48); of these, 57 were younger than 40 years, with a median age of 26...

BACKGROUND: We previously demonstrated a possible therapeutic benefit of VFEM (variable frequency electromagnetic energy) technology for the treatment of Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) or Chronic Lyme Disease (CLD). As a result, we prospectively enrolled 10 patients, all having significant debility, to determine to what extent we could improve their quality of life. Eight patients completed the 10 treatments. RESULTS: All eight patients had a significant improvement in quality of life within a 4-month time frame...

OBJECTIVES: Autoantibodies have been described in the post-infectious state, specifically after Lyme disease and COVID-19. We aimed to describe the prevalence and potential clinical utility of several commercially available autoantibodies after these infections. METHODS: Euroimmun panels (myositis, scleroderma and ANA5) were assayed using sera from patients with Lyme disease with return to health (RTH) (n=70), post-treatment Lyme disease (n=58), COVID-19 RTH (n=47) and post-acute symptoms of COVID-19 (n=22)...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Residual symptoms after treatment of Lyme disease, sometimes called post-treatment Lyme disease symptoms (PTLDs), are a matter of ongoing controversy. To guide treatment recommendations, a systematic review was performed of the available literature on specific treatment for PTLDs. METHODS: A systematic literature search of MEDLINE and CENTRAL was performed. No restrictions on case definitions, study types or specific interventions were applied to enable a comprehensive overview of the available literature...

UNLABELLED: We compared the performance of a new modified two-tier testing (MTTT) platform, the Diasorin Liaison chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA), to the Zeus enzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) MTTT and to Zeus ELISA/Viramed immunoblot standard two-tier testing (STTT) algorithm. Of 537 samples included in this study, 91 (16.9%) were positive or equivocal by one or more screening tests. Among these 91 samples, only 57 samples were concordant positive by first-tier screening tests, and only 19 of 57 were concordant by the three second-tier methods...

In elderly patients high-degree atrioventricular (AV) block is often due to irreversible degeneration of the cardiac conduction system. Reversible causes must however be excluded prior to pacemaker implantation. In younger patients reversible causes are more likely, as well as more unusual etiologies. Lyme carditis is a rare, but reversible cause of AV block. It is a manifestation of Lyme borreliosis - an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. Lyme carditis should particularly be considered in young and middle-aged patients with a high-degree AV block...

BACKGROUND: Lyme borreliosis is a multisystemic infection caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Erythema migras is the main clinical marker of the disease. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed was to investigate the frequency and clinical manifestations of European borreliosis on the skin, and to determine the significance of these findings for diagnosis and therapy. METHODS: A retrospective-prospective clinical study of outpatients treated and monitored in a private clinic of an infectologist was conducted over nine years from to 2013-2021...