Lyme Disease

LANSING — As if we all need another health concern, Lyme disease is creeping up in the ranks of worries for Great Lakes area residents. Warmer temperatures due to climate change mean a longer breeding season for the blacklegged tick that carries the bacteria — and that means more people become infected, experts warn. The worsening problem may put more pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to bring a discontinued vaccine back to the U.S. market, one expert said. Michigan has seen a sharp jump in cases. In 2019, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported 404 diagnoses, compared with 228 in 2016 and 152 in 2015. Reports of Lyme disease in Michigan by year. Reports of Lyme disease in Michigan by year. The experience has been similar in nearby states. In 2018,...

By LILLIAN YOUNGCapital News ServiceLANSING — As if we all need another health concern, Lyme disease is creeping up in the ranks of worries for Great Lakes area residents. Warmer temperatures due to climate change mean a longer breeding season for the blacklegged tick that carries the bacteria — and that means more people become infected, experts warn.  The worsening problem may put more pressure on the pharmaceutical industry to bring a discontinued vaccine back to the U.S. market, one expert said. Michigan has seen a sharp jump in cases. In 2019, the state Department of Health and Human Services reported 404 diagnoses, compared with 228 in 2016 and 152 in 2015. 2000 to 2018, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 2019 Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Reports of...

French speciality vaccine company Valneva has announced initial positive results from its second phase II study of its Lyme disease vaccine candidate VLA15.Lyme disease is a systemic infection caused by the Borrelia bacteria transmitted to humans by infected ticks. Valneva’s vaccine candidate targets the outer surface protein A (OspA) of Borrelia, an established mechanism of action for a Lyme disease vaccine. The study, VLA15-202, investigated a vaccination schedule of month 0,2,6 based on matching doses. According to Valneva, the shot was generally safe across all doses and age groups tested, with the tolerability profile including fever rates being comparable to other lapidated recombinant vaccines or lipid containing formulations. Compared to a previous study of VLA15, immunogenicity w...

MISSOULA — How can a coyote, a mountain lion, and a tick impact human health? MTN's wildlife correspondent Tanner Saul explains how all of these animals are connected. Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in North America -- and cases are increasing. As a top predator, mountain lions can indirectly affect the disease and ultimately be better for our health. Lions primarily feed on deer leading to normal-sized deer populations and less food for coyotes. From this there can be more foxes in the ecosystem as fewer coyotes are predating them -- and with more foxes, there are fewer mice. Mice can carry huge tick burdens without having their fitness compromised. This is bad news for us because these rodents are also very efficient at harboring and transferring pathogens to ...

CONCORD — Gov. Chris Sununu and Trump administration officials said Tuesday that a $25 million research project could one day dramatically reduce the incidence of Lyme disease infections in America. Federal officials met with Sununu Tuesday to discuss the LymeX Project, the largest private-public partnership in history to work on the tick-borne disease. The federal Centers for Disease Prevention reports domestic cases of tick-related diseases has more than doubled from 2014-2018. In recent years, New Hampshire has ranked in the top five states in the country for confirmed cases of Lyme disease. The Steven & Alexandra Cohen Foundation is the largest private funder of research in this area in the U.S. The private group is partnering with HHS on this project that federal offic...

Using artificial intelligence and deep learning to study cell phone images of rashes could offer a way to more accurately detect Lyme disease, researchers say. The technology can identify the erythema migrans (EM) skin redness associated with acute Lyme disease to enable more reliable screening, more accurate diagnosis, and earlier treatment. It could help avoid the serious potential neurologic, rheumatologic, and cardiac complications of advanced disease. Scientists developed and tested several deep learning computer models to accurately pick out EM from other dermatological conditions and normal skin. They “trained” the deep learning models to discern the appearance of EM using images of non-EM rashes and normal skin available in the public domain, and clinical photos of patie...

Lyme neuroborreliosis (LN), a late-stage manifestation of Lyme disease, is not associated with an increased risk of developing serious psychiatric illness, results of a large, population-based study suggest. Nevertheless, a higher percentage of patients with LN received anxiolytic, hypnotic, sedative, and/or antidepressant medications within the first year after LN diagnosis — although the levels at which these medications were prescribed returned to the levels prescribed to the comparison cohort after the first year. The findings "suggest that most symptoms associated with the diagnosis [of LN] subside within a short period," lead author Malte M. Tetens, BMSc, a research assistant at Infektionsmedicinsk Afdeling, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark, told Medscape Medical News. "Whereas h...