Lyme disease

From MEpedia, a crowd-sourced encyclopedia of ME and CFS science and history

Lyme Disease is caused by borrelia burgdorferi, a pathogen transmitted by the black legged tick.[1] It is treatable but can become chronic lyme disease. A bulls-eye rash can appear at the site of a deer tick bite but can be in different forms[2] while some people never recall having a rash; 30% of lyme patients never get a rash.[1]

 Symptoms[edit | edit source]

The signs and symptoms of lyme disease vary and usually appear in stages.[3]

Classic bulls-eye rash from the bite of a deer tick

Early signs and symptoms[edit | edit source]

  • Erythema migrans (Bull's eye rash) (Rash can be in other forms and 30% of the time no rash is present.)[4][5]
  • Flu-like symptoms

Later signs and symptoms[edit | edit source]

Other signs and symptoms[edit | edit source]

Less common signs and symptoms[edit | edit source]

 Blood and other laboratory tests[edit | edit source]

United States[edit | edit source]

United Kingdom[edit | edit source]

  • BBC1 Lyme Disease Discussion - Some patients have waited up to 30 years for a correct diagnosis. National Health Service (NHS) services have only correctly identified the disease in a quarter of the patients. The blood tests are unreliable and often come back negative. The development of an accurate blood test is in need of research funding.[10]

False positives[edit | edit source]

Several herpesviruses including varicella zoster virus[12][13], cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus,[14] and HSV-2[15] may cause false positives on Lyme Disease tests.

News media on unapproved tests[edit | edit source]

  • 2005, Unproved Lyme Disease Tests Prompt Warnings[16] - New York Times
  • 2013, Many tests to diagnose Lyme, but no proof they work[17] - The Boston Globe
  • 2013, Lyme Culture Test Causes Uproar[18] - Medscape
  • 2014, Federal Loopholes Compromise Lyme Disease Testing[19]

Treatment[edit | edit source]

Spirochete, or “corkscrew-shaped” bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi
Patients treated with appropriate antibiotics in the early stages of Lyme disease usually recover rapidly and completely. Antibiotics commonly used for oral treatment include doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime axetil. Patients with certain neurological or cardiac forms of illness may require intravenous treatment with drugs such as ceftriaxone or penicillin.[20]

Notable studies[edit | edit source]

  • 2013, A Manganese-rich Environment Supports Superoxide Dismutase Activity in a Lyme Disease Pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi[22] - (Full text)
  • 2016, County-Scale Distribution of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the Continental United States[23] - (Abstract)
  • 2016, Identification of a novel pathogenic Borrelia species causing Lyme borreliosis with unusually high spirochaetaemia: a descriptive study[24] - (Abstract)
  • 2016, Longitudinal transcriptome analysis reveals a sustained differential gene expression signature in patients treated for acute Lyme disease[25] - (Full text)
  • 2015, Emerging horizons for tick-borne pathogens: from the 'one pathogen-one disease' vision to the pathobiome paradigm[26] - (Full text)

Pathobiome Paradigm[edit | edit source]

Some future research will focus on a spectrum of pathogens instead of a "one pathogen-one disease" vision.[26]

United States Congressional Report[edit | edit source]

News and articles[edit | edit source]

See also[edit | edit source]

