LDA NEWS & UPDATES
June 30, 2022
|
|
Pamela Weintraub published an article in Experience Life, titled, "A New Look at Chronic Lyme." In the article, she addresses the complex issue of Lyme disease and treatment ideology. “Many physicians who treat tick-borne diseases now combine conventional medicine with gentler integrative strategies - and more long-term patients are getting well” she wrote.
Lyme disease is divided between acute and chronic illness. Acute cases typically
|
|
resolve after a few weeks of oral antibiotics, or one to two months of IV antibiotics. Patients dealing with chronic Lyme have an uphill battle as this form is more controversial and physicians are hesitant to treat it.
Weintraub states, “The controversy may stem partly from the inadequacy of Lyme tests, which don’t reliably register Lyme antibodies for about six weeks. And a significant subset of people with Lyme may never test positive on standard serologies. The disease can
|
|
Author Pamela Weintraub (Cure Unknown) & LDA President, Pat Smith, at a 2009 LDA event. |
lie dormant within tissues, and some tests can’t register certain strains of Borrelia.” Read more.
|
|
Listen to Pat Smith share her story including 38 years of work she's done to help children and their families with Lyme and explain some significant milestones in the 47 year history of Lyme disease, many of which she participated in or witnessed firsthand. Watch the video.
|
Sponsored by PA Lyme Resources |
|
Topics covered in video:
- Pat's Story
- Discovery of Lyme in Connecticut
- Early NJ Cases on Military Base
- Lyme Federal Bill History 1993-2021
- Lyme Investigations/proposed by Congress
- Congressional hearings
- Lyme Appropriations Language
- Dearborn Testing with Band Exclusion 1994
- Lyme Vaccine (removed from market & current)
- Treatment Guidelines
- Blumenthal AG Investigation
- Recent Gov. Action: Working Group, LymeX
- Est. of Endowed Columbia Center 2007
- Challenges & Moving Forward
|
|
|
|
A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, by Ralph Rogers, et al., examined antimicrobial resistance in an immunocompromised patient with relapsing babesiosis who was effectively treated with tafenoquine.
|
|
The researchers describe a point mutation in the Babesia microti 23S rRNA gene which enabled them to predict the microbe’s resistance to azithromycin and clindamycin. An amino acid fluctuation in the parasite cytochrome b made it possible to project its resistance to atovaquone. Read more.
|
|
Yang Dong, et al. reported on the results of a study designed to estimate seroprevalence and sociodemographic characteristics of Borrelia Burgdorferi Sensu Lato (Bb) in global human populations. The results, published in BMJ Global Health, consist of the systematic review and meta-analysis of numerous relevant studies culled from PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and other sources.
After applying a protocol that has been registered with PROSPERO and analyzing 137 studies that took place through Dec. 30, 2021, the researchers assessed that the global seroprevalence for Bb
|
|
was 14.5% and that the top three regions were Central Europe, Eastern Asia, and Western Europe. Read more.
|
|
|
|
The Lyme Disease Association, Inc. LDA has been designated as a national charity included in the 2022 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) National/International Charity List. CFC is part of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Each year, federal employees are provided with lists of approved charities for their workplace giving through the CFC. The LDA has met the requirements and been a part of CFC for 17 years running. LDA’s administrative and fundraising costs were determined to be only 5.7%, meaning the remainder went directly to programs. Read more.
|
|
Thomas Platts-Mills MD, PhD,
FRCP, FRS
|
According to Dr. Platts-Mills, an Oxford grad elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 2001, and now at the
|
|
University of VA: the success of recent experiments in which kidneys from a genetically modified pig were transplanted for three days into brain-dead humans in New York, was described by one of the surgeons as being “a huge breakthrough. The kidney did not go black” (NYT, 1.20.22).
What matters to him is that the only genetic modification in those pigs was to knock out the alpha (1,3)- galactosyltransferase gene.
|
|
Thus the experiment amounts to proof that the so-called natural antibodies to alpha-gal in primates are the cause of the hyper-acute rejection between pigs and humans.
What also matters is that the company, Revivicor, in Blacksburg, is marketing pork from these modified pigs for human consumption, and that preliminary results suggest that patients with AGS can tolerate eating “pork patties” made from alpha-gal knock out pigs. Read more.
|
|
Robert C. Bransfield, MD, published a study examining how adverse childhood events (ACE), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and infectious encephalopathies are linked to immune-mediated disease in the journal Healthcare. Bransfield
|
|
reviewed supporting data and found that each of these issues correlates with intrusive symptoms and pathology of the temporal lobe.
The study demonstrates that ACE and PTSD can result in a decreased mental ability to distinguish external danger vs. safety. Read more.
|
|
|
Based on the Equity Subscription Agreement beyween Valneeva & Pfizer, Pfizer will invest $95 million in Valneva to expand the Lyme vaccine partnership. Valneva, which is a specialty vaccine company, plans to use the proceeds from Pfizer’s equity investment for its Phase 3 development study. Based on the successful completion of the scheduled VLA15 Phase 3 study, Pfizer may propose a Biologics License Application (BLA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as soon as 2025. Read more.
|
|
|
In late June, PA State Senate passed Michele Brooks' (PA-50) legislation regarding ticks and the diseases they transmit, such as Lyme.
According to Brooks, “Senate Bill 1188 seeks to combat the long-term effects of Lyme
|
|
and other tick-borne diseases by promoting education and awareness among health care professionals, providing coverage for diagnostic testing and treatment, and improving public awareness about tick bite prevention practices that can reduce the incidence and prevalence of ticks in this Commonwealth.” Read more.
|
|
|
ATTENTION! HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS ONLY
Register for ILADS Events
Saturday, July 9 (10 AM-2 PM ET) - Virtual Seminar: Roundtable Case Discussions with the Experts
Click here to register. Interactive, grand rounds-style virtual seminar as a panel of experts share their strategies for dealing with challenging cases of vector-borne illness.
Speakers: Steven J. Bock, MD; Joseph J. Burrascano, MD; David L. Kaufman, MD; Amy Offutt, MD
ILADS Annual Scientific Conference - September 22-25, Orlando, FL
Click here for information on the Vector-Borne Illness Fundamentals program
|
|
Your Shopping Can Donate Money to LDA
At No Cost to You!
You can donate to LDA without costing you anything. Shop through smile.amazon.com, and a portion of the sales will then go to LDA for its programs! To sign up for AmazonSmile and have LDA receive a portion of sales click here.
You can also register to become an igive member through igive.com which includes 2326 online stores to shop from. By shopping at the store through igive.com website, LDA will receive a donation. Thank you!
|
|
888-366-6611 Toll Free Info Line
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
