Lyme Disease News and Research

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Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans by the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system. Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, physical findings (e.g., rash), and the possibility of exposure to infected ticks; laboratory testing is helpful in the later stages of disease. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Steps to prevent Lyme disease include using insect repellent, removing ticks promptly, landscaping, and integrated pest management. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease can occasionally transmit other tick-borne diseases as well.

Wearable biosensors can track physiological changes linked to illness

Your watch might be able to tell you it's time to call in sick. Researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health have revealed the ability of wearable biosensors, similar to the Apple Watch or Fitbit, to detect physiological changes that may indicate illness, even before symptoms appear.

10 Mar 2017

Researchers decode how ingenious tick immune system fights myriad of microbes

Everyone agrees that ticks are exceedingly nasty creatures. For hundreds of millions of years, they have survived on Earth by sucking blood from their victims for days, often leaving behind terrible diseases as a thank-you note.

14 Feb 2017

UTSA professor awarded grant to support research on preventing spread of Lyme disease

Janakiram Seshu, associate professor of biology and associate dean of The Graduate School at The University of Texas at San Antonio, has received a $404,250 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease to support his research to better understand and prevent the spread of Lyme disease.

2 Feb 2017

UCF researcher combines new and old science to create method for speedy medical tests

A UCF researcher has combined cutting-edge nanoscience with a magnetic phenomenon discovered more than 170 years ago to create a method for speedy medical tests.

20 Jan 2017

Yale researchers discover how tick-borne bacteria cause infection

Before infecting humans, tick-borne bacteria or viruses first have to get past a tick's defenses to colonize it.

17 Jan 2017

Could pathogen infection really lead to Alzheimer’s?

New concepts of infectious disease are evolving with the realization that pathogens are key players in the development of progressive chronic diseases that originally were not thought to be infectious. Infection is well-known to be associated with numerous neurological diseases for which...

12 Jan 2017

Ecologists reveal reasons for regional differences in Lyme disease prevalence

The ticks that transmit Lyme disease to people die of dehydration when exposed to a combination of high temperature and lowered humidity, a new USGS-led study has found.

12 Jan 2017

Study confirms presence of ticks carrying Lyme disease in eastern national parks

Lyme disease has been spreading across the United States over the past several decades, and a new study has confirmed that ticks carrying the disease are present in eastern national parks.

4 Jan 2017

OTC medical device receives CE Mark approval to treat pain linked to fibromyalgia

AVACEN Medical announced its AVACEN 100, Class-IIa, OTC medical device has received the CE Mark approval to treat widespread pain associated with fibromyalgia.

23 Dec 2016

Antibiotic gel shows promise in preventing onset of Lyme borreliosis following tick bite

An antibiotic gel based on azithromycin, an antibiotic with antibacterial properties, helps to prevent the onset of Lyme borreliosis following a tick bite.

20 Dec 2016

Fun with exercise may help improve physical activity among young people with autism and ADHD

The best way to help young people with neurodevelopmental disorders like autism and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder get more exercise is to make it fun, according to a small international sampling of adults living with them.

11 Nov 2016

Age, genetic disposition play important role in susceptibility to Lyme disease

People react very differently to an infection with the Borrelia bacterium that causes Lyme disease.

7 Nov 2016

New biomarker test helps detect autoimmune-induced neuropsychiatric disorders

A research team from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, led by Madeleine Cunningham, Ph.D., in conjunction with the National Institute of Mental Health, has developed the first-of-its-kind biomarker test to help detect autoimmune-induced neuropsychiatric disorders.

9 Sep 2016

Study shows link between steroid use and poor outcomes in Lyme disease-associated facial paralysis

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear/Harvard Medical School have found that patients who were prescribed corticosteroids as part of treatment for Lyme disease-associated facial paralysis had worse long-term outcomes of regaining facial function than those who were prescribed antibiotic therapy alone.

7 Sep 2016

New mathematical model could help predict potential outbreaks of Ebola and Lassa fever

Potential outbreaks of diseases such as Ebola and Lassa fever may be more accurately predicted thanks to a new mathematical model developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge.

2 Sep 2016

Urban planners yet to fully assess vulnerability to climate change, research reveals

Flooding due to rising ocean levels. Debilitating heat waves that last longer and occur more frequently.

31 Aug 2016

New research identifies flaws in LM-method for Lyme disease

A new microscopy technique (LM-method) developed to detect Lyme disease is unable to distinguish infected patients from healthy controls, yielding false-positive results that could lead doctors to over-diagnose a patient, according to new research published in the journal Infectious Diseases.

30 Jun 2016

Diverse ecological processes at different spatial scales may drive three emerging disease outbreaks

Researchers from the University of South Florida and a colleague at the Institute of Zoology in Beijing, China have found that outbreaks of three emerging diseases and parasites - West Nile virus, Lyme disease and amphibian chytridiomycosis - are driven by different ecological processes at different spatial scales.

31 May 2016

GMU’s early-detection urine test works for Lyme disease, study shows

After three years and 300 patients, George Mason University researchers have proof that their early-detection urine test for Lyme disease works.

21 May 2016

Immunology experts aim to develop point-of-care test for early detection of Lyme disease

As part of the EU "ID Lyme" project, the infection immunology working group at the Institute for Hygiene and Applied Immunology at the Center for Pathophysiology, Infectiology and Immunology at the Medical University of Vienna is working on developing of a new test for early detection of Lyme disease (borreliosis).

25 Apr 2016