Lyme disease in Australia

[angee111]

It's something I have contemplated occasionally, as apparently people can be infected in Australia, regardless of whether they've been overseas or not. As many symptoms overlap, it's pretty hard to assess whether you have ME/CFS or lyme and co-infections. Many doctors here in Australia disregard the existence.. but there are also those who don't.

I've been considering being tested for lyme overseas using Western blot test and ELISA, though I've heard the tests can be inaccurate sometimes. Has anyone on this forum who is from Australia been tested or diagnosed for Lyme disease?

http://www.lymedisease.org.au

 

[Art Vandelay]

It's something I have contemplated occasionally, as apparently people can be infected in Australia, regardless of whether they've been overseas or not. As many symptoms overlap, it's pretty hard to assess whether you have ME/CFS or lyme and co-infections. Many doctors here in Australia disregard the existence.. but there are also those who don't.

I've been considering being tested for lyme overseas using Western blot test and ELISA, though I've heard the tests can be inaccurate sometimes. Has anyone on this forum who is from Australia been tested or diagnosed for Lyme disease?

http://www.lymedisease.org.au

Hi @angee111, yes, I'm in Australia and have been diagnosed with Lyme via Igenex testing. I'm not completely convinced that I have Lyme since my ELISA was "equivocal positive" and my Western Blot wasn't definitive (although I had a wide range of antibodies specific to Lyme disease). That being said, I believe that my ME/CFS is caused by some sort of bacterial infection, so this result helped convince my doctor to support my preferred treatment program.

 

[Valentijn]

I've been considering being tested for lyme overseas using Western blot test and ELISA, though I've heard the tests can be inaccurate sometimes.

It might be true (or not) that the one variety of borrelia which causes Lyme isn't present in Australia. But another possibility is that the Australian cases are caused by non-Lyme borrelia variants, or by co-infections which can produce similar symptoms.

Hence it might be better to go for broader testing, instead of focusing on a single subtype of a single pathogen.

 

[duncan]

It would be nice if they approached this from the top-down, instead of the species-specific approached used today.

If they checked broadly for Borrelia genus exposure, then drilled down for specificity.

As it is now, they are so specific - and at times presumptuous - they may be missing species.

Australia may be a case in point. If they employed a broad test that had very high specificity and sensitivity at a genus level, they'd at least know some Borrelia variant was at play. They could just then prioritize statistically and work backwords till they found the appropriate species (and even strain, theoretically). If they couldn't identify the species, they could double check the genus test, make sure it wasn't a false positive, and then roll up their sleeves and get down to determining which species was at fault - even if that meant a new species may be involved, since they already established a Borrelial role.

Admittedly, this may be a more expensive route...But I'm thinking if you live in Australia, you'd have some individuals who would support such an approach, at least until they identify a possible candidate species.

ETA: hmmm...I think this is more or less what you just suggested, Valentijn. Sorry.

 

[heapsreal]

Im not sure if its true or not but i have heard that the European lyme resembles more closer to australian lyme. Apart of what i heard is that European testing is more likely to pick up lyme then american testing.

so if i was going to send bloods overseas for testing, it seems Europe is the most reliable to find infections from Australia .

I only just thought about this but maybe its closer to European lyme as it was europeans that settled australia.

 

[duncan]

Well, not counting Asians that crossed the Bearing Sea and became American Indians, it was Europeans who settled North America, but the two species typically associated with Europe (garinii and afzelii) are supposedly not found in Canada, the US or Mexico. At least, that is the official stance.

Bb stricto is found on both continents.

Not that I think it matters. I suspect each of those three species, as well as several others, are infecting people on a much wider scale than is being acknowledged.

 

[heapsreal]

Well, not counting Asians that crossed the Bearing Sea and became American Indians, it was Europeans who settled North America, but the two species typically associated with Europe (garinii and afzelii) are supposedly not found in Canada, the US or Mexico. At least, that is the official stance.

Bb stricto is found on both continents.

Not that I think it matters. I suspect each of those three species, as well as several others, are infecting people on a much wider scale than is being acknowledged.

I was thinking a combo of things like america being settled much earlier than australia and maybe some type of cross breeding between tics and different animals carrying the tics making the species different .

Just trying to think of why australians seem to get more positives from european labs than american labs.

