Gender differences in Lyme

[msf]

I'm not sure if someone has posted this already, but it definitely looks like another piece of the puzzle: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16771857

 

[duncan]

A 2006 study. I never would have guessed those findings. Good find, msf.

 

[Helen]

For what it is worth, some of the researchers are among the most experienced of Lyme infections in Sweden. Unfortunately it is a huge gap between research results and how GP´s and even all kinds of specialists handle a possible infection when erythema migrans isn´t present (which is always considered as an ongoing infection). Thanks @msf.

 

[duncan]

I always thought Lyme was indifferent to gender. I assumed it was a differentiator between Lyme and ME/CFS, but perhaps that's not correct, at least to a certain degree.

I want to say they ruled out new infections, but I'm not sure. Are these re-activations of latent Bb, or new infections? I think it's pretty clear they are re-activations. So 5% of treated population retained Bb that later gets activated, and 90% of those are female? You have to assume more of the population carries latent Bb than just those 5%, of course.

Cool study that raises all sorts of questions.

 

[msf]

The only evidence they give that they were reinfections were that the patients had new E.M.s. I know patients can still have this after being infected with Yersinia for several years, but I don't know about Lyme.