Lyme Disease News and Research

RSS

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.

Climate change likely to exacerbate human-wildlife conflict

With wildfires spreading across the parched Western U.S., severe floods in Europe and in the coming decade a potential surge in coastal flooding, 2021 could be a pivotal year in how governments, societies and families view the threat of climate change.

29 Jul 2021

Could the European hedgehog be a sentinel for infectious agents and a harbinger of environmental pollution?

A recent review paper by Portuguese and Spanish authors, recently published in the journal Biologics, revealed the current state of knowledge regarding hedgehog health – most notably the presence of infectious agents, diseases and other threats that can affect the health of the population.

21 Jun 2021

Are women more likely to develop long COVID?

Researchers found different groups of symptoms persisting after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), with fatigue and higher IL-6 levels common in women. About 75% of the patients they treated were women, indicating a link between sex hormones and immune response.

8 Jun 2021

UMD receives new funding to stop infection from Lyme disease pathogens before it begins

The University of Maryland received new funding from the Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation to develop novel therapeutic strategies that have the potential to stop infection from Lyme disease pathogens before it begins.

13 May 2021

Study observes increase in Lyme disease-causing ticks across California’s woodlands and beaches

US-based researchers – at Colorado State University and the Northern Arizona University – have discovered that disease-causing ticks are finding their way onto beachfront properties, including infestations in woodlands and beaches around North California.

28 Apr 2021

Broadly neutralizing antibodies show promise in preventing tick-borne encephalitis in mice

Tick-borne encephalitis is a disease just as nasty as it sounds. Once bitten by an infected tick, some people develop flu-like symptoms that resolve quietly but leave behind rampant neurological disease--brain swelling, memory loss, and cognitive decline.

9 Apr 2021

New test for Lyme disease can reliably distinguish between early- and late-stage patients

For those who live in an area blighted by ticks, the threat of Lyme disease can cast a shadow over the joy of spring and summer.

7 Apr 2021

New Columbia University center provides specialized care for Lyme and tick-borne diseases

A new center that will provide specialized care for patients with Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases will begin seeing patients this summer at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.

31 Mar 2021

New technique could enable real-time distribution monitoring of ticks that carry Lyme disease

The findings of a recent analysis conducted by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that ecosystems suitable for harboring ticks that carry debilitating Lyme disease could be more widespread than previously thought in California, Oregon and Washington.

17 Mar 2021

Five herbal medicines show potent activity against Babesia duncani in the lab

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data finding that five herbal medicines had potent activity compared to commonly-used antibiotics in test tubes against Babesia duncani, a malaria-like parasite found on the West Coast of the U.S. that causes the disease babesiosis.

9 Mar 2021

Predicting future mamalian hosts of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers at the Beijing Computational Science Research Center and Peking University analyzed sequences of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) proteins from 16 mammals and predicted the structures of ACE2- receptor-binding domain (RBD) complexes.

4 Feb 2021

Study identifies bird species with the potential to spread Lyme disease

Birds play an underrecognized role in spreading tickborne disease due to their capacity for long-distance travel and tendency to split their time in different parts of the world - patterns that are shifting due to climate change.

27 Jan 2021

Certain malaria parasites use a mechanism to cross the blood–brain barrier

Malaria is one of the most common causes of death in children in Africa and is triggered by a small parasite that lives in the blood. When the parasite builds up in the blood vessels of the brain, it develops into one of the most dangerous forms of the disease, cerebral malaria.

27 Jan 2021

COVID-19 may trigger recurrent Guillain–Barré Syndrome episodes, a case study shows

A team of researchers at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University, USA, have investigated a case wherein a man experienced recurrent episodes of Guillain–Barré Syndrome after being infected with SARS-CoV-2.

26 Nov 2020

First-of-its-kind synthetic DNA vaccine designed against Powassan virus

Scientists at The Wistar Institute have designed and tested the first-of-its-kind synthetic DNA vaccine against Powassan virus (POWV), targeting portions of the virus envelope protein.

30 Oct 2020

WSU scientists develop new method to detect Alzheimer's biomarkers

Washington State University scientists have developed a method to detect the biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease that is 10 times more sensitive than current blood testing technology.

20 Oct 2020

Researchers are working to advance device for detecting ultra-low levels of disease particles

In Judith Su's Little Sensor Lab, researchers are working to sense tiny amounts - down to a single molecule - of everything from doping agents to biomarkers for cancer, Alzheimer's disease, Lyme disease and, yes, even COVID-19.

14 Oct 2020

UMass Amherst epidemiologist receives NIH grant to develop new tick surveillance method

A University of Massachusetts Amherst infectious disease epidemiologist has received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a new surveillance method to better identify specific locations with the highest risk for tick-borne disease transmission.

25 Sep 2020

New model provides district-based forecast of COVID-19 infections

Neuroinformatics scientists at Osnabrück University and data specialists at Forschungszentrum Jülich are releasing new model results daily to forecast COVID-19 infections.

23 Sep 2020

Ticks associated with bats reported for the first time in New Jersey

A tick species associated with bats has been reported for the first time in New Jersey and could pose health risks to people, pets and livestock, according to a Rutgers-led study in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

9 Sep 2020