Topic: The Pilgrims Should Have Been Thankful for a Spirochete
Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
Fascinating easy to read history -
spirochetes "did in" the Indians (epidemic) prior to the Pilgrims.
"The more virulent the strain, the more the bacteria are drawn to blood cells. They *metabolize iron* to survive and secrete an enzyme enabling them to smash open a red blood cell and slurp up the sweet, sweet iron within."
Since spirochetes have been seen IN RBCs - emerging from (versus ATTACHED TO RBCs) via dark field microscopes...
are they Bb spirochetes OR one of the (8) known strains of
LEPTOSPIRA (which is also a spirochete)?
If your pet dog has acquired Leptospira and is asymptomatic, but licks itself after urinating and then licks you, theoretically, the disease could be transmitted from dog to human.
"The bacteria can enter the body through skin or mucous membranes (eyes, nose, or mouth), especially if the skin is broken from a cut or scratch."
Whereas Bb looks to inhibit only the mannose binding lectin pathway via the p8 protein it picks up in the tick's saliva.
Rx's:
Mild leptospirosis is treated with doxycycline, ampicillin, or amoxicillin.
For *severe leptospirosis*, intravenous penicillin G has long been the drug of choice, although the third-generation cephalosporins cefotaxime and ceftriaxone have become widely used.
Alternative regimens are ampicillin, amoxicillin, or erythromycin.
Several other antibiotics may be useful—for example, broth microdilution testing has shown sensitivity to macrolides, fluoroquinolones, and carbapenems —but clinical experience with these agents is more limited."
"•The anicteric form (without jaundice) may cause pneumonitis, arthritis, orchitis, cholecystitis, myocarditis, coronary arteritis, aortitis, aseptic meningitis and uveitis."
[ 11-19-2015, 10:09 AM: Message edited by: Marnie ]
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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WPinVA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 33581
posted
Thank you for posting! Fascinating reading and so many parallels to Lyme. This line jumped out at me:
"The bacteria are too busy burrowing into tissue to be present in cerebrospinal fluid."
And I wondered why for the millionth time, so many doctors still rely on culturing spinal fluid to dx Lyme.
Posts: 1737 | From Virginia | Registered: Aug 2011
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Marnie
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 773
posted
This shouted out to me...
"This case was then diagnosed as Lyme disease with leptospirosis co-infection."
Leptospirosis MIGHT BE the spirochete that some see emerge FROM RBCs with a dark field microscope.
(I think Bb merely attaches to RBCs for the ride - to get to cells that have a nucleus with DNA and mitochondria.)
Posts: 9424 | From Sunshine State | Registered: Mar 2001
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