Diagnosis and Therapy of Chronic Systemic Co-infections in Lyme Disease and Other Tick-Borne Infectious Diseases

Often Lyme Disease (LD) patients are initially diagnosed with other illnesses, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The diagnosis of LD should be based on clinical and laboratory data as well as the likelihood of exposure to the LD spirochete. Virtually all LD patients have multiple co-infections. In addition to the Borrelia burgdorferi, the majority of LD patients are also infected with tick-borne mycoplasma, rickettsia and/or protozoa. There are a number of considerations when undergoing therapy for the multiple infections found in chronic LD, including whether to use traditional antimicrobial as well as integrative nutraceutical approaches. Chronic LD requires long-term therapy, including antibiotic/antiprotozoan therapies and dietary supplements to restore immune and gastrointestinal systems as well as mitochondrial function. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Lyme Disease (LD) is the most common tick-borne disease in North America and has been reported in 48 U.S. states and in Eastern Canada. First described in Old Lyme, Connecticut in 1975, the infection is caused by a tick bite and the entry of the spiral-shaped spriochete Borrelia burgdorferi and other coinfections. 1 Borrelia b. and its co-infections has been carried into new habitats by a variety of ticks, such as the deer, black-legged, lone-star and bear ticks, and their vectors, such as birds, deer, rodents and other mammals. After incubation for a few days to a month, the LD spriochete and co-infections migrate through the subcutaneous tissues into the lymph and blood where they can travel to near and distant host sites. 2 Transplacental transmission of Borrelia b. and co-infections can occur in pregnant animals, including humans, and blood-borne transmission in humans by blood transfusion is likely but unproven. The tick-borne LD co-infections can and usually do appear clinically at the same time. Often LD patients are diagnosed with other illnesses, such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) or Rheumatoid Arthritis. Since the signs and symptoms of LD overlap with other chronic conditions, this is not unusual. However, many patients with LD have not received an adequate diagnosis for years, and during this period ineffective treatments may have contributed to the refractory nature of the disease.