Borrelia News and Research

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Humans appear to develop immunity against strain-specific Lyme disease that lasts for years

Lyme disease, if not treated promptly with antibiotics, can become a lingering problem for those infected. But a new study led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has some brighter news: Once infected with a particular strain of the disease-causing bacteria, humans appear to develop immunity against that strain that can last six to nine years.

3 Apr 2014

Ticks infected with the bacterium that causes Lyme disease widespread in San Francisco Bay Area

As winter turns to spring and many Northern Californians plan outdoor adventures, a mysterious, potentially debilitating threat looms.

19 Feb 2014

Viewpoints: The battle over one woman's medical story; why Mass. didn't see a wave of cancellations; politicians' love of anecdotes

Edie Littlefield Sundby may not have thought she'd ignite a national debate when the stage-4 cancer survivor asked us to publish her Monday op-ed on losing her oncologist due to the Affordable Care Act. But she certainly has, and it's important to understand why. Mrs. Sundby and millions like her must be denied their medical choices if ObamaCare is going to work as its liberal planners intend (11/6).

8 Nov 2013

Weekend reading: Chemo revolution, Lyme disease confusion and the residency mismatch

Because I've lived so long with anxiety, there were lots of things I figured I'd never, ever do -; having children was one of them. In fact, in my 20s, before I'd managed to stumble on the combination of drugs and exercise that allows me to be as sane as I can expect to be, I was so sure I'd never give birth that I got a tattoo of a giant koi fish extending from one end of my abdomen to the other. ... I found myself in a very ironic situation: my decision to have a child was the result of a sense of stability I enjoyed due to taking an array of anti-anxiety medications that I would be strongly advised by most doctors to stop taking now that I was pregnant (Alissa Nutting, 6/23).

28 Jun 2013

Taking precautions to protect health during summer

Summer is a time for enjoying warm weather, but spending time outside also increases the risk of contracting serious conditions like Lyme disease, poison ivy rashes, West Nile virus and allergic reactions to bee stings.

31 May 2013

Phase I/II data on Baxter's Lyme disease candidate vaccine presented at NFID conference

Baxter International Inc. today announced Phase I/II data evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of its investigational Lyme disease candidate vaccine during the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases 16th Annual Conference on Vaccine Research in Baltimore, Md.

From Baxter International Inc. 25 Apr 2013

Researchers urge doctors to consider Lyme disease as cause when presented with skin lesions

When a person contracts Lyme disease, quick diagnosis and treatment are essential to avoiding long term complications. But the diagnostic process may be delayed if a physician does not recognize a skin rash caused by Lyme disease because it does not have the bull's-eye appearance that is best known to physicians and the public.

23 Apr 2013

New study to discover preventive use of antibiotics for Lyme disease

At the start of the "Tick Week", the Netherlands National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and Wageningen University are commencing a large-scale study to discover whether preventive use of antibiotics can stop Lyme disease developing after a tick bite.

16 Apr 2013

Not all mice that come into contact with Borrelia contract Lyme disease, study finds

Like humans, mice can become infected with Borrelia. However, not all mice that come into contact with these bacteria contract the dreaded Lyme disease: Animals with a particular gene variant are immune to the bacteria, as scientists from the universities of Zurich and Lund demonstrate.

5 Apr 2013

Emerging tick-borne disease reaches USA

A new tick-borne infection caused by the spirochete bacteria Borrelia miyamotoi that produces similar symptoms to Lyme disease has been confirmed in a small number of patients in the USA.

25 Jan 2013

Nordic project to coordinate initiatives to combat dramatic increase in tick-borne diseases

Last year, more than 40,000 people in Western Scandinavia may have been affected by infections caused by ticks. SEK 17 million has now been invested in a joint Nordic project to coordinate initiatives to combat the dramatic increase in tick-borne diseases.

7 Dec 2012

New clues about B. burgdorferi could lead to novel strategy to reduce Lyme disease

New clues about the bacteria that cause Lyme disease could lead to a novel strategy to reduce infections, according to a study to be published in mBio-, the online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, on December 4.

4 Dec 2012

Boulder Diagnostics launches novel SpiroFind test to detect Lyme disease

Boulder Diagnostics Inc. announced today the European market launch of the CE marked SpiroFind in vitro diagnostic test for the detection of active Lyme Borreliosis. The SpiroFind test is offered as a diagnostic service by the company's clinical diagnostic service laboratory in Mellrichstadt, Germany.

9 Nov 2012

Microbiologists confirm existence of new tick disease in Switzerland

Until now, we knew that ticks primarily transmit two pathogens to humans in Switzerland: the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi - which causes borreliosis - and the early-summer-meningoencephalitis virus, which can cause cerebral inflammation. Now, microbiologists from the University of Zurich confirm the existence of another tick disease in Switzerland - neoehrlichiosis.

1 Nov 2012

Scientists hope to unravel mystery of how Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease

Investigators at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) have accelerated the search for the bacterial genes that make the Lyme disease bacterium so invasive and persistent. The discovery could advance the diagnosis and treatment of this disease, which affects an estimated 30,000 Americans each year.

29 Oct 2012

New diagnostic approach for Lyme disease

George Mason University researchers can find out if a tick bite means Lyme disease well before the bite victim begins to show symptoms.

25 May 2012

Tips to help homeowners tick-proof their yards

For more than 250,000 Americans, the bite of a deer tick meant the start of a life changing disease. With record warm temperatures and the start of May's National Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Mosquito Squad is on watch and has six tips to help homeowners tick-proof their yards.

2 May 2012

Broad-ranging CVBD prevention key element of animal health planning

As part of its ongoing commitment to the scientific community, Bayer Animal Health today marked their seventh year of support for the CVBD World Forum (CVBD7) in Berlin, Germany; and this year's meeting has again proven to be a landmark in the understanding of CVBDs.

29 Mar 2012

The northeastern U.S. should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring

The northeastern U.S. should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring. And we can blame fluctuations in acorns and mouse populations, not the mild winter. So reports Dr. Richard S. Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.

17 Mar 2012

Boulder Diagnostics, RUNMC enter agreement to market Lyme disease diagnostic test

Boulder Diagnostics Inc. and the Department of Internal Medicine, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre announced today the entry into a license and collaboration agreement to market the innovative Lyme disease diagnostic test developed at RUNMC.

5 Jan 2012