David - You may want to limit or expand the search terms in order to find the information you want. If you see something you need to help you with your research, please let me know and I will see if I have it.
Thanks,
Angie
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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twoangie
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Oh, and Connie, nice work and thanks for the reports!
Angie
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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I'm wondering about the "medical Milgrimizing" that doctors are being forced into by their medical societies.
You may remember the studies that Stanley Milgrim did whereby the majority of people could be pressured into giving research subjects extremely painful electri shocks when told to by "authorities". What are the psychological costs to doctors I wonder who knuckle under to authority knowing in their heart that they are damaging a patient, perhaps irreversably, by withholding adequate treatment.
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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twoangie
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Here's the problem with the studies on Lyme in North Carolina. The "researcher", Dr. Breitschwerdt, is making a name for himself by making this state look basically clean and of the disease. This is the second time he has done this. His so called research flies in the face of studies like those Connie has shown on the deer as well as studies we have had on raccoons which show an incidence of about 27% infection rate in the state. Now, raccoons need to be bitten twice by an infected tick to become infected with the disease so the fact that 1/4 of them are infected is nothing to ignore. The research is older but I think it is still relevant. No one has gone in and sanitized this state so that we are now clear of the disease. These raccoons are also a reservoir for the disease - as are the deer and the mice...and the birds that fly here which are both infected and carrying infected ticks from other states. No anti-tick/disease protective bubble enclosing this state...that I know of, at least.
I have a copy of this 2004/2005 study but I don't have the following one from 1988.
Anyway, food for thought, here is are some abstracts from our resident trouble maker:
VECTOR-BORNE AND ZOONOTIC DISEASES Volume 5, Number 2, 2005
The Dog as a Sentinel for Human Infection: Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi C6 antibodies in Dogs from Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States
ASHLEE W. DUNCAN, MARIA T. CORREA, JAY F. LEVINE, and EDWARD B. BREITSCHWERDT
ABSTRACT
Lyme disease is the most frequently reported human vector-associated disease in the United States. Infection occurs after the bite of an Ixodid tick that is infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. Dogs have often been reported to serve as effective sentinel animals to assess the risk of human B. burgdorferi infection. Based on published data of human Lyme disease case numbers and our clinical impressions, we hypothesized that canine exposure to B. burgdorferi would be lower in North Carolina when compared to the exposure in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
To address this hypothesis, we evaluated B. burgdorferi exposure status utilizing a specific and sensitive C6 peptide-based enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our convenience sample included 1,666 canine serum samples submitted to the Vector-Borne Disease Diagnostic Laboratory from North Carolina (n 987), Virginia (n 472), Maryland (n 167), and Pennsylvania (n 40). Comparisons among states were made using the Chisquare test or the Fisher's exact test; p-values were adjusted for multiple comparisons using the Bonferroni correction. A Chi-square test for trend was used to determine if there was an increase in the frequency of seroreactors associated with the geographical origin of the samples. The proportion of seroreactive dogs in North Carolina was markedly lower (p 0.008) than that observed in dogs from Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.
These results support the hypothesis that B. burgdorferi transmission seems to occur infrequently in North Carolina dogs as compared to dogs residing in other southeastern and mid-Atlantic states. Furthermore, they support the utility of dogs as a sentinel to characterize the risk of B. burgdorferi transmission to humans in a defined geographical location.
Antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi in dogs in North Carolina.
Greene RT, Levine JF, Breitschwerdt EB, Berkhoff HA.
Department of Companion Animals and Special Species Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh 27606.
An indirect immunofluorescence assay was used to detect antibodies against Borrelia burgdorferi in sera from 600 dogs in 1983 and 402 dogs in 1985. In 1983, the overall prevalence rate of dogs with B burgdorferi titers greater than or equal to 1:64 was 3.6%, whereas in 1985, the prevalence rate was 2.7%.
An unexplainable higher seroprevalence was detected in 1 group of dogs tested in 1983. These dogs were from the southern coastal plains of North Carolina. In the dogs tested in 1985, this regional difference in sero-prevalence was not noticed. Statistical differences were not noticed (P greater than 0.05) between dogs from 2 sources or when gender was considered. Seemingly, the prevalence of anti-B burgdorferi antibodies in dogs in North Carolina was low.
