A 71-year-old man was referred to our outpatient clinic because of arthralgia and swelling of his right hand. He also showed a subcutaneous nodule on his left knee. A second patient, a 57-year-old woman, was referred because of painful skin of her legs. Dermatologic examination revealed erythemateous livid discoloration on both feet and legs. There were reticular varices, corona flebectatia paraplantaris medialis and minimal pitting oedema. Serology tested positive in both patients for Borrelia and they both recalled tick bites. A third patient, a 73-year-old woman, was referred because of erythema and maculae located at her lower legs and positive Borrelia serology. Pathologic examination was typical for acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, a late skin manifestation of Lyme borreliosis. In all patients, symptoms improved after treatment with doxycycline for four weeks. A lack of familiarity with this skin condition may lead to unnecessary vascular investigations and considerable delay in adequate treatment.

Excerpt:

Among new tick-related infectious disease findings presented at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Disease (ICEID), which ended Jul 14 in Atlanta, were a report on the first zoonotic babesiosis case documented in Tennessee and a report on ehrlichiosis infections in Minnesota and Wisconsin involving a species that had not previously been identified in North America. In the first report, a group from the Tennessee Department of Health, Vanderbilt University, and the CDC diagnosed babesiosis in an immunosuppressed patient who began to have fever, fatigue, and headache. He had not traveled outside Tennessee in several years and had been exposed to ticks during hunting trips. Babesia parasites were noted on the man’s blood smear, and molecular analysis revealed that it was a novel species, but attempts to isolate it were unsuccessful. The man’s symptoms resolved after 10 days of treatment. The researchers said efforts to identify the animal host and tick vectors are ongoing and that the case serves as a reminder that patients can have babesiosis without exposure to known endemic areas and without testing positive to previously known species. In the second report, local health officials and CDC and Mayo Clinic experts described the identification of Ehrlichia DNA from Mayo Clinic blood samples of patients from the two states involving a species similar to E muris that had not been previously identified in North America. The organism was found in 2009 in the blood of 4 patients, 3 from Wisconsin and 1 from Minnesota. All had reported fever and headache, and all had lymphopenia. All recovered with doxycycline treatment. Serological studies also suggested 40 more probable cases among Wisconsin residents. A survey of the patients found dog contact in 91% and possible tick exposure in 85%. The group concluded that more studies are needed to identify the epidemiologic and clinical features of infections with the E muris–like organism and that better testing in the region could help identify the infections.

Excerpt:

A 71-year-old man was referred to our outpatient clinic because
of arthralgia and swelling of his right hand. He also showed a
subcutaneous nodule on his left knee. A second patient, a
57-year-old woman, was referred because of painful skin of her
legs. Dermatologic examination revealed erythemateous livid
discoloration on both feet and legs. There were reticular
varices, corona flebectatia paraplantaris medialis and minimal
pitting oedema. Serology tested positive in both patients for
Borrelia and they both recalled tick bites. A third patient, a
73-year-old woman, was referred because of erythema and maculae
located at her lower legs and positive Borrelia serology.
Pathologic examination was typical for acrodermatitis chronica
atrophicans, a late skin manifestation of Lyme borreliosis. In
all patients, symptoms improved after treatment with doxycycline
for four weeks. A lack of familiarity with this skin condition
may lead to unnecessary vascular investigations and considerable
delay in adequate treatment.

Excerpt:

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Lyme borreliosis is the most common
vector-borne bacterial infection in temperate areas of the
northern hemisphere. It has been perceived as difficult to
diagnose and treat, but much is now known about its clinical
presentations, which largely fall into well defined categories in
both adults and children. This review features recent
publications on clinical diagnosis and management. 

RECENT FINDINGS: The reported incidence of Lyme borreliosis has
increased markedly in many countries. Many recent publications
have focused on clinical and laboratory aspects of paediatric and
adult neuroborreliosis, and there is now strong evidence for the
efficacy of oral doxycycline for most presentations of
neuroborreliosis. Serological tests have improved significantly.
Several studies have confirmed that patients treated for early
Lyme borreliosis have good overall long-term outcomes. Studies of
patients with persistent symptoms following treatment have not
shown evidence for active infection or for sustained benefit from
prolonged antibiotic treatment. 

Excerpt:

Abstract

A case of 65-year-old male is reported who presented with myalgias, headache, and fever. He subsequently developed myocarditis and was diagnosed to have anaplasmosis on peripheral blood smear. He was treated with doxycycline for 30 days. A coronary angiogram done after recovery showed normal epicardial arteries. The case illustrates the importance of a careful examination of the peripheral smear, with a high index of clinical suspicion, which led to prompt treatment and complete recovery of the patient

Ehrlichiosis, first discovered before 1910, has been recognized to cause human infection since 1986.1 It belongs to Rickettsiaceae family. Ehrlichiae are small, obligate intracellular bacteria that grow in cytoplasmic vacuoles to form clusters called morulae. Three distinct species cause human ehrlichiosis. E. chaffeensis predominantly affects the monocytes and is hence termed human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) while E. phagocytophilium, and E. ewingii cause human granulocytic ehrlichiosis.2E. phagocytophiliumE. equi are now recognized as the same organism and has been renamed Anaplasma phagocytophilum; the disease is now known as Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis (HGA). Both HME and HGA share similar clinical and laboratory features and are treated with the same antimicrobials.

