Neurological Pain, Psychological Symptoms, and Diagnostic Struggles among Patients with Tick-Borne Diseases

Combining Double-Dose and High-Dose Pulsed Dapsone Combination Therapy for Chronic Lyme Disease/Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and Co-Infections, Including Bartonella: A Report of 3 Cases and a Literature Review

Three patients with relapsing and remitting borreliosis, babesiosis, and bartonellosis, despite extended anti-infective therapy, were prescribed double-dose dapsone combination therapy (DDDCT) for 8 weeks, followed by one or several two-week courses of pulsed high-dose dapsone combination therapy (HDDCT). We discuss these patients' cases to illustrate three important variables required for long-term remission. First, diagnosing and treating active co-infections, including Babesia and Bartonella were important. Babesia required rotations of multiple anti-malarial drug combinations and herbal therapies, and Bartonella required one or several 6-day HDDCT pulses to achieve clinical remission. Second, all prior oral, intramuscular (IM), and/or intravenous (IV) antibiotics used for chronic Lyme disease (CLD)/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS), irrespective of the length of administration, were inferior in efficacy to short-term pulsed biofilm/persister drug combination therapy i.e., dapsone, rifampin, methylene blue, and pyrazinamide, which improved resistant fatigue, pain, headaches, insomnia, and neuropsychiatric symptoms. Lastly, addressing multiple factors on the 16-point multiple systemic infectious disease syndrome (MSIDS) model was important in achieving remission. In conclusion, DDDCT with one or several 6-7-day pulses of HDDCT, while addressing abnormalities on the 16-point MSIDS map, could represent a novel effective clinical and anti-infective strategy in CLD/PTLDS and associated co-infections including Bartonella.

Detection of pathogenic bacteria in ticks from Isiolo and Kwale counties of Kenya using metagenomics

Ticks are arachnid ectoparasites that rank second only to mosquitoes in the transmission of human diseases including bacteria responsible for anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis, spotted fevers, and Lyme disease among other febrile illnesses. Due to the paucity of data on bacteria transmitted by ticks in Kenya, this study undertook a bacterial metagenomic-based characterization of ticks collected from Isiolo, a semi-arid pastoralist County in Eastern Kenya, and Kwale, a coastal County with a monsoon climate in the southern Kenyan border with Tanzania. A total of 2,918 ticks belonging to 3 genera and 10 species were pooled and screened in this study. Tick identification was confirmed through the sequencing of the Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit 1 (COI) gene. Bacterial 16S rRNA gene PCR amplicons obtained from the above samples were sequenced using the MinION (Oxford Nanopore Technologies) platform. The resulting reads were demultiplexed in Porechop, followed by trimming and filtering in Trimmomatic before clustering using Qiime2-VSearch. A SILVA database pretrained naïve Bayes classifier was used to classify the Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) taxonomically. The bacteria of clinical interest detected in pooled tick assays were as follows: Rickettsia spp. 59.43% of pools, Coxiella burnetii 37.88%, Proteus mirabilis 5.08%, Cutibacterium acnes 6.08%, and Corynebacterium ulcerans 2.43%. These bacteria are responsible for spotted fevers, query fever (Q-fever), urinary tract infections, skin and soft tissue infections, eye infections, and diphtheria-like infections in humans, respectively. P. mirabilis, C. acnes, and C. ulcerans were detected only in Isiolo. Additionally, COI sequences allowed for the identification of Rickettsia and Coxiella species to strain levels in some of the pools. Diversity analysis revealed that the tick genera had high levels of Alpha diversity but the differences between the microbiomes of the three tick genera studied were not significant. The detection of C. acnes, commonly associated with human skin flora suggests that the ticks may have contact with humans potentially exposing them to bacterial infections. The findings in this study highlight the need for further investigation into the viability of these bacteria and the competency of ticks to transmit them. Clinicians in these high-risk areas also need to be appraised for them to include Rickettsial diseases and Q-fever as part of their differential diagnosis.

Neuropsychiatric Manifestations and Cognitive Decline in Patients With Long-Standing Lyme Disease: A Scoping Review

