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Co infections...what to test??

JBB

Senior Member
Messages
188
Hey all,

So I got my kit from Infectolab for co infections to Lyme.

I am a little confused, I thought there were only a handful of main co infections (5 listed on Infectolab site) worth checking for but the test form has some others: CMV, HSV, EBV, Yersinia, Mycoplasma
Are these co infections to Lyme or just other tests they offer?

Any help much appreciated. I am working on my own at the moment and don't have an LLMD at the moment.


Many thanks,

JBB
 
Messages
15,786
CMV, HSV, and EBV are Herpes viruses, thus not Lyme co-infections. Yersinia also isn't a Lyme co-infection. I'm not sure about Mycoplasma, but I think that's a person-to-person one, not a tick-borne disase.
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Mycoplasma is a co infection, however it can also be transferred by other means. I read something about broccoli and eggs as possible sources as well. Given only if they are not thoroughly cooked and washed before eating.
 
Messages
15,786
Yersinia is not Lyme (it is related to the plague), but ticks carry it and I and others have tested positive for it.
Are you sure ticks carry it? Everything I can see says that it enters via the GI tract. The "plague" version shouldn't really be a concern, as the symptoms of that are rather severe, acute, and distinct.
 
Messages
15,786
Oh! lol nevermind, Yeah I never heard of that as a co infection. The only correlation I could see is a lyme patient becoming more at risk for infection with it due to comprimised immune system.
Yeah, it's one I've had, and I can pinpoint the date pretty well due to very memorable symptoms :rolleyes: I got it once about 14 years after acquiring Lyme.
 

JBB

Senior Member
Messages
188
Mycoplasma is a co infection, however it can also be transferred by other means. I read something about broccoli and eggs as possible sources as well. Given only if they are not thoroughly cooked and washed before eating.

Yikes, I will be cooking my eggs and broccoli for double time from now on!

Hmmm, maybe I should just tick every box on the test order form...that should do it. I do wander though if about 50% of us have mycoplasma how much point there is in testing for it with an imperfect test. I also wander what the treatment implications are. I mean surely there must be many many co infections that we don't even know about. I definitely need an LLMD. Don't some LLMD's diagnose co infections based on symptoms? Thanks for all your helpful comments :).

Best wishes,

JBB
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Yikes, I will be cooking my eggs and broccoli for double time from now on!

Hmmm, maybe I should just tick every box on the test order form...that should do it. I do wander though if about 50% of us have mycoplasma how much point there is in testing for it with an imperfect test. I also wander what the treatment implications are. I mean surely there must be many many co infections that we don't even know about. I definitely need an LLMD. Don't some LLMD's diagnose co infections based on symptoms? Thanks for all your helpful comments :).

Best wishes,

JBB

Yes they can base on clinical presentation, however co infections like mycoplasma are not as tricky to catch as the borrelia. To be honest the biggest issue is the fact it tests antibodies, this can often come back with no results because the immune system is so over taken and doesn't produce it until later in treatment. It is still worthwhile to get the test done though and for the most part it has a good rate for catching things, same with lyme, at least for some activity with most people. Generally a lot of the treatments function equally well for multiple co infections too.
 

JBB

Senior Member
Messages
188
Generally a lot of the treatments function equally well for multiple co infections too.

If this is the case then is it really worth me bothering to have every co infection offered by Infectolabs done?

JBB
 

xrunner

Senior Member
Messages
843
Location
Surrey
If this is the case then is it really worth me bothering to have every co infection offered by Infectolabs done?
JBB
It may be worth because some require specific treatment and also because I know of people where (perhaps depending on immunosuppression) some co-infection did show up in initial testing whilst Borrelia only later after treatment was under way.
Dr Burrascano writes about co-infections in his guidelines http://www.ilads.org/lyme/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf
I noticed Rick. is not mentioned but it's quite frequent at least in Europe. CPn is technically not a Lyme co-infection but it can be there already as the DNA viruses. Best wishes.
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Yeap everything xrunner posted is worth checking out, it is still worth it. Although treatment cross treats multiple infections, there are some more direct means toward specific pathogens. It doesn't mean it won't be treatable without such means but it would be much quicker and more efficient to know at least an idea of your entire infection load.
 

JBB

Senior Member
Messages
188
Right. Thanks @Martial and @xrunner . I'm gonna check out Burrascano's stuff you linked when I'm feeling well enough. Looks really comprehensive at a glance.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
Are you sure ticks carry it? Everything I can see says that it enters via the GI tract. The "plague" version shouldn't really be a concern, as the symptoms of that are rather severe, acute, and distinct.

Guess I was pinning a gratuitous guilt on ticks :p--I live in a plague belt and anything "yersinia-ish scares hell out of people. The following is about the "plague" type of Yersinia--seems like ticks carry it but don't transmit it:
Abstract
Ticks of the genus Ornithodors feed on many rodent species with known roles in maintaining and amplifying plague (Yersinia pestis) in nature. Five species of ticks in this genus are shown to acquire the plague bacillus by feeding on infected hosts. Most notably, 80% of O. hermsi Wheeler, Herms and Meyer harbored Y. pestis 1 mo after an infectious blood meal. Subsequent transmission by infected ticks was not demonstrated. However, 1 yr after the infectious feeding, Y. pestis DNA was detected using a hybridization probe on tick triturates that were amplified by in vitro cultivation. Y. pestis can remain reproductively viable for at least 1 yr in about 2% of ticks fed on infected hosts.
 

Butydoc

Senior Member
Messages
790
Guess I was pinning a gratuitous guilt on ticks :p--I live in a plague belt and anything "yersinia-ish scares hell out of people. The following is about the "plague" type of Yersinia--seems like ticks carry it but don't transmit it:
Hi Sushi,

The plague was caused by a bacterium Yersenia Pestis, which was transmitted by fleas from infected rats.

Best,
Gary
 

Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
Guess I was pinning a gratuitous guilt on ticks :p--I live in a plague belt and anything "yersinia-ish scares hell out of people. The following is about the "plague" type of Yersinia--seems like ticks carry it but don't transmit it:

I don't really hear about people catching bubonic plague in this day and age.