PMID: 3288020 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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ConnieMc
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OMG, twoangie is back!
Welcome. Please feel free to share anything you think that might help. I, for one, would like to see Engel OUT. He is not doing his job of protecting the citizens of NC. We have proof.
Let's send some Lyme ticks in to him. Walking a mile in our shoes just might help him understand how serious this disease can be.
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posted
Ok, nice information. I'm familiar with the good vet doctor at the university of NC State.
I had the chance to speak extensivly with him at a recent Lyme Disease conference. It seems that he genuinly believes his hypothesis concerning dogs as some kind of unique way to discover the risk of Lyme disease in a given state.
On one hand, this is an excellent Idea and it makes a whole heck of a lot of sence, on the other hand, one piece of science doensn't simply cancel out all the other available data by a slight of hand. It must also be explained scientifically.
I don't doubt that he really did find very little borrelia burgdorferri in dogs in NC, but at the same time, how can we explain the infectivity rates of the other animals in this state??
What this tells me is that unfortunatly the south has a much more complicated natural lifecycle for borrelia burgdorferri than that which is found in the northern states, possibly due to evolutionairy migration from the south to the northern states, ie: it orginiated down in this area, which explains the abundance of genetic diversity found in the southern strains of B. B., and it also explains why the lifecycle of this bacteria is much more complicated in the south.
As evolution progressed north, the life cycle became much more efficient, and the genetic diversity of Borrelia became much less common, which is why up north we generally find only Borrelia Burgdorferri sensu stricto, but we commonly find Borrelia Burgdorferri sensu lato in ticks collected in the southern US.
My point is that while he made a good attempt, it was based on a faulty assumption, and science depends on the assumptions one makes when testing any theory. If your assumption is false, you can't test anything based upon a false premice.
It may be that the dog was not important in the natural life cycle of the lyme bacteria in the cycle in NC, and for unknown reasons, it was better for the bacteria to be maintained in nature through raccoons, deer, mice, and other animals.
It may be due to some other phenomina not yet understood, but it certainly is not due to a lack of Lyme Disease.
Also, I don't believe that the Borrelia Lonestari is the only applicable answer to explain this Lyme Disease in the south as does the Doctor from NC State. If this were the answer we were looking for, its presence would be much higher than the 2 percent that we find in Lone Star Ticks from the south.
While I do believe such a Lyme Disease exists form B. Lonestari, I think the vast majority of Southern Lyme Disease cases represent infection from Borrelia Burgdorferri Sensu Lato, similar to what one might find in Europe.
While in the North, most lyme disease cases represent infection with Borrelia Burgdorferri sensu stricto.
As a note, my hypothesis is based on the overwhelming cases of Lyme Disease in the south not testing strongly positive on Lyme Disease CDC standard tests, BUT they would be positive if the standards were of the EU Western blot interpretation which considers only 3 bands to be a positive IGG.
Also, because those in the south are tested for antibodies against sensu stricto, this is inappropriate for serological purposes if the infection is due to sensu lato.
A good try by Dr. B in NC, but unfortunatly, the science is much more complicated than just testing dogs for B. B. sensu stricto.
It would be nice if it were that easy, it sure would be nice.
But, as we have all been humbled by Lyme, perhaps Dr. B in NC should have some humble pie, and be a good scientists and find a way to actually study the life cycle in NC so we can accuratly predict the chances of aquiring Lyme Disease based on real epidemiology.
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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northstar
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I wonder how he gathered his dogs.......are they truly equal samples? What part of the states did he collect them?
This has been a major gripe of mine: the geographical diversity of the states, i.e. mountains to beaches. The mts. of NC are not like the mts. of Pa. nor western Va.
Eastern NC reminds me of NJ, and eastern shore of Maryland.
Also, I wonder what the rate of occurrance was for the 2005 sample? Rates for 1988, although low, reflect 18 year old data, and since then, there has been a lot of development in NC, allowing for more contact.
At least he was fair in saying "uncommon" rather than Engel/s "rare". However, when one has lyme, these words have no meaning. Doctors still need to know how to recognize and diagnose properly, and at least consider it in a differential dx, rather than ignore/deny.
N.
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lymednva
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I find the info about the different types of bb in the north vs. the south interesting because I believe I was infected in my childhood which was spent in Oklahoma. For these purposes that would be the south, I believe. That would help explain why I am not showing positve on the tests yet.
