Lyme disease was first described in the US in the 1970s, when children and adults in Lyme, Connecticut exhibited symptoms including swollen knees and paralysis. Researchers eventually discovered that the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi, carried by deer ticks, was the cause. In the 1980s, Willy Burgdorfer discovered the connection between deer ticks and Lyme disease. Doctors now treat Lyme disease with antibiotics, though treatment for chronic cases remains debated. While originally confined to the Northeast, Lyme disease has spread across the US except Hawaii, with an estimated 300,000 new cases annually.

1. Presentation by:
JT Cabrera
HUB32
LYME DISEASE

2. HISTORY
- for thousands of years
- 5,300 year-old mummy
- Alfred Buchwald - first described the
chronic skin rash (erythma migrans) more
than a 130 years ago
- recognized in the US in the 1960s to 1970s.
- Borrelia burgdorferi wasn't classified until
1981

3. The 1970s
A group of children and adults in Lyme, Connecticut, had symptoms that
included swollen knees, paralysis, skin rashes, headaches, and severe
chronic fatigue. Hospital cases of similar symptoms among people were
common.
Families were left undiagnosed and untreated for years. Two mothers from
Connecticut were persistent in finding out about the disease. They began
to take notes, conduct their own research, and contact scientists.
The medical establishment began to study the symptoms and looked for
several possible causes. Was it airborne or waterborne? The children
had reported skin rashes followed by arthritic conditions, and they
had all recalled being bitten by a tick in the region of Lyme,
Connecticut.
By the mid-70s, researchers began describing the signs and symptoms of
this new disease. They called it Lyme, but the cause was still unknown.

4. The 1980s
Willy Burgdorfer, who was studying Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever,
began to study Lyme disease, and found the connection between the
deer tick and the disease. He discovered that a bacterium called a
spirochete, carried by ticks, was causing Lyme. The medical
community honoured Dr. Burgdorfer’s discovery in 1982 by naming
the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.
Doctors began to use several antibiotics to treat Lyme disease. This
treatment is currently accepted by the medical profession and has
been largely successful, especially for those with early-stage Lyme
disease. However, there continues to be heavy debate on the long-
term use of antibiotics for Lyme that has progressed or appears
resistant to a short course of antibiotics.

5. MORPHOLOGY
• weakly-staining Gram-negative, tick-borne spirochetal bacterium
• length: 20 μm - 30 μm, width 0.2 μm to 0.3 μm in width
• axial filament composed of flagella, to move in a corkscrew fashion
• optimally grown and isolated at 32°C in a microaerophilic
environment
• outer surface proteins (Osp) involved in it's virulence and
transmission
Borrelia burgdorferi

6. GEOGRAPHICAL
DISTRIBUTION
• areas having high deer
population
• New York, Pennsylvania,
Connecticut, New Jersey,
Rhode Island, and
Maryland
• community near
woodlands and forest

7. • deer tick or blacklegged tick
• larvae - either mice or deer, feed on blood
• egg to adult - two years
• tick is introduced to a human host, pathogen disseminates
into the salivary glands of the tick and enters host
• 2 to 3 weeks after infection, bacteria is spread throughout the
body
INFECTION

8. • The bacterium is a master of immune evasion. It changes its
surface antigens while it is in the tick and again after it has
transmitted to a mammalian host
• During early tick feeding, this pathogen remains within the
gut, dividing within the blood nutrients being procured by
the parasite.
• Antibodies in the blood of vaccinated individuals bind to the
Lyme disease organism during tick feeding and inactivate the
spirochete before it can be transmitted to human hosts.
• In 2001 the vaccine was removed from the market because of
unacceptable toxicity and side-effects
INTENSITY OF INFECTION

9. SIGNS & SYMPTOMS
ERYTHEMA OF
SKIN; SUFFER
FATIGUE,
MUSCLE AND
JOINT
STIFFNESS
SWOLLEN
LYMPH NODES
OFTEN
RESEMBLING
FLU LIKE
SYMPTOMS
IF UNTREATED -
SPREAD TO
JOINTS, THE
HEART, AND
THE NERVOUS
SYSTEM
MENINGITIS
AND
ABNORMAL
HEART
RHYTHMS
LYME NEURO-
BORRELIOSIS
LYMPHOCYTIC
MENINGITIS
CHRONIC
INFECTION -
MUSCLE AND
NERVOUS SYSTEM
DAMAGE, HEART
FAILURE, AND
PARALYSIS

11. Early treatment - 14 to 21 day course of oral antibiotics;
eliminate all traces of infection.
Medications used:
- doxycycline for adults and children older than 8 years
old
- cefuroxime and amoxicillin for adults, younger
children, and women who are breast-feeding
Persistent or chronic Lyme disease - intravenous
antibiotics for a period of 14 to 21 days, eliminates
infection but improvement of symptoms occurs more
slowly.
TREATMENT

12. In 2012, Lyme disease was included as one of the top ten notifiable diseases by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The CDC estimates that there are 300,000 new cases of Lyme disease each year
in the US; one of the fastest-growing vector-borne infections .
While it was primarily an East Coast phenomenon in the beginning, it has since
been reported in all states except Hawaii. And diagnostic tools are still
unreliable — as of yet there is no definitive cure for those with late-stage
Lyme.
Bay Area Lyme Foundation is determined to drive new research and accelerate
the day when Lyme disease is easy to diagnose and simple to cure.
LATER STUDIES

13. • http://www.orkin.com/other/ticks/deer-ticks/
• http://www.ppdictionary.com/bacteria/bwum/burgdorfei.htm
• http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/lyme-disease/overview.html
• http://www.bayarealyme.org/about-lyme/history-lyme-disease/
• https://www.lymedisease.org
• http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/lyme/
• http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/transmission/index.html
REFERENCES