Date post: | 02-Jul-2015 |
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Health & Medicine |
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What you should know….
Holly Ahern MS, BS MT(ASCP)
Associate Professor of Microbiology
SUNY Adirondack, Queensbury, NY
I say “LYME DISEASE,”
you say….
*Borreliaburgdorferi
Other Borrelia
Babesia
Bartonella
Ehrlichia
Anaplasma
Mycoplasma
Viruses
University of Rhode Island
Tick Encounter Resource Center
http://www.tickencounter.org/tick_testing
Lyme disease is an acute infectious disease, transmitted by nymph stage deer ticks, caused by one species of a
specific bacterium named Borreliaburgdorferi
“Hard to catch and easy to cure”
Tick must be attached for a minimum of 36 hours to transmit Lyme disease…
Current IDSA/CDC “Standard of Care”
Peer-reviewed evidence
NOT included in the
IDSA/CDC guidelines
Burgdorfer: transmission
time for Borrelia is
variable.
Other TBDs transmitted
quickly; viruses in 15 min.
Borrelia may be sexually
transmitted.
Borrelia, Babesia,
Anaplasma are
transfusion transmitted.
Lyme disease is an acute infectious disease.
Current IDSA/CDC “Standard of Care”
Peer-reviewed evidence
NOT included in the
IDSA/CDC guidelines
Lyme disease may
be an acute disease.
Lyme disease may
also be a chronic
disease.
A single “FRONTAL” pathogen, Borreliaburgdorferi, is responsible for Lyme disease symptoms.
Ticks carry and
transmit multiple
“STEALTH” microbes.
People infected with
multiple pathogens
have more severe
disease.
Current IDSA/CDC “Standard of Care”
Peer-reviewed evidence
NOT included in the
IDSA/CDC guidelines
Diagnostic algorithm (ACP) includes patient history of tick bite, “bulls-eye” rash, AND “laboratory evidence” of infection (usually this means a “two-tier” system of antibody based blood tests for Borreliaburgdorferi ONLY)
Current IDSA/CDC “Standard of Care”
Peer-reviewed evidence
NOT included in the
IDSA/CDC guidelines
Current diagnostic criteria
EXCLUDE any form of the
disease that does not meet the
ACP/CDC/IDSA algorithm
Therefore, you may not be
diagnosed with Lyme disease,
EVEN IF YOU HAVE IT, if:
No “bulls-eye” at tick bite site
“First tier” test doesn’t meet a
threshold level
“Second-tier” test doesn’t have
enough “bands”
You were infected with more
than one microbe by the tick
Most infections resolve after short-term antibiotic treatment; 5% of patients may develop post-txsequelae that are “autoimmune.”
CDC survey - 61% require
more than recommended
antibiotic treatment.
30 – 50% have chronic
symptoms persisting after
antibiotics.
Stealth pathogens are highly
adapted survivors so
persistent infection may be
the cause.
Reactivation of growth of
spirochetes shown in most
recent study.
Current IDSA/CDC “Standard of Care”
Peer-reviewed evidence
NOT included in the
IDSA/CDC guidelines
EASY to catch and HARD to cure!Ticks may transmit some pathogens RAPIDLYStudy of Lyme patients: Only 50% developed any type of rash, of those, only 10% had a “bulls-eye”Symptoms may occur at ANY TIME of the yearSymptoms are highly variable and may become CHRONICBlood tests for Lyme disease are reliably INACCURATE2-4 weeks of antibiotics MAY NOT cure Lyme disease
DiseaseNew cases(annual)
NIH funding (FY 2012)
Hepatitis C 1,300 $112 million
West Nile Virus 5,700 $29 million
HIV/AIDS * 56,000 $3 billion (11% total NIH budget)
Influenza * 73,000 $251 million
Lyme disease 312,000 $25 million
Source: http://report.nih.gov/PFSummaryTable.aspx
* Considered “epidemic” by the CDC
Financial Burden of Lyme disease,BEFORE CDC Case Estimate Revision (2012)
New York State 2,590 $10,429 $27,011,110
United States 27,313 $10,429 $284,847,277
Financial Burden of Lyme disease, AFTER CDC Case Estimate Revision (2012)
New York State 25,900 $10,429 $270 million
United States 312,000 $10,429 $3.25 billion
Financial Burden of Lyme disease, based on probable number of cases (2012)
New York State 44,030 $10,429 $460 million
United States 445,714 $10,429 $4.65 billion