Forbes: "Lyme Deaths From Heart Inflammation Likely Worse Than We Thought"

[Antares in NYC]

Another business publication covering the Lyme epidemic, the skyrocketing numbers of reported infections, and the increasing cases of sudden death due to Lyme carditis. Judy Stone also points at the inadequate IDSA guidelines.

The more people are infected and desperate for a cure, the more this will become a major news item. Remember, it's not just those that are infected by Lyme that suffer, but their families and friends. I would argue society as a whole loses when scores of people become basically incapacitated. People know how messed up this journey is. And the problem is only getting worse with the raising numbers of reported cases nationwide.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/judysto...m=social&utm_channel=Business&linkId=16800617
Lyme Deaths From Heart Inflammation Likely Worse Than We Thought

Lyme disease and other tick-borne infections are skyrocketing. In western Pennsylvania, where I work, Lyme increased 25% just between 2013 and 2014, with Butler County having 412 cases and Allegheny County chalking up a record 822 cases last year. And where I vacation, in Maine, the rate of Lyme in 2014 was 240 cases per 100,000, which is more than 20 times the national average, and twice the rate of Butler. Across the country, the CDC now estimates there are ~329,000 cases of Lyme disease each year, tenfold higher than previously thought. Vermont and New Hampshire have the highest incidence.

I saw three patients myself while working one week in western Pennsylvania earlier this summer, none with a typical bull’s eye rash, making diagnosis more challenging, as I noted in “Ticked Off – What We Don’t Know About Lyme Disease.”

One puzzling middle-aged patient, “John,” had Lyme carditis (heart infection), and presented with heart block as well as need for a CABG (coronary artery bypass graft surgery). (Heart block is a type of abnormal heart rhythm sometimes associated with Lyme.) I was asked to see John only after surgery, unfortunately, as it would have been interesting to see if we could document Lyme in his heart tissue. His case raised more questions for me, as did what I then read about Lyme-associated heart disease.

For example, Lyme carditis is more often seen in young people, and early in the disease. John recalled a bite 4-5 years ago. Of course, perhaps that earlier bite wasn’t the one that made him ill.

How much heart involvement is there with Lyme? Based on cases submitted to the CDC, only 1.1% of patients had carditis. I suspect the real number is substantially higher, given that I’ve seen several patients with it and based on other reports in the literature, which often cite a 4-10% incidence of carditis.

One disconcerting case series was of three sudden cardiac deaths in young adults (ages 26-38), all of whom were organ donors, and who were found on pathology to have Lyme infections.
(...)

 

[msf]

I wonder if they still used the organs.