 

[Hutan]

@angee111
Have you checked out rickettsial infections? Rickettsias are common in Australia, transmitted by ticks and other arthropods and can cause persistent infections that might possibly explain ME/CFS symptoms. Have a look at the Australian Rickettsia Reference Lab. It is mainstream and testing is bulk billed (free). They also test for some co-infections like Ehrlichia.
www.rickettsialab.org.au/

 

[5150]

Hi @angee111, yes, I'm in Australia and have been diagnosed with Lyme via Igenex testing. I'm not completely convinced that I have Lyme since my ELISA was "equivocal positive" and my Western Blot wasn't definitive (although I had a wide range of antibodies specific to Lyme disease). That being said, I believe that my ME/CFS is caused by some sort of bacterial infection, so this result helped convince my doctor to support my preferred treatment program.

Please search ileocecal valve. it may be pertinent.

 

[angee111]

Thank you everyone for your replies!

I think the best route for me to take would be to be tested for a broad range of bacteria antibodies, as although I do live in Australia I have been overseas multiple times.. and can specifically recall the worsening of my symptoms to one particular trip I took overseas. Before this, I cannot even remember having regular symptoms (though I remember having one off incidents of brain fog occasionally. Not sure if due to dietary sensitivity or something else.

Hi @angee111, yes, I'm in Australia and have been diagnosed with Lyme via Igenex testing. I'm not completely convinced that I have Lyme since my ELISA was "equivocal positive" and my Western Blot wasn't definitive (although I had a wide range of antibodies specific to Lyme disease). That being said, I believe that my ME/CFS is caused by some sort of bacterial infection, so this result helped convince my doctor to support my preferred treatment program.

@ArtVandelay , have you begun treatment for these potential infections?

@angee111
Have you checked out rickettsial infections? Rickettsias are common in Australia, transmitted by ticks and other arthropods and can cause persistent infections that might possibly explain ME/CFS symptoms. Have a look at the Australian Rickettsia Reference Lab. It is mainstream and testing is bulk billed (free). They also test for some co-infections like Ehrlichia.
www.rickettsialab.org.au/

@Hutan
No, I haven't! I even found a website that was relevant to the state I was in. Excellent that it is bulk billed! It is definitely something I will be looking into, if only for peace of mind.

 

[Art Vandelay]

@ArtVandelay , have you begun treatment for these potential infections?

Yep, I've tried a variety of treatments over the years with some success. I'm now making steady, slow improvement on the Marshall Protocol which has been effective for some people against Lyme and other bacterial infections (but not all people have found it beneficial: it's considered to be pretty controversial).

 

[GcMAF Australia]

It's something I have contemplated occasionally, as apparently people can be infected in Australia, regardless of whether they've been overseas or not. As many symptoms overlap, it's pretty hard to assess whether you have ME/CFS or lyme and co-infections. Many doctors here in Australia disregard the existence.. but there are also those who don't.

I've been considering being tested for lyme overseas using Western blot test and ELISA, though I've heard the tests can be inaccurate sometimes. Has anyone on this forum who is from Australia been tested or diagnosed for Lyme disease?

http://www.lymedisease.org.au

Just about all ME/CFS people have Lyme Disease

 

[GcMAF Australia]

Yep, I've tried a variety of treatments over the years with some success. I'm now making steady, slow improvement on the Marshall Protocol which has been effective for some people against Lyme and other bacterial infections (but not all people have found it beneficial: it's considered to be pretty controversial).

I am from Adelaide, now live in the Grampians
I am aware of the Marshall Protocol and I have communicated with him. The controversy maybe because it was not applied properly
To me the science adds up
I am a researcher and have written about this

 

[GcMAF Australia]

Try the LDAA website
ldaa australia
and some of the face book groups are good

 

[GcMAF Australia]

Im not sure if its true or not but i have heard that the European lyme resembles more closer to australian lyme. Apart of what i heard is that European testing is more likely to pick up lyme then american testing.

so if i was going to send bloods overseas for testing, it seems Europe is the most reliable to find infections from Australia .

I only just thought about this but maybe its closer to European lyme as it was europeans that settled australia.

The only tests that I can recommend are Australian Biologics, Armin Labs and Igenix
Some of the US labs may not be very good, I am not sure what test the Igenix uses, but the others have specific tests for Oz lyme

 

[GcMAF Australia]

I am looking into a major HBOT project in Australia
as well i am advocating a lot on various aspects