Tularemia

[yabeeb]

Hi guys

Got my test results from KDM and was wondering if anyone else has tested positive for Tularemia and what the implications are as a co-infection of Lyme?

Anyone know anything about it? Is it difficult to get rid of if its chronic?

Thanks

 

[Alea Ishikawa]

Good on KDM for testing for it. Untreated persons have a 5-7% fatality rate. Tularemia is potentially treated with doxy or a Byron White formula, etc. I'd avoid Cipro or any "flox" drugs.

Some information from: Wiki, Wiki on francisella tularensis, the CDC, and Purdue University (Be careful of the "moving background" on Purdue's site when you scroll down the page, if you have sensory overloads).

You may be able to find additional info and support over on Lymenet.

 

[IreneF]

Hi guys

Got my test results from KDM and was wondering if anyone else has tested positive for Tularemia and what the implications are as a co-infection of Lyme?

Anyone know anything about it? Is it difficult to get rid of if its chronic?

Thanks

Personally, I'd get a second test to verify the diagnosis, because a case of tularemia is definitely something you would notice, and the usual test is prone to false positives due to cross-reactions with a different pathogen. AFAIK it is an acute infection and does not become chronic.

 

[yabeeb]

Cool thanks guys

 

[justy]

My test for Tularemia just came back with a weak positive today. I see on Wikipedia it says it cross reacts with Brucella - so is that more likely? (I think I have some of the symptoms).

I didn't think it was possible to get Tul;aremia in the UK. does anyone know anything about it?

 

[IreneF]

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia
It's rather rare.
The tests are probably not very accurate, so unless you skin hares or something similar, you are not in any danger. You would be very sick.

 

[yabeeb]

Hey @justy

I got the impression KDM doesn't think this is a big deal or difficult to treat so I'm not that worried about it. I heard conflicting stuff and that you can actually get it in UK.

 

[justy]

I wonder why he tests for it then??

The UK govt says there is no Tularemia in the UK. As a child I ate rabbit at my grans and have worked as a gardener in a rabbit endemic area (you can catch it easily this way). It is also carried by ticks and by biting flies - I was bitten by a nasty fly 7 years ago right before my serious relapse.

As to how sick you would be, it is listed s a lyme co infection - I have had at least a couple of really nasty illnesses in my past, including pneumonia that didn't resolve for nearly a year.

 

[IreneF]

I wonder why he tests for it then??

The UK govt says there is no Tularemia in the UK. As a child I ate rabbit at my grans and have worked as a gardener in a rabbit endemic area (you can catch it easily this way). It is also carried by ticks and by biting flies - I was bitten by a nasty fly 7 years ago right before my serious relapse.

As to how sick you would be, it is listed s a lyme co infection - I have had at least a couple of really nasty illnesses in my past, including pneumonia that didn't resolve for nearly a year.

Maybe it's part of a group of tests that performed all together?

I once got a positivetest to hepatitis C. I don't have hepatitis C.

 

[yabeeb]

I think he likes to know what co-infections exist. For me he said that the fact I tested positive for tularaemia was more evidence that I have Lyme

 

[justy]

@yabeeb this may be the case for me as my Lyme test is negative but I have co infections.

 

[IreneF]

I think he likes to know what co-infections exist. For me he said that the fact I tested positive for tularaemia was more evidence that I have Lyme

I don't understood.

 

[justy]

I don't understood.

Hi Irene - Tularemia is transmitted by ticks. Often testing for Lyme disease is unreliable - so many people may not show positive on testing but do indeed have Lyme. Multiple chronic co infections (infections you get from the tick along with Lyme) point more strongly to the fact that you were bitten by a tick or perhaps mosquito etc and therefore DO have Lyme disease.

I have tested positive for Bartonella, Chlamydia pneumonia and now Tularemia - the chances I got all these (apart from the cpn) when being bitten by a tick are high, therefore I probably do also have Lyme - hope this makes sense?

 

[IreneF]

Hi Irene - Tularemia is transmitted by ticks. Often testing for Lyme disease is unreliable - so many people may not show positive on testing but do indeed have Lyme. Multiple chronic co infections (infections you get from the tick along with Lyme) point more strongly to the fact that you were bitten by a tick or perhaps mosquito etc and therefore DO have Lyme disease.

I have tested positive for Bartonella, Chlamydia pneumonia and now Tularemia - the chances I got all these (apart from the cpn) when being bitten by a tick are high, therefore I probably do also have Lyme - hope this makes sense?

I can't say it makes sense to me. You'dhave to make some assumptions about the prevalence of all these diseases.

My daughter is studying Lyme disease ecology. I'll ask her. She works with ticks, although I don't know if she tests them for anything more than Borrelia.

 

[justy]

@IreneF - could you please explain to me in what way it doesn't make any sense to you? Is it my explanation you don't understand or you don't think what I said is true?

 

[Valentijn]

@IreneF - could you please explain to me in what way it doesn't make any sense to you? Is it my explanation you don't understand or you don't think what I said is true?

It's very much possible that ticks carrying other diseases would not be carrying Lyme. What they are carrying depends entirely on what they've been exposed to and fed on in the past. Hence someone could certainly have Lyme co-infections without actually having Lyme.

But having a co-infection does indicate that someone was bitten by a tick, and long enough for it to transmit an infection. And that raises the risk that the bitten person was exposed to other infections as well, including Lyme.

 

[IreneF]

It's very much possible that ticks carrying other diseases would not be carrying Lyme. What they are carrying depends entirely on what they've been exposed to and fed on in the past. Hence someone could certainly have Lyme co-infections without actually having Lyme.

But having a co-infection does indicate that someone was bitten by a tick, and long enough for it to transmit an infection. And that raises the risk that the bitten person was exposed to other infections as well, including Lyme.

My daughter, a grad student in disease ecology who is studying Lyme, says essentially the same thing. Having a tick-borne infection means you were bitten by a tick. It doesn't mean you were bitten by a Lyme-carrying tick, or that the tick hung on for long enough to transmit spirochetes.

 

[msf]

Sorry Irene, but saying that we would have to know the incidence in the general population seems like a very weak argument to me - do you really think that it will be high? I have heard people make the same point about Lyme. If your daughter is studying Lyme then she will know that humans are a dead end for Lyme, and therefore it is highly unlikely that there will be a high incidence of it in the human population.

 

[IreneF]

Sorry Irene, but saying that we would have to know the incidence in the general population seems like a very weak argument to me - do you really think that it will be high? I have heard people make the same point about Lyme. If your daughter is studying Lyme then she will know that humans are a dead end for Lyme, and therefore it is highly unlikely that there will be a high incidence of it in the human population.

Where did I say that?

 

[msf]

Here: 'I can't say it makes sense to me. You'dhave to make some assumptions about the prevalence of all these diseases.'

Also, you might be interested to know that there are two kinds of Tularemia, one (Type A) that is very virulent, as you said, and the other (Type B), which is less so.