Excerpt:

In the present study, we report the occurrence of borreliosis in
patients from the Brazilian Amazonic region. Nineteen (7.2%) out
of 270 dermatological patients with different skin diseases (no
one with clinical Lyme disease), tested positive by ELISA for
Borrelia burgdorferi. Serum samples from 15 out of the 19
ELISA-positive patients were further evaluated by Western blot.
Presence of Borrelia burgdorferi specific IgG was confirmed in
eight (53.3%) out of the
15 patients. All eight patients with ELISA and Western blot
positive reactions were treated with doxycycline, according to
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. One of
them had clinical manifestations of colagenosis and was sent to
the Department of Internal Medicine for further investigation.
Data presented here suggested that borreliosis “lato sensu” is in
the Brazilian Amazon region.

Full article: http://www.townsendletter.com/July2010/sapi0710.html

Excerpt:

• The in vitro study was conducted by Lyme Disease Research Group, University of New Haven, West Haven, Connecticut, U.S.A.

• In this study two herbal extracts from the Cowden Condensed Support Program named Samento and Banderol as well as doxycyline (one of the primary antibiotics for Lyme disease treatment) were tested for their in vitro effectiveness on several of the different morphological forms of Borrelia burgdorferi (spirochetes, round bodies and biofilm-like colonies)

• Our results showed that doxycycline was very effective in eliminating the spirochetal form of Borrelia burgdorferi, but it significantly increased the round body forms of these bacteria. Comparing this doxycycline data to that of the herbal extracts, Banderol, and the combination of Samento and Banderol were more efficient in eliminating both the spirochetal and round body forms

Excerpt:

A 16-year-old male with headache, vomiting, fever, neck stiffness, and a positive Kerning’s sign was referred to Boali Medical Center. The cerebrospinal fluid examination revealed a lymphocytic meningitis, and the blood smears was positive for Borrelia. He was successfully treated with doxycycline

Excerpt:

Ehrlichiosis, a tickborne illness transmitted by tick vectors Amblyomma
americanum and Ixodes scapularis, can be acquired in endemic areas. Clinical
manifestations range from asymptomatic to fulminant in nature. We report three
cases of ehrlichiosis in pediatric oncology patients, one of whom was a stem
cell transplant recipient. Early symptoms included fever, malaise, and vague
gastrointestinal symptoms. Laboratory abnormalities were initially attributed to
chemotherapy toxicity. Illness was severe in all three patients and one patient
died even after initiation of doxycycline.

For example they recommend which are the most useful antibiotics and medicines
to keep in each home for emergency purposes. They then list the biological
threats to be prepared for, and out of only 9 such diseases/pathogens, Lyme is
number 8.

http://www.tacda.org/academy/academy-basics/TACDA_Academy_CDBasics_4ChemBio.pdf
tiny url here: http://tinyurl.com/y8em2cy
preview TinyURL: http://preview.tinyurl.com/y8em2cy

Page 9 of the pdf lists, in this order, the organisms which US citizens are
advised to prepare for: plague, anthrax, brucellosis, tularemia, cholera, Q
fever, glanders, Lyme disease and typhoid.

The mission of TACDA is to provide education, products and resources that
empower American citizens with a comprehensive understanding of reasonable
preparedness strategies and techniques; promoting a self-reliant, pro-active
approach to protecting themselves, their families and their communities in the
event of Nuclear, Biological, Chemical or other manmade and natural disasters.

Looking at TACDA’s website it’s easy to see that they are a well-respected group
of people. The board of directors is made up of prestigious doctors, engineers
and advisors to the US government.

Such people as Dr. Gerald L. Looney: a native of Bluefield, West Virginia and a
graduate of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and the Harvard School of
Public Health. He has recently retired as medical director of the Boeing Company
Military Transport Division (C-17 Program in Long Beach, CA) and Associate
Clinical Professor of Medicine/Occupational Health at the University of
California, Irvine (UCI) College of Medicine.

And Dr Gary Marlin Sandquist, a retired US Naval Reserve Commander who has
served as technical consultant to industry, universities, state and federal
government agencies, and many other technical organisations. He has also
contributed to the scientific and technical communities with more than 600
publications in nuclear science, engineering, energy, health physics, and
environmental sciences.

Also, Bronius Cikotas, who has 38 years experience working for the DOD, on
nuclear weapons effects, threats, systems and infrastructure vulnerabilities,
mitigation techniques and the development of various systems to deal with
various threats.
As an expert witness, he testified before Congressman Saxton’s panel on
terrorism. He has briefed and served in an advisory capacity at all levels of
Government, National Security Council Staff, White House Military Office, White
House Communications Agency, The President’s Office of Science and Technology
Planning, and the Joint Staff.

These are highly qualified men and women and the bottom line is that they advise
that each home has a stock, or access to, doxycycline and other antibiotics in
the event of Lyme being used as a bio weapon by terrorists.