I don't see anywhere in the abstract of this study where they actually researched 'sexual transmission'. They researched the presence or absence of b burgdorferi in bodily fluids -- they did nothing to see if the bacteria was transferred to a fetus.
The abstract did not say that Lyme disease is sexually transmitted, it said it could be. That's very irresponsible when you aren't actually researching sexual transmission.
Viability does not equal infectivity or virulence and they did nothing to show this.
I think at this point in time, with evidence that shows it is not sexually transmitted, it is irresponsible to make a claim about sexual transmission especially when the study didn't even research sexual transmission.
So the study says research
suggests that Lyme disease(not proves) that Lyme disease can be sexually transmitted. I would interpret the word suggests as, not an absolute ,I don't want that to be true, My father was infected with Lyme disease, Not my mother, she got sick after having three children that were symptomatic since birth. That is not a double blind study, but ,When a baby is born with Lyme disease, it came from either the mother or the father.
The study douse talk about mothers and fathers being infected with the same strain,(many Lyme Doctors see this every day) and takes a very detailed look at how long the bacteria lives in bodily fluid, It would stand up in Biology that a corkscrew bacteria that can drive its self into nerves, bones,tendons and into or through the BB Barrier, placental barrier and get into any part of the body including the brain,could very realistically pass into another human, especially in a sexual circumstance,from man to woman,or vice versa.
The word Tropisms in medicine referring to pathogens that want to do damage to certain parts of the body ,like Hep-c -liver or syphilis entire body ,but causes genital outbreaks.
Lyme, a close cousin isn't so obvious, in any aspect of the human infection as Treponema. Lyme goes to the Brain and causes some types of Alzheimer's (Alan Mac Donald 101). It also can cause damage to every system of the body.
Treponema causes general paresis (a carbon copy of Alzheimer's).
It is not a stretch, in any sense ,that it could be passed on the same way.
Human experience, has a place in medicine, and double blind ,controlled studies can be engineered to get the outcome
they are interested in defending. A good example of that is Embers vs Klempner.
The IDSA and the CDC have done a great propaganda campaign. They have the majority of the medical field (sometimes arrogantly believing their information ,even though it has been proven to be false.
Lyme is not instantly chronic and obvious ,like Treponema. So doctors aren't looking for it.
The two tier testing is a joke. and doctors are pre programmed to brush it off. The CDC numbers are all over the place,and in the Western Blot some of the numbers are very specific and don't cross react, but you still need 5 bands positive and a pos Elisa to be acknowledged as being positive by standard testing,
Soo!!! My opinion based on truth and the bigger picture, Its not far fetched to say many things are possible with this disease.