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I was also wondering about the dogs -- are they house dogs or farm dogs -- big difference I would think. Were the dogs protected/treated with frontline or some other tick repellent?
Raccoons, mice and squirrels etc are outside 24/7 -- would expect much greater exposure.
Recently read an abstract on lizards in South Carolina and some other Southern state (forget which one). May have indicated babesia exposure instead of Lyme -- will look for this.
Bea Seibert
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These are all good questions. I especially like the idea relating to the incredibly diversity present in NC geologically speaking.
This may explain why the life cycle of Borrelia is so extremely complicated in NC.
Here is a relavent example. B.B. is commonly found in the coastal plains, even to some extent in dogs, but not so in the mountains, or in the peidmont.
Interestingly, the greatist percentage of Lyme cases are from the mountain region, yet the coastal plain has the greatist percentage of infected dogs??
The bacterial lyme cycle is indeed much more complicated in the South than in the north, my guess is the complexity is on the order of several magnitudes(meaning factors of 10)
You're correct about recent studies demonstrating B. B. sensu lato in animals from the southern states.
There were two stuides from a Flordia researcher named Clark that demonstrated infectivity rates above 50 percent for several animal species. The key was that she changed the technique of testing that had been previously done. She was testing for Borrelia genus wide, and then she correlated all Borrelia into subspecies, and found an extremely high prevelance of Borrelia burgdorferri sensu lato, and much less sensu stricto, though it had been present.
The reason her reseach can't be held to the same argment pertaining to the difference between previous studies is that she did not directly argue against previous studies. Previous studies only looked for Borrelia Burgdorferri sensu stricto. She didn't do that, she looked for all Borrellia. The rate of infection was extremely high.
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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See info on ticks found on lizards in North Carolina -- only deer ticks -- no Lone Star ticks.
Also note that 54 mammals, 57 birds and 14 lizard species are known to harbor ticks. Kind of makes it hard to say that only dogs or deer or mice are relevant.
Bea Seibert
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twoangie
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posted
Hi Connie! I sent you a couple of things. Check your mail. Seeing me back on Lymenet probably shocked you out of a year's growth!
Lymescience,
From what I have been told about Breitschwerdt, the biggest problem with this man is he does not like that it is called "Lyme" Disease. He wants to prove, in the strictest sense, that it is not a big problem here. Thus, studies looking for sensu stricto and ignoring sensu lato. I think it is downright disgusting and a huge threat to the health of those who live here. If you are the person infected with Borrelia and seeking medical help, does it matter THAT much which specific strain you were infected with? Esp if the fact that you were infected with sensu lato instead of sensu stricto means that you will now be totally denied ANY antibiotics or medical treatment because some Nazi researcher thinks the issue is the name, not the disease! Disgusting man.
Also, as for the fact that they are using dogs...something that weighs heavily on the picture of using southern dogs, to my way of thinking, is the fact that our dogs are quite likely more heavily protected from fleas and ticks down here. No one wants their dog to bring fleas into the house or even to have fleas jumping on them if their dogs live outside. I have little doubt that we use more flea and tick repellants than in the north because we have no other choice since the flea and tick season is longer here.
Now, his "random" sample also came from vets. I see a lot of problems here. For one, dogs under the care of a vet will likely be more to have an educated owner and be more heavily protected from fleas and ticks. For another, if any of these dogs had been sick, then there is the very likely possibility that they may have received antibiotic treatment sometime prior to the time the blood samples were drawn and sent to Breitschwerdt. They could have been given antibiotics in the past by the vet who sent the sample or the owners may have even been doctor shopping and their dogs may have been given antibiotics by a prior vet. The antibody response of a dog infected with Lyme will drop if they have been given antibiotics. Also, even infected dogs only seem to have a window of opportunity to show the infection. Furthermore, what was the lifestyle of the dogs? What are their ages? In other studies, it has been show that dogs that hunt are more exposed and have higher infection rates. Age also plays a factor and, if I remember correctly, dogs under 2 years are less likely to show infection.
