LDA NEWS & UPDATES
May 2021
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May 27, 2021 – Today, during May Lyme Disease Awareness Month, Congressman Christopher Smith (NJ-4-R) introduced a bill which could change the way our children with Lyme disease have been treated for decades. Co-sponsors are new Lyme Caucus Co-Chair, Rep. Henry Cuellar (TX-28-D), Lyme Caucus Member Rep. Bill Posey (FL-8-R), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5-D), and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-1-R). The bill, “Children Inflicted by Lyme Disabilities Act 2021,” or “CHILD Act 2021” will amend the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by adding “including Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases” in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) after “other health impairments.” Read more.
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NJ Congressman Chris Smith |
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When the CDC announced a webinar offering continuing education for health care providers for Lyme Awareness Month, some thought it would provide much needed education for doctors about the reality of Lyme disease for patients and what CDC could do to actually help. This assumption was a valid one. The 2nd HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (WG) in its 2020 Report to Congress had a recommendation that CDC should develop such a curriculum with patient involvement. Federal
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agency arguments at the WG table said patients could not really be present in the development of such programs − too difficult to get patients incorporated into that aspect. But certainly, as the unanimously adopted recommendation reflected, “the final curriculum shall incorporate feedback from patients, clinicians, and research scientists with expertise/experience that represents diverse scientific and clinical experiences on the full spectrum of Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases/conditions.” So did CDC solicit patient input for this online webinar? By its |
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own admission when asked whether there was patient input at any level of this webinar, the answer was no, because it was a clinical educational tool. Read more.
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Each May the LDA asks experts in the area of Lyme & TBD to write a blog to educate the public in an opinion piece on a specific topic or one they choose. One blog was published each week during this year's Lyme/TBD Awareness Month 2021. Read more.
Blogs by:
Joseph J. Burrascano Jr., MD - Lyme Testing. An early innovator in the field of TBDs, Dr. Burrascano began his clinical research in the mid-1980s, in cooperation with several other key pioneers. He is well known for his educational presentations and for his monographs on diagnostic and treatment guidelines for Lyme and related tick-borne illnesses - a classic series that has been freely circulated around the world since 1989. Read the blog.
Adrian Baranchuk, MD, FACC, FRCPC, FCCS, FSIAC - Lyme Carditis 2021 Update. Dr. Baranchuk is a Professor of Medicine at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Electrocardiology; Vice President, International Society of Holter and Non-Invasive Electrocardiology (ISHNE); Secretary, Interamerican Society of
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Cardiology (SIAC); Co-Director, ECG University; Past President, International Society of Electrocardiology (ISE); and Director, NET-Heart Project (Neglected Tropical Diseases and other Infectious Diseases affecting the Heart). Read the blog.
Kenneth Liegner, MD - Lyme & TBD: Where Are We 2021? Dr. Liegner is a Board Certified Internist with additional training in Pathology and Critical Care Medicine, practicing in Pawling, NY. He has been actively involved in diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and related disorders since 1988. He has published articles on Lyme in peer-reviewed scientific journals, as well as presented poster abstracts and talks at national and international Lyme and other TBD conferences. Read the blog.
Sue Faber, RN, BScN - Lyme & Pregnancy. Sue is a Registered Nurse and the Co-Founder & President of LymeHope, a not-for-profit organization in Canada. Her specific area of expertise and research is in the compilation and analysis of literature on maternal-fetal transmission of Lyme and congenital Lyme borreliosis. Read the blog.
James Occi, PhD (Cand.) - Ticks.
James is a microbiologist and has conducted antibiotic discovery research for over 30 years in big pharma and academia. He is currently a supervisory microbiologist at the NJ Department of Health where he conducts viral (arboviruses and covid-19) surveillance. Read the blog.
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Frontiers in Neurology, 10 May 2021, published a study examining multiple molecular detection techniques to effectively identify Borrelia burgdorferi in the autopsy specimens of a patient with a history of neurocognitive disease. The individual was a post-mortem donor from the brain repository of the Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Read more.
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The tick rover, a robot designed to remove and kill ticks from people’s yards, and a longtime project for Col. Jim Squire, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Military Institute, has won an award. The tick-eating robot traps ticks hiding on bushes and has been field-tested by biologists.
A team of four cadets made improvements to the rover over the winter and then entered it into a contest sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Read more.
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On April 29th, 2021, Mothers Against Lyme and Project Lyme presented the interactive webinar Lyme Disease and Pregnancy: State of the Science and Opportunities for Research Support featuring Holly Ahern, MS, MT (ASCP), Sue Faber, RN, BScN, and representatives from the NIH.
It is known that Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, can cross the placenta, causing infection in unborn children, but there is little published research on the topic. Read more.
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Photo credit: late Ed Masters, MD |
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Ohio State University researchers have just published an article on their creation of nanobodies which target the protein that causes E. chaffeensis bacteria to be extremely infectious. Nanobodies are small molecules that can be designed to mimic the function and structure of antibodies and may be the solution to inhibit tick-borne bacterial infections that remain inaccessible by most current antibiotics due to the fact that they reside and replicate inside human immune cells. Read more.
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A case series assessing the safety profile of mRNA-based vaccines in patients with autoimmune inflammatory rheumatic diseases (AIIRD) has been published in the journal Rheumatology. The study’s authors aim to raise awareness of reactivation of herpes zoster (HZ) following the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccination in patients with AIIRD. Read more.
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The Federal Register published a Request for Information (RFI) pertaining to a national strategy for vector-borne disease. The development of a national strategy on vector-borne diseases, including tick-borne diseases, was mandated by Congress.
The RFI solicits specific input regarding strategic goals, benchmarks, gaps, duplicative federally funded programs, and opportunities to enhance coordination data collection, research, and the development of diagnostics, treatments, vaccines, and other related activities across HHS and other federal departments. Read more.
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Comments must be received electronically no later than midnight Eastern Standard Time (EST) on June 11, 2021.
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A study published in PLOS Pathogens by Marisela M. Davis, et al. furthers understanding of the B. burgdorferi cell envelope and pathogenesis. The researchers found that peptidoglycan-associated protein (NapA) plays an important role in the envelope integrity and pathogenesis of the Lyme disease spirochete. Read more.
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Judge James Orel of DuPage County in Illinois ordered Edward-Elmhurst Hospital to give the drug, ivermectin, to a 68-year-old COVID-19 patient who had failed other treatments.
The patient, in intensive care for over a month, in a coma, and on a ventilator, was not improving. Her daughter read the news story about a Buffalo, NY woman who recovered from COVID-19 after receiving ivermectin. Read more.
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In a new study, Scott et al. report the first detection of Babesia odocoilei in humans with Babesiois symptoms. This adds to the list of several Babesia species worldwide that are pathogenic to humans. In this study, it was also found that B. duncani cross-reacts with B. odocoilei, therefore patients in North America who test serologically positive for B. duncani, may actually be infected with B. odocoilei or another Babesia spp. Read more.
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NEW! UPDATED LDA DOCTOR REFERRAL SYSTEM WILL BE PUBLIC SOON |
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