Linda’s comments:  Believe it or not, dogs and cats get better treatment for Lyme disease than humans.

Link: http://eutils.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/eutils/elink.fcgi?dbfrom=pubmed&id=20933139&retmode=ref&cmd=prlinks

Excerpt:

Lyme borreliosis (LB), synonymous with the often-used term Lyme
disease, is an infectious disease caused by the spirochetal
bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. LB is the most frequent
vector-borne disease in humans in the Northern Hemisphere.
In animals, clinically apparent disease is found primarily in
dogs. Severe polyarthritis, fever and lameness in dogs are
reported from the main endemic areas of North America: the New
England States, and eastern parts of the United States; several
cases of LB are also seen in California and the Midwest. Because
of the difficulties in finding sufficient indicative clinical
signs, additional information (detailed case history, laboratory
testing for antibodies) is especially important to make the
clinical diagnosis of Lyme borreliosis. This article reviews the
etiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of LB.
Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Full article: http://www.portnews.com.au/news/local/news/general/diagnosis-positive-tick-disease-is-here/1944198.aspx

Excerpt:

17 Sep, 2010 04:00 AM

A LAURIETON doctor says he has “absolute proof” two of his patients have a tick-borne disease that health authorities say does not exist in Australia.

GP Dr Peter Mayne said two of his patients had the bacterial illness Lyme disease.

He urged medical colleagues to keep an eye out for the infection.

“I’ve taken tissue samples at the bite sites, and sent them off for DNA analysis, and they were positive,” Dr Mayne said.

Debate continues about whether Australian ticks can carry Lyme disease.

“There are perceptions that Lyme disease doesn’t exist here in Australia, and the medical profession have been lulled into thinking that they don’t have to worry about Lyme disease,” Dr Mayne said.

In its later stages, the infection can spread through the bloodstream and affect the brain, heart and joints.

Earlier symptoms can include a rash, fever, headaches, tiredness and joint pain.

Lyme disease made headlines this month after an autopsy showed a Sydney man had the disease when he died.

The dead man’s wife planned to launch a class action against NSW Health, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Dr Mayne said he had a list of about 30 patients – from Newcastle to Coffs Harbour – with the disease.

Full article: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/influenza/swineflu/news/jul2110newsscan.html 

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:

89 cases of neuroborreliosis were reported; in 66 cases diagnosis was confirmed. Facial weakness was one of the presenting symptoms in 47 cases (71%) and the only symptom in nine children (14%). The five complaints most frequently reported were: malaise, headache, fatigue, fever and neck pain. 52 children (79%) had one or more objective neurological signs at presentation, of which facial nerve palsy, other cranial nerve abnormalities and meningeal signs were most frequent. 14 patients (21%), however, had no neurological signs at physical examination. In these patients, the number of subjective complaints was higher, and the time interval to diagnosis was longer compared with those with objective neurological abnormalities.

Conclusions

In this study, 79% of paediatric neuroborreliosis patients presented with neurological signs, most often facial nerve palsy. 21% presented in an atypical way without neurological signs. A thorough neurological examination is essential once neuroborreliosis is considered in children. Even in the absence of neurological signs, neuroborreliosis may be suspected in children with typical antecedents and multiple symptoms. Cerebrospinal fluid investigations are then required to confirm the diagnosis.

Full article: http://www.amc.edu/amr/archives/200606/case1.html

Excerpt:

A 52-year-old male marathon runner with a past medical history significant for glaucoma presented to the emergency department with a two-week history of increasing fatigue after an episode of syncope.

He initially presented to his primary care doctor’s office complaining of flu like symptoms one week after running a marathon and three weeks prior to admission. He described fever, chills, night sweats, increasing fatigue and body aches. He was noted to be an avid runner who had finished within the top five to ten athletes in prior marathons. He stated that despite training intensely, he only finished in 50th place. During this visit, a chest x-ray was obtained which showed no evidence of pneumonia or other abnormalities. He was diagnosed with a minor viral upper respiratory tract infection and over the following week began to notice improvement of his symptoms.

He returned to the office two weeks after the initial visit with worsening fatigue and decreased exercise tolerance. He had become increasingly short of breath after running more than 2 milles. A serologic test for Lyme disease was performed to rule out Lyme carditis after an EKG showed first-degree heart block.