There are a LOT of factors that come into play when using a domesticated animal and trying to pass it off as a "sentinel" for a disease. In many cases the dogs may be house pets with less risk than the children playing in the woods next door - or even dogs playing beside children in the woods while the dog is on Frontline, Advantix, Hartz or some other powder or collar but the child is completely unprotected. When I was bitten, my dog was on Frontline and I wasn't even wearing so much as a hat, much less a bug repellant!
When you use the word sentinel, I believe you have a HUGE responsibility to find an animal to fill that role that is at a GREATER risk than the human it is supposed to alert to danger, not less. Canaries went in the coal mines because they rapidly succumbed to the dangerous gases, their risk was much greater than that of the miners which gave the miners enough time to get out of the mines safely. In this case, dogs are better protected and humans seem more likely to be the sentinels for dogs. How messed up is that?!
By the way, Lymescience, did you send me an email? I haven't seen one yet. Let me know what you need and I will see if I have the studies.
David, I sent you an email but that's the first time I've tried using the Lymenet message thing so I'm not certain it worked. Let me know if you didn't get the message and I'll try again.
Cheers,
Angie
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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twoangie
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Oh, Lymescience, do you have the name of Clark's studies? I wanted to check and see if I have them.
Thanks,
Angie
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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posted
In one of the articles I posted previously, it mentions the white footed mouse as being a good sentinel species. Mouse, not dog.
I have the full text of an article on Lyme borreliosis in the southern U.S., says strains in the south more genetically diverse [could be missed in testing] and that enzootic cycles more complex, etc. Do you have this one angie?
This is the kind of info that should be supplied to the newspapers covering the Jemsek story. They have an obligation to present information that is accurate about the risks of tickborne disease in the state, and the fact that state officials are doing their best to conceal this. If people don't know it is risky, they won't take precautions. Then they will get infected, won't get appropriate treatment because docs will think this is a zebra disease in NC, instead of a horse. Then there will be more chronic cases, people with wrecked finances and lives who can't get treatment either.
Rounding up this kind of information and posting it on lymenet is only useful if people learn from it and make sure the media have better facts for their stories. This is the perfect follow up to the Jemsek coverage.
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northstar
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Page 1 A RTICLE Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato Infection Among Rodents and Host-Seeking Ticks in South Carolina
(one sentence stated "endemic" to So. Carol.) Also, ixodes affinis more prevalent than i.scapularis in Coastal areas (hopefully I remembered that correctly).
"Our data suggest that I. scapularis may be only minimally involved in the endemic main- tenance of B. burgdorferi in coastal South Carolina, and that I. affinis and I. minor may play more signif- icant roles in maintaining and amplifying the fre- quency ofinfection among populations ofreservoir competent rodent hosts."
N.
[ 18. June 2006, 02:02 PM: Message edited by: northstar ]
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posted
Thanks northstar. Could you do your link in a tiny url? This one makes the page go too wide to read easily.
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northstar
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Lou, I would love to, but I dont know how! N./
Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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paste your long url in the box on this page and it will produce a tiny url that works the same way. Then paste the tiny url you have made onto the lymenet page. You can edit your post to do this by clicking on the little pencil.
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posted
Here are the links to the Clark studies from the department of public health for the state of Florida. Seems like this state is taking Lyme more seriously.
If Dr. B is doing as you say, then he is acting unethically. Lyme Disease is known to result from more than one genospecies of Borrelia.
If B. Lonestari was causing all the problems, then they should have been identified in many more of the skin lesions that Dr. Masters has provided. So far, I'm not aware that many, if any EM lesions from Masters are from Lonestari.
However, microbiologically speaking, these EM's are filled with spirochetes of Borrelia genus.
Unfortunatly, it does matter which strain you are to be infected with. European strains, or Borrelia Burgdorferri sensu lato produce other skin manifestations of Lyme Disease that are supposedly not found here.
I'm a living example of that. See attached picture of my foot. This is ACA, caused by Borrelia Burgdorferri Sensu Lato. This only occurs in Lyme Disease, and is a late stage skin manifestation. However, this is not something that happens with sensu stricto, to my knowledge.
Also, the reason its important to identify strain diversity is that it affects our Western blots.
The EU had to adopt a strategy of only 3 bands for IGG positivity because they primarily had sensu lato.
They also found that they couldn't use B31 as we do here in the USA.
If this were acknoledged, then the US would have to scrap its current tests, and adopt the testing methods more closely to the EU, and this would result in many more patients being identified.