Learn more[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Lyme Disease: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention". WebMD. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  2. "Does Everyone Get the Telltale Bullseye Rash? | Bay Area Lyme Foundation". Bay Area Lyme Foundation. September 12, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  3. 3.0 3.1 "Lyme disease - Symptoms and causes". Mayo Clinic. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  4. 4.0 4.1 "Does Everyone Get the Telltale Bullseye Rash? | Bay Area Lyme Foundation". Bay Area Lyme Foundation. September 12, 2014. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  5. "Lyme Disease: Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention". WebMD. Retrieved September 6, 2018.
  6. "Two-step Laboratory Testing Process | Lyme Disease". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  7. "Types of Lyme Disease Tests". lymediseaseguide.org. May 27, 2011. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  8. "Laboratory tests that are not recommended | Lyme Disease". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  9. Carino, Jerry (November 16, 2018). "Tests for Lyme disease don't work well enough to diagnose illness early, federal panel says". USA TODAY. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
  10. Loukas, Demetrios (February 27, 2016). "BBC1 Lyme Disease 27.02.2016". YouTube. Katherine Allman.
  11. Donaldson, Liam (2009). "Testing for Lyme Disease" (PDF). webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk (PDF). p. 4.
  12. Feder, HM Jr; Gerber, MA; Luger, SW; Ryan, RW (December 1991), "False-positive serologic tests for Lyme disease after varicella infection", N Engl J Med, 325 (26): 1886-7, PMID 1961232
  13. Woelfle, J; Wilske, B; Haverkamp, F; Bialek, R (November 1998), "False-positive serological tests for Lyme disease in facial palsy and varicella zoster meningo-encephalitis", Eur J Pediatr, 157 (1): 953-4, PMID 9835449
  14. Goossens, HA; Nohlmans, MK; van den Bogaard, AE (May 1999), "Epstein-Barr virus and cytomegalovirus infections cause false-positive results in IgM two-test protocol for early Lyme borreliosis", Infection, 27 (3): 231, PMID 10378140
  15. Strasfeld, L; Romanzi, L; Seder, RH; Berardi, VP (2005), "False-Positive Serological Test Results for Lyme Disease in a Patient with Acute Herpes Simplex Virus Type 2", Clin Infect Dis, 41 (12): 1826-1827, doi:10.1086/498319, PMID 16288417
  16. Santora, Marc; Hurley, Dan. "Unproved Lyme Disease Tests Prompt Warnings". New York Times. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  17. Daley, Beth (October 21, 2013). "Many tests to diagnose Lyme, but no proof they do". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  18. "Lyme Culture Test Causes Uproar". Medscape. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  19. Daley, Beth (June 17, 2014). "Federal Loopholes Compromise Lyme Disease Testing". WGBH 89.7. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  20. "Treatment | Lyme Disease | CDC". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. December 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  21. Wormser, Gary P.; Dattwyler, Raymond J.; Shapiro, Eugene D.; Halperin, John J.; Steere, Allen C.; Klempner, Mark S.; Krause, Peter J.; Bakken, Johan S.; Strle, Franc (November 1, 2006). "The Clinical Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 43 (9): 1089–1134. doi:10.1086/508667. ISSN 1537-6591.
  22. Aguirre, J. Dafhne; Clark, Hillary M.; McIlvin, Matthew; Vazquez, Christine; Palmere, Shaina L.; Grab, Dennis J.; Seshu, J.; Hart, P. John; Saito, Mak; Culotta, Valeria C. (March 22, 2013). "A Manganese-rich Environment Supports Superoxide Dismutase Activity in a Lyme Disease Pathogen, Borrelia burgdorferi*". Journal of Biological Chemistry. 288 (12): 8468–8478. doi:10.1074/jbc.M112.433540. ISSN 0021-9258. PMID 23376276.
  23. Eisen, Rebecca J.; Eisen, Lars; Beard, Charles B. (March 1, 2016). "County-Scale Distribution of Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus (Acari: Ixodidae) in the Continental United States". Journal of Medical Entomology. 53 (2): 349–386. doi:10.1093/jme/tjv237. ISSN 0022-2585.
  24. Pritt, Bobbi S.; Mead, Paul S.; Johnson, Diep K. Hoang; Neitzel, David F.; Respicio-Kingry, Laurel B.; Davis, Jeffrey P.; Schiffman, Elizabeth; Sloan, Lynne M.; Schriefer, Martin E.; Replogle, Adam J.; Paskewitz, Susan M. (May 1, 2016). "Identification of a novel pathogenic Borrelia species causing Lyme borreliosis with unusually high spirochaetaemia: a descriptive study". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 16 (5): 556–564. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00464-8. ISSN 1473-3099. PMID 26856777.
  25. Bouquet, Jerome; Soloski, Mark J.; Swei, Andrea; Cheadle, Chris; Federman, Scot; Billaud, Jean-Noel; Rebman, Alison W.; Kabre, Beniwende; Halpert, Richard; Boorgula, Meher; Aucott, John N. (March 2, 2016). "Longitudinal Transcriptome Analysis Reveals a Sustained Differential Gene Expression Signature in Patients Treated for Acute Lyme Disease". mBio. 7 (1). doi:10.1128/mbio.00100-16. ISSN 2161-2129. PMC 4791844. PMID 26873097.
  26. 26.0 26.1 Vayssier-Taussat, M; Kazimirova, M; Hubalek, Z; Hornok, S; Farkas, R; Cosson, JF; Bonnet, S; Vourch, G; Gasqui, P; Mihalca, AD; Plantard, O; Silaghi, C; Cutler, S; Rizzlo, A (November 19, 2015). "Emerging horizons for tick-borne pathogens: from the 'one pathogen-one disease' vision to the pathobiome paradigm". Future Microbiol. 10 (12): 2033-43. doi:10.2217/fmb.15.114. PMID 26610021.
  27. Aucott, John N; Honey, Kristen T; Adams, Wendy; Beard, Charles Benjamin; Cooper, Captain Scott; Dixon, Dennis; Horowitz, Richard; Jones, Captain Estella; Nigrovic, Lisa E (2018). "Tick-Borne Disease Working Group - 2018 Report to Congress" (PDF). drive.google.com. Allen Richards; Robert Sabatino; Vanila Singh; Patricia Smith; Robert Smith. Retrieved November 26, 2018.