Full article: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0563.x/abstract

Excerpt:

Suspected Needle Stick Transmission of Bartonella vinsonii

subspecies berkhoffii to a Veterinarian

1. A.M. Oliveira¹,
2. R.G. Maggi¹,
3. C.W. Woods²,
4. E.B. Breitschwerdt¹

Article first published online: 2 AUG 2010

DOI: 10.1111/j.1939-1676.2010.0563.x

Full article: http://ijms.sums.ac.ir/files/PDFfiles/11-Dr_%20Pouladfar.pdf

Excerpt:

Tick-borne relapsing fever is an endemic disease in some parts
of Iran. Borellia persica, the most common cause of this dis-
ease in Iran, has a wide geographic distribution and is present
in Alborz and Zagros mountain chains.
Here we report a 16ñyear-old male patient who presented
with two episodes of fever within 15 days. He had a history of
few overnight stays in a cave of mountainous area in Fars
province. Sites of tick bites were found on exposed areas of
extremities. Spirochetes were detected in Wright-stained
smears of the patient’s peripheral blood. He was successfully
treated with penicillin. To the best of our knowledge, there has
been no reported case of tick-borne relapsing fever from Fars
province in the literature during the last 28 years.
Tick-borne relapsing fever should be considered in patients
with recurrent fever and peripheral blood smear should be in-
vestigated for spirochetes. Further seroepidemiologic studies
should be carried out to determine the prevalence of this disease
in Fars province.

Full article: http://adv.medicaljournals.se/article/pdf/10.2340/00015555-0756

Excerpt:

An 11-year-old boy presented in February 2008 with a facial
erythematosus was repeatedly suspected and the boy was
referred for further examinations. A detailed medical history
did not reveal any arthralgia, fever, malaise, exanthema,
intense exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light in the period one
to three weeks before onset of the rash.

Excerpt:

Connie Bennett

Special to AOL News

(May 28) — We’re in the midst of a terrifying epidemic, although you wouldn’t know it to talk to most doctors and health specialists.

The disease is growing at a rate faster than AIDS. From 2006 to 2008 alone, the number of cases jumped a whopping 77 percent. In 2008 alone, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 28,921 “confirmed” and 6,277 “probable” cases of the disease, but there could be as many as 420,000 because of underreporting.

Prominent victims include Parker Posey, Richard Gere, President George W. Bush, Alice Walker and Christie Brinkley.

If any other disease had stricken so many people, the medical community would be scurrying for knowledge, scrambling for cures or rushing to warn patients (think swine flu).

But that’s not the case with Lyme disease — a disease carried by ticks.

Instead, ill-informed doctors are often flummoxed when patients complain of fatigue, headaches, fever or chills, muscle or joint pain, mental confusion, swollen lymph nodes and neurological symptoms. It’s an appalling display of indifference.

As Lyme Disease Awareness Month comes to a close and Memorial Day travelers flock to grassy, tick-infested holiday spots across America, vacationers and physicians alike need to be on the alert for freckle-sized menaces that are responsible for the fastest-growing, most misdiagnosed infectious disease in the country. The CDC has a map that shows where the ticks are most prevalent.

For my part, I was lucky because my smart nutritionist friend, JJ Virgin, immediately grew suspicious when, almost overnight, I became an exhausted, headache-ridden, nightmare-plagued, memory-challenged zombie suffering from vertigo, sleeping problems, swollen glands, achy eyes, sensitivity to light and noise, fever, chills and a sore neck.

Linda’s comments….ok folks LISTEN UP and pay attention….Dr Gordon sent this post to his private health care professionals email group commenting on what Dr Mercola had sent to his newsletter lists….IT IS ALL TRUE…..I like the idea of organizing either patient office base, OR parents who are concerned….If you do organize a group make sure you research your STATE LAWS on vaccinations….also check the State Laws where your child will attend college.  It is time we ALL start taking a stand against being forced by the government and schools to take the toxic vaccines…..Personally I would NEVER advise anyone to take vaccines….my heart breaks for our military …they are forced and a large percentage of them become very sick and are a mess when discharged from the military….what is worse is our federal government DROPS THEM ON THEIR HEAD AND DON’T CARE……