Appl Environ Microbiol. 2005 May;71(5):2616-25. Related Articles, Links
Molecular identification and analysis of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in lizards in the southeastern United States.
Clark K, Hendricks A, Burge D.
Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. [email protected]
Lyme borreliosis (LB) group spirochetes, collectively known as Borrelia burgdorferi sensu
lato, are distributed worldwide. Wild rodents are acknowledged as the most important reservoir
hosts. Ixodes scapularis is the primary vector of B. burgdorferi sensu lato in the eastern
United States, and in the southeastern United States, the larvae and nymphs mostly parasitize certain species of lizards. The primary aim of
the present study was to determine whether wild lizards in the southeastern United States are naturally infected with Lyme borreliae. Blood
samples obtained from lizards in Florida and South Carolina were tested for the presence of LB spirochetes primarily by using B. burgdorferi
sensu lato-specific PCR assays that amplify portions of the flagellin (flaB), outer surface protein A (ospA), and 66-kDa protein (p66)
genes. Attempts to isolate spirochetes from a small number of PCR-positive lizards failed. However, PCR amplification and sequence analysis
of partial flaB, ospA, and p66 gene fragments confirmed numerous strains of B. burgdorferi sensu lato, including Borrelia andersonii, Borrelia bissettii, and B. burgdorferi sensu stricto, in blood from lizards from both states.
B. burgdorferi sensu lato DNA was identified in 86 of 160 (54%) lizards representing nine species and six genera. The high infection prevalence and broad distribution of infection
among different lizard species at different sites and at different times of the year suggest that LB spirochetes are established in lizards in the southeastern United States.
J Clin Microbiol. 2004 Nov;42(11):5076-86. Related Articles, Links
Borrelia species in host-seeking ticks and small mammals in northern Florida.
Clark K.
Department of Public Health, University of North Florida, 4567 St. Johns Bluff Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA. [email protected]
The aim of this study was to improve understanding of several factors related to the
ecology and environmental risk of Borrelia infection in northern Florida. Small mammals and host-seeking adult ticks were collected at
several sites, and specimens were tested for the presence of Borrelia species, primarily by PCR amplification. Tissues from some vertebrates and
ticks were initially cultured in BSK-H medium to isolate spirochetes, but none were recovered. However, comparison of partial flagellin (flaB),
66-kDa protein (p66), and outer surface protein A (ospA) gene sequences from DNAs amplified from small mammals and ticks confirmed the presence
of several Borrelia species. Borrelia lonestari DNA was detected among lone star ticks
(Amblyomma americanum) at four sites. Borrelia burgdorferi sensu stricto strains were detected in all small mammal species tested and in A.
americanum, Ixodes affinis, and Ixodes scapularis ticks. Borrelia bissettii was found in a cotton mouse and cotton rats and in I. affinis ticks. The study findings extend the known geographic distributions of B. lonestari
in A. americanum and of B. burgdorferi sensu lato in A. americanum, I. affinis, I. scapularis, and small mammals to new sites in Florida. The presence of B. burgdorferi sensu
stricto strains in host-seeking lone star ticks at two sites in Florida suggests that A. americanum should still be considered a possible
vector of B. burgdorferi sensu lato.
PMID: 15528699 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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You should get several studies takling about the complicated life cycle of Borrelia in areas of the country that are not well studied
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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posted
That is my foot. This is a good reason why strain diversity does matter. I don't have sensu stricto, I have sensu lato, hence I also have ACA.
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Somewhere I have an article that showed a patient tested positive for a european type of borrelia. This patient was one in a study done in GA by Rahn, who is a steerite, and formerly at Yale. Editing to add the pubmed url for the article. Abstract mentions B. garinii.
This patient had previously traveled to Europe but had been bitten recently in the south, so it was unclear as to where he got this species. The full text is available free after registering. Got some good stuff in it.
But am guessing that they should really be doing more testing to see what other borrelias are out there, and not producing positive ELISAs for that reason. If you don't look for it, you don't find it. Which seems to be the guiding principle in public health as regards lyme. There is plenty of published info in the lit as to genetic variability not detectable with current tests.
Lymescience, hope you and connie and others are going to run with this ball. Remember to keep it comprehensible to outsiders, simple.
