Wednesday, July 10, 2013

New Tick-Borne Illness Discovered - Borrelia miyamotoi


New Tick-Borne Illness Discovered -
Published: Jul 1, 2013 | Updated: Jul 2, 2013
Reviewed by Robert Jasmer, MD; Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco and Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN, Nurse Plan

Researchers have discovered a new tick-borne illness whose symptoms are similar to that of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses but that does not respond to conventional doxycycline in the same way, researchers reported online in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

In areas where deer ticks are common and Lyme disease, babesiosis, and human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) are prevalent, patients presenting with sudden fever, myalgia, leukopenia, and elevated aminotransferase levels are presumptively diagnosed with HGA, reported Hanumara Chowdri, MD, of Tufts University.

But New England researchers identified two patients from the northeastern United States who were hospitalized for presumptive HGA and treated with doxycycline -- but both patients failed to respond. A lack of response to doxycycline after more than 24 hours prompted further analysis. Borrelia miyamotoi infection was identified in these patients who previously would have been reported to the...

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