NEW YORK, Nov 19 (Reuters Health) -- New research suggests that Georgia,
South Carolina, and possibly other states in the Southeast may be beset by their
own type of Lyme disease.
"There is some type of tick-transmitted illness here that acts like Lyme
disease but only fits the laboratory pattern 30% of the time," lead researcher
Dr. Michael W. Felz said in a statement released by the Medical College of
Georgia in Augusta.
"In other words," he explained, "we may need a whole new testing system
for this illness in the Southeast."
Lyme disease is caused by a bite from a deer tick, which transmits
bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi. The first sign of infection is an
enlarging red, circular "bull's-eye" rash. In studying 23 adults who consulted a
doctor about the telltale rash, Felz and his colleagues discovered that 70% of
the patients tested negative for Borrelia burgdorferi infection.
Furthermore, even in the 30% of study participants who did test positive,
the DNA of the bacteria was different from what the experts expected to see. The
bacteria seem to be genetically variant strains of Borrelia burgdorferi, the
researchers report in the November issue of Archives of Dermatology.
As Felz explained in the statement, "the tick species transmitting this
illness seems to be different and may be transmitting an organism that is very
different." Also, none of the patients in the study progressed to the second
stage of Lyme disease, which can include symptoms such as muscle paralysis,
joint inflammation, and heart rhythm disorders.
The newly identified strain of Borrelia burgdorferi may be less toxic than
the strain that is common in Northeast and the Midwest, the authors conclude.
They speculate that the infection it causes might be more responsive to
treatment with antibiotics.