[ 18. June 2006, 03:39 PM: Message edited by: lou ]
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northstar
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7911
Genetic Heterogeneity of Borrelia burgdorferi Sensu Lato in the Southern United States Based on Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism and Sequence Analysis
Sensu lato is a broad group containing different subspecies, such as
sensu stricto andersonii bisettii garinii
According to this paper, of which I understood zip about the method, there were strains detected in the south, that resembled the above in certain markers.
This could be another reason for seronegativity. Garinii is a European strain?
N.
Posts: 1331 | From hither and yonder | Registered: Sep 2005
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Lou, Do you think it would make any difference to try and contact that NC State professor doing the dog studies?
It seems he is not looking broad enough in his C6 peptide studies.
If I were to show him my foot, the picture I just posted, which clearly is ACA, do you think he would redo the dog tests, and expand the testing to include genus wide Borrelia?
"Background: Acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA) is the third or late stage of European Lyme borreliosis (LB)."
The important thing is that I've never been to Europe. The only other "foreign country" I've been to was a Carribian island, however I already had Lyme at that time.
Posts: 559 | From Cary, NC | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Don't know, lymescience. The NC lymies who are better acquainted with him might have a clearer idea of whether his mind is totally closed or not. Sometimes the vets are our friends, sometimes they are not.
ACA is known in the medical records in U.S.; Karen Forschner's chronology (in her lyme book) mentions some of these cases. So, not sure this would be a strong position.
Seems to me like the primary focus now should be on getting the media interested in Lyme in North Carolina and the ignorance of the state epidemiologist.
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twoangie
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posted
Hey gang,
I wouldn't waste my time on the NC professor. He knows exactly what he is doing, that's why he is doing things the way he has done them. The only way to approach him is to do so with your response fully prepared, cited and bulletproof because he will fire back with something from his research department which will tear down anything you try to throw at him, even if it forces him to blur the lines. In MY opinion. That's exactly what he did in that research study as well. I think his work is a class A elephant dung. I choose that particular animal because it drops large loads whereever it goes, just like he does...
Ok, I'll try to come back tomorrow evening and go through some of the past messages in this post. I did too much last night and got behind on some of my own issues - such as bills. I need to take care of some of that stuff first before coming over here...
Angie
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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twoangie
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posted
This abstract looks like it could be potentially helpful down here - esp in light of researchers such as we are dealing with. However, I can't get this study. I've tried before on some of these Am J Trop Med Hyg studies and came back empty handed. I need to move near a university with access to a LOT of journals.
Angie
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):615-22
A modest model explains the distribution and abundance of Borrelia burgdorferi strains.
Brisson D, Dykhuizen DE.
Department of Ecology and Evolution, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5245, USA. [email protected]
The distribution and abundance of Borrelia burgdorferi, including human Lyme disease strains, is a function of its interactions with vertebrate species. We present a mathematical model describing important ecologic interactions affecting the distribution and abundance of B. burgdorferi strains, marked by the allele at the outer surface protein C locus, in Ixodes scapularis ticks, the principal vector. The frequency of each strain in ticks can be explained by the vertebrate species composition, the density of each vertebrate species, the number of ticks that feed on individuals of each species, and the rate at which those ticks acquire different strains. The model results are consistent with empirical data collected in a major Lyme disease focus in New England. An applicable extension of these results would be to predict the proportion of ticks carrying human infectious strains of B. burgdorferi from disease host densities and thus predict the local risk of contracting Lyme disease.
PMID: 16606995 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
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Got fax/mailbox? I can arrange to send the above to you.
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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posted
A., What else do you need from the journal you mentioned above?
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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Nearly all academic researchers have research assistants who copy articles from journals for them. Having someone send you the articles would be in the same category- the person doing the copying would merely be checking to see that the copy is legible and page numbers complete. Thus, there is only one reader/user involved and not a problem copyright-wise in my understanding.
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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twoangie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1636
posted
Hey there Fire Fighter,
Ok, I went to PubMed and just pulled up all the articles related to Lyme Disease for that journal. I found that I can get about 30 of them for free but those are the ones from about 1997 - 2005. That's excellent but there are 93 and that still leaves a little over 60 that I can't obtain. Of course, as I look over the titles, I do see that there are a good number that aren't all that important to have.
