|
Home
|
|
Symptoms
|
|
Live Discussion
|
|
Diagnosis
|
|
Treatment
|
|
World-wide Support Finder
|
|
Library
|
|
Research
|
|
Lymelinks
|
|
Contact
|
|
Pets & Lyme
|
|
DONATIONS
|
|
Drug Info
|
|
Medical Dictionary
|
|
Board of Directors
|
|
|
No Warranties or Representations
The data and information presented in this web site are presented in good faith and believed to be accurate regarding Lyme disease (commonly misspelled lymes disease lyme's disease lime disease limes disease) and other related diseases. Any and all liability for the content or any omissions including any inaccuracies, errors, or misstatements in such data or information is expressly disclaimed. The web site is compiled for the sole purpose of informing community members of resources and information pertaining to Lyme Borreliosis Disease and its coinfections. Lyme disease symptoms may vary from person to person.
The Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, Directors and members are not liable for any direct or indirect damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or other tortious action arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of information available from this website.
Consult a qualified Lyme ( Borreliosis ) Disease literate doctor for medical advice if Lyme Disease lymes disease lyme's disease lime disease limes disease is suspected to discuss your Lyme Disease Symptoms.
|
Master’s Disease
Named after a persistent physician who finally convinced the CDC that he was seeing numerous patients from Missouri and surrounding areas with Lyme-like symptoms, investigators discovered a “new” bacteria (Borrelia lonestari) carried by the Lone Star Tick which did not test positive using the normal Lyme disease tests. The rash caused by the bite is similar to that of Lyme disease, but sometimes raised and warm to the touch. Antibiotic treatment is the same.
STARI – Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness
This may or may not be Master’s disease, but researchers are investigating an outbreak of tick-associated rashes in the southwest, again caused by the Lone Star tick.
It is important to remember that any given tick may carry more than one infection, and that if you find one tick on you or a pet there may be 100 more “out there.”
Tick Paralysis on the rise?
Several cases of tick paralysis were recently reported in New Jersey. This disease is caused by the Dog (wood) tick, which secretes a neurotoxin as it feeds on the head – usually at the back of the neck. Initial symptoms may be slurred speech and weak legs, but the disease progresses to the point where the victim becomes paralyzed and has to be put on a ventilator. There is no treatment, but once the tick is found and properly removed symptoms resolve within 18-36 hours.
Most susceptible are young children, especially girls, whose long hair may provide an ideal hiding spot for the tick, which will attach for a week or more to feed. As it does so it swells the size of a small olive, so don’t forget the daily tick checks.
Tick-bits
A question has arisen as to how ticks survive the winter months. Ixodes scapularis (deer tick) becomes an adult in the fall and actively searches for a host (usually a deer) from October to May whenever it is over 35-40°. The female attaches to its host and once mated fills up with blood, falls off and spends the winter “buried” in leaf litter. Eggs are usually laid in the spring, and the adult dies.
During prolonged bouts of cold weather (snow is, to them, a quilt) they enter a phase called diapause, and become active again as it warms up. Ticks have been frozen in ice cubes for six months under laboratory conditions only to be walking around 24 hours later when thawed.
Did you know that:
*Part of the blame for the declining moose population in Maine has been attributed to the Winter Tick, which attaches to animals in such numbers that they can remove all the blood, causing the host to die. This tick can also kill deer, elk and other large mammals.
*Unlike the Deer Tick, which waits for its prey, the Lone Star Tick is extremely aggressive and may travel 30-40 feet towards the source of carbon dioxide (humans) in search of a blood meal. It is not uncommon to find hundreds of these ticks on you in a very short period of time if you walk through or lie down in an infested area.
*Tularemia, a bacterial disease which infects about 200 people per year in the United States, has been blamed for the death of a 17 month old toddler in Delaware. Often know as “rabbit fever” or “deer fly fever,” the disease is on the government’s “watch list” as a possible bioterrorist tool. In this instance the boy was bitten on the right ear, developed a fever of more than 105°, had swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches and weakness, and died several weeks later.
Lyme Disease Vaccine Pulled From Market
Citing poor sales, Lymerix, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, has been pulled from the market. In addition, an application to market a pediatric version has been withdrawn, and all Lyme disease research has been halted.
New Tick-borne Diseases
With support from the ALDF's Research Program, recent studies at Yale's School of Epidemiology and Public Health revealed a new spirochete resembling B. miyamotoi, which causes relapsing fever in Japan. Further studies indicated that the spirochete is found in 10-20% of ticks studies in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Jersey, and if implicated in human disease, may help explain late-stage symptoms exhibited by some people. In addition, the research indicates there may be other undisclosed microbes lurking within Ixodes scapularis.
Only time will tell whether this new spirochete, as well as others yet to be "discovered," play a significant role in human disease.
Rash not necessarily a "bull's eye"
Results of a study recently reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicate that Erythema migrans often presents as a homogenous rash rather than a distinct "bull's eye," especially in early stages of Lyme disease.
The rash is thought to occur in only 30% of victims.
Data from the study indicates clinicians should change their approach to diagnosis.
Timing of Blood Tests
Time and again this office receives phone calls from patients who have a rash, and in some cases had had a tick attached at the site, only to be told by their physician to come back a month later for a test. It is imperative that clinicians understand that the presence of a homogenous or "bull's eye" rash caused by a tick-bite is indicative of infection, and treatment should be started immediately. Most blood tests do not work until 4-6 weeks after infection has occurred, and any delay may cause complications at a later date. (See above story).
TOP
|
| | |