Lyme disease (LD), or Lyme borreliosis, is a vector-borne disease that is caused by the transmission of the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi through a tick bite. The symptoms of LD can persist in individuals chronically, even after the treatment and resolution of the initial infection. These symptoms include various neuropsychiatric manifestations and cognitive decline. The purpose of this review was to report the neuropsychiatric manifestations, cognitive decline, and effects of a delayed diagnosis on symptom severity in patients with long-standing LD (LSLD). A scoping review was conducted utilizing the electronic databases Embase, Ovid Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), and Web of Science. A total of 744 articles were retrieved and considered for inclusion. After a rigorous screening process, 10 articles that met the inclusion criteria for this review were included (i.e., reported neuropsychiatric manifestations and cognitive decline in patients with LSLD and the effects of a delayed diagnosis). Neuropsychiatric manifestations in the patients consisted of suicidal ideation, homicidal tendencies, extreme anger, depressive symptoms, aggression, and anxiety. Cognitive symptoms included dysfunctions in working memory, verbal learning/memory, non-verbal learning/memory, alertness, visuoconstructive, and frontal executive functioning. A delayed LD diagnosis increased symptom severity in most patients. The findings of this review indicate that neuropsychiatric and cognitive symptoms tend to present for a chronic period, even after disease recovery. Although researchers have established a link between a delayed LD diagnosis and increased symptom severity, LSLD is often an overlooked diagnosis in patients with neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive decline. More research is needed to compare the time to diagnosis and symptom severity in patients with LSLD.

By-degree Health and Economic Impacts of Lyme Disease, Eastern and Midwestern United States

Lyme disease (LD) is the most common vector-borne disease in the United States (U.S.). This paper assesses how climate change may influence LD incidence in the eastern and upper Midwestern U.S. and the associated economic burden. We estimated future Ixodes scapularis habitat suitability and LD incidence with a by-degree approach using variables from an ensemble of multiple climate models. We then applied estimates for present-day and projected habitat suitability for I. scapularis, present-day presence of Borrelia burgdorferi, and projected climatological variables to model reported LD incidence at the county level among adults, children, and the total population. Finally, we applied an estimate of healthcare expenses to project economic impacts. We show an overall increase in LD cases with regional variation. We estimate an increase in incidence in New England and the upper Midwestern U.S. and a concurrent decrease in incidence in Virginia and North Carolina. At 3°C of national warming from the 1986-2015 baseline climate, we project approximately 55,000 LD cases, a 38-percent increase from present-day estimates. At 6°C of warming, our most extreme scenario, we project approximately 92,000 LD cases in the region, an increase of 145 percent relative to current levels. Annual LD-related healthcare expenses at 3°C of warming are estimated to be $236 million (2021 dollars), approximately 38 percent greater than present-day. These results may inform decision-makers tasked with addressing climate risks, the public, and healthcare professionals preparing for treatment and prevention of LD.

Microbes and Mental Illness: Past, Present, and Future

A review of the association between microbes and mental illness is performed, including the history, relevant definitions, infectious agents associated with mental illnesses, complex interactive infections, total load theory, pathophysiology, psychoimmunology, psychoneuroimmunology, clinical presentations, early-life infections, clinical assessment, and treatment. Perspectives on the etiology of mental illness have evolved from demonic possession toward multisystem biologically based models that include gene expression, environmental triggers, immune mediators, and infectious diseases. Microbes are associated with a number of mental disorders, including autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depressive disorders, and anxiety disorders, as well as suicidality and aggressive or violent behaviors. Specific microbes that have been associated or potentially associated with at least one of these conditions include Aspergillus, Babesia, Bartonella, Borna disease virus, Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease), Candida, Chlamydia, coronaviruses (e.g., SARS-CoV-2), Cryptococcus neoformans, cytomegalovirus, enteroviruses, Epstein-Barr virus, hepatitis C, herpes simplex virus, human endogenous retroviruses, human immunodeficiency virus, human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6), human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1, influenza viruses, measles virus, Mycoplasma, Plasmodium, rubella virus, Group A Streptococcus (PANDAS), Taenia solium, Toxoplasma gondii, Treponema pallidum (syphilis), Trypanosoma, and West Nile virus. Recognition of the microbe and mental illness association with the development of greater interdisciplinary research, education, and treatment options may prevent and reduce mental illness morbidity, disability, and mortality.

Neurologic Complications of Babesiosis, United States, 2011-2021

Babesiosis is a globally distributed parasitic infection caused by intraerythrocytic protozoa. The full spectrum of neurologic symptoms, the underlying neuropathophysiology, and neurologic risk factors are poorly understood. Our study sought to describe the type and frequency of neurologic complications of babesiosis in a group of hospitalized patients and assess risk factors that might predispose patients to neurologic complications. We reviewed medical records of adult patients who were admitted to Yale-New Haven Hospital, New Haven, Connecticut, USA, during January 2011-October 2021 with laboratory-confirmed babesiosis. More than half of the 163 patients experienced >1 neurologic symptoms during their hospital admissions. The most frequent symptoms were headache, confusion/delirium, and impaired consciousness. Neurologic symptoms were associated with high-grade parasitemia, renal failure, and history of diabetes mellitus. Clinicians working in endemic areas should recognize the range of symptoms associated with babesiosis, including neurologic.