I'm going to list 4 below that are the most recent and unobtainable. Do you have access to them? I'm in "gathering" mode and I while I think I have a pretty fat database right now, I am trying to make it something that will be a very helpful resource for the Lyme community. 2,200 and growing but there are over 10,000 out there now.
I always hated it when I wanted to reply to something but I was limited to only being able to read an abstract. Citing from an abstract can be both tricky and risky because you are forced to make assumptions which can often backfire if there is something counter to what you assumed in the actual article. Sooo, I just got fed up with assuming. I went to the university library (public was worthless!), was amazed at what was there and started collecting everything I could get my hands on. I gave Dr. Jemsek almost 1,000 articles a few months back and I'm going to try to catch up with his staff in the near future and let them have copies of the entire database as it currently stands. Hopefully, in a few months, I'll be able to drop another 1,000 on them. However, as drop back past 1996 it gets harder to get articles. Many of these journal servers only allow you to go back 10 years. Also, if I go to other universities, I will likely discover that they will have access to new and old journals. No doubt, I'm going to be slowed down a lot so that I don't end up wasting my time making duplicate copies. However, that's not so bad since it's all on computer. The fun will start when I beging to raid microfiche files or have to start physically copying from older journals. That will be a lot of labor and 10 cent or so a page doesn't sound bad...until you start copying hundreds of pages. Can't wait!
Angie
Predicting density of Ixodes pacificus nymphs in dense woodlands in Mendocino County, California, based on geographic information systems and remote sensing versus field-derived data. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):632-40. PMID: 16606998 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] ************************
A modest model explains the distribution and abundance of Borrelia burgdorferi strains. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):615-22. PMID: 16606995 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] *********************************
Experimental infection of human body lice with Acinetobacter baumannii. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):526-31. PMID: 16606978 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] *****************************
Pseudo-borreliosis in patients with malaria. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Jul;73(1):207-9. PMID: 16014860 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by lou: People in North Carolina should be sending the info Connie has posted about infected ticks in the state to the governor with a demand that the state epidemiologist be fired.
This would also be good ammo for contacts with the media. Quote the state epidemiologist and then present them with the evidence that he doesn't know diddley squat.
I agree! I worked for him, unless he retired by now, OLD FART! It was then Dr. McCormack I think. He was such a jerk, know-it-all! I spoke with him in 2001 about my daughter having LD and he told me it was probably STARI (sp?). I then called one hall over and spoke with Dr. Maillard who faxed me the statistics for NC LD infections and forwarded to him with my daughters POSITIVE LD results. He never answered back!
-------------------- Angela Posts: 191 | From Benson, NC, USA | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Here is some info about the Division of Epidemiology Dept. in Raleigh NC if anyone is interested:
Dr. Maillard is the head of epidemiologic surveillance and investigations for the Epidemiology Section, Division Of Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. His research interests include improving surveillance for infectious diseases and control and prevention of communicable disease outbreaks.
I seen (worked there) him occasionally, he was quiet, but loved to answer questions about scientific/medical stuff. Dr. Maillard seems nice, was very open about LD when I have spoken to him and agrees that what is reported is just the tip of the iceberg.
When I worked there, it was Dr. J. Newton MacCormack as the Chief/Director. He was a jerk, he was really old then, so he probably has retired or died.
Mailing Address: N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Epidemiology Section 1902 Mail Service Center Raleigh, NC 27699-1902 Main Phone: (919) 733-3421
So any ideas on what to send to them to get them to open their eyes, or at least **** them off? Sorry, I'm in a bad mood!
-------------------- Angela Posts: 191 | From Benson, NC, USA | Registered: Aug 2001
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
Angie, I'm breaking up the long, continuous paragraph into smaller ones & double spacing between each one. Please do this in the future for us neuro lymies; we'd apreciate being able to read/comprehend all posts. THANKS!
quote:Originally posted by twoangie:
Hey there Fire Fighter,
Ok, I went to PubMed and just pulled up all the articles related to Lyme Disease for that journal.
I found that I can get about 30 of them for free but those are the ones from about 1997 - 2005.
That's excellent but there are 93 and that still leaves a little over 60 that I can't obtain. Of course, as I look over the titles, I do see that there are a good number that aren't all that important to have.
