The ‘Swiss Agent’: Long-forgotten research unearths new mystery about Lyme disease

[Kyla]

https://www.statnews.com/2016/10/12/swiss-agent-lyme-disease-mystery/

excerpt:

SPECIAL REPORT
The ‘Swiss Agent’: Long-forgotten research unearths new mystery about Lyme disease
By CHARLES PILLER @cpiller

OCTOBER 12, 2016

he tick hunter was hopeful he had found the cause of the disabling illness, recently named Lyme disease, that was spreading anxiety through leafy communities east of New York City. At a government lab in Montana, Willy Burgdorfer typed a letter to a colleague, reporting that blood from Lyme patients showed “very strong reactions” on a test for an obscure, tick-borne bacterium. He called it the “Swiss Agent.”

But further studies raised doubts about whether he had the right culprit, and 18 months later, in 1981, Burgdorfer instead pinned Lyme on another microbe. The Swiss Agent test results were forgotten.

Now STAT has obtained those documents, including some discovered in boxes of Burgdorfer’s personal papers found in his garage after his death in 2014. The papers — including letters to collaborators, lab records, and blood test results — indicate that the Swiss Agent was infecting people in Connecticut and Long Island in the late 1970s.

And scientists who worked with Burgdorfer, and reviewed key portions of the documents at STAT’s request, said the bacteria might still be sickening an unknown number of Americans today.

While the evidence is hardly conclusive, patients and doctors might be mistaking under-the-radar Swiss Agent infections for Lyme, the infectious disease specialists said. Or the bacteria could be co-infecting some Lyme patients, exacerbating symptoms and complicating their treatment — and even stoking a bitter debate about whether Lyme often becomes a persistent and serious illness...

 

[Undisclosed]

Very interesting article.

 

[Seven7]

Swiss Agent, now called Rickettsia helvetica,

 

[Sushi]

Swiss Agent, now called Rickettsia helvetica,

Interesting. There are also other strains of Rickettsia found in other countries (I remember one was found in South Africa). I was tested for the one above and was negative (I have been bitten by ticks) but I also lived in South Africa. More to learn!

 

[Undisclosed]

For me it explains a lot. This stuff needs to be taken seriously especially for those testing negative for Lyme. Co-infections might be the answer for many. No stone should remain unturned.