I'm going to list 4 below that are the most recent and unobtainable. Do you have access to them?
I'm in "gathering" mode and I while I think I have a pretty fat database right now, I am trying to make it something that will be a very helpful resource for the Lyme community. 2,200 and growing but there are over 10,000 out there now.
I always hated it when I wanted to reply to something but I was limited to only being able to read an abstract.
Citing from an abstract can be both tricky and risky because you are forced to make assumptions which can often backfire if there is something counter to what you assumed in the actual article. Sooo, I just got fed up with assuming.
I went to the university library (public was worthless!), was amazed at what was there and started collecting everything I could get my hands on. I gave Dr. Jemsek almost 1,000 articles a
few months back and I'm going to try to catch up with his staff in the near future and let them have copies of the entire database as it currently stands. Hopefully, in a few months, I'll be able to drop another 1,000 on them.
However, as drop back past 1996 it gets harder to get articles. Many of these journal servers only allow you to go back 10 years.
Also, if I go to other universities, I will likely discover that they will have access to new and old journals. No doubt, I'm going to be slowed down a lot so that I don't end up wasting my time making duplicate copies.
However, that's not so bad since it's all on computer. The fun will start when I beging to raid microfiche files or have to start physically copying from older journals.
That will be a lot of labor and 10 cent or so a page doesn't sound bad...until you start copying hundreds of pages. Can't wait!
Angie
Predicting density of Ixodes pacificus nymphs in dense woodlands in Mendocino County, California, based on geographic information systems and remote sensing versus field-derived data. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):632-40. PMID: 16606998 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] ************************
A modest model explains the distribution and abundance of Borrelia burgdorferi strains. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):615-22. PMID: 16606995 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] *********************************
Experimental infection of human body lice with Acinetobacter baumannii. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2006 Apr;74(4):526-31. PMID: 16606978 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] *****************************
Pseudo-borreliosis in patients with malaria. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2005 Jul;73(1):207-9. PMID: 16014860 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE [/QB]
twoangie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1636
posted
Ok, I've got a weird problem. I am trying to open some files I saved a month or so ago but have not titled yet. See, when I save the PDF files, I only assign a number to each while at the library and then come home and put the titles in.
Now, the problem. Each time I try to open up these files I am getting a box instead of the file. The box is titled "File Conversion - 1995 - 2"
Inside the box it says "Select the encoding that makes your document readable." "Text encoding" - Windows (Default) - MS-DOS - Other encoding
The problem is, no matter what I pick, it doesn't work. The default is gibberish. MS-DOS = worthless and when I chose "other encoding" and go through the list of all the different types of text, absolutely none of them make the files readable.
WHAT is wrong? I can't believe I would have saved these files wrong because all the ones I worked with before came up fine. I took a break a while back because I was burned out, not because I had encountered this problem. Any ideas what I need to do so these files will pull? There are at least 110 files affected. Probably more.
Thanks,
Angie
-------------------- I surf to serve! Posts: 1993 | From Charlotte, NC, US | Registered: Sep 2001
| IP: Logged |
Sorry to hear about the computer problem. I'd take it to an expert to make sure that you don't lose your data. Hope you have back-ups stored securely.
Copies of the four articles you mention above are ready to be sent to you. Would it be ok to send them to you in care of Dr. J.?
I hear you about the expenses involved in assembling a bank of articles. Sometimes researchers will send you a reprint of their article if you request one- which also gives you better quality photos than a photocopy would. Going this route can take a lot of time and you may well not hear back in some cases. Of course having a university address and an academic title when requesting an article is helpful. Maybe someone here can help out in that regard.
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
Angie,
Copy/paste your note above about computer problems and send to LOU B, moderator. His work life dealt with pcs and he had a top management job with them. Perhaps he could give you some expertise on retrieving them. Just a thought.....
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
up for more ideas.
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
Up for H...C....Dave, who asked how things went.
-------------------- "Help Or Be Helpless" Please visit "Activism" board daily. See the threads regarding the IDSA Guidelines crisis and the threads about Dr. Charles Ray Jones and decide how best to help today! Posts: 1265 | From does not list | Registered: Jun 2004
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
Ticksin
Is that address listed above for the state epidemiologist where I could send a letter to Dr. Engle?
Thanks
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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