‘Lyme disease’: ancient engine of an unrecognized borreliosis pandemic?

Harvey, William T.; Salvato, Patricia

doi:10.1016/s0306-9877(03)00060-4

Cited by 37 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 164 publications

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“…Next to Leitao, the most important protagonist of the Morgellons story is William T. Harvey, the present "chairman" of the MRF. Apart from his recent papers on Morgellons, it is interesting to see that all of his earlier publications-before the name Morgellons was coined in 2002-deal with neuropsychiatric symptoms in himself which he considered to be "emerging illnesses" or "an unrecognized borreliosis pandemic" in connection with Lyme disease and Candida tropica (127,129). Previously, Harvey had also founded an organization called the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (www.ilads.org) (129) and described his self-treatment with ultrahigh doses of antibiotics to free himself from bacteria.…”

Section: The Morgellons Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delusional Infestation

Freudenmann

Lepping²

2009

Clin Microbiol Rev

230

367

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SUMMARY This papers aims at familiarizing psychiatric and nonpsychiatric readers with delusional infestation (DI), also known as delusional parasitosis. It is characterized by the fixed belief of being infested with pathogens against all medical evidence. DI is no single disorder but can occur as a delusional disorder of the somatic type (primary DI) or secondary to numerous other conditions. A set of minimal diagnostic criteria and a classification are provided. Patients with DI pose a truly interdisciplinary problem to the medical system. They avoid psychiatrists and consult dermatologists, microbiologists, or general practitioners but often lose faith in professional medicine. Epidemiology and history suggest that the imaginary pathogens change constantly, while the delusional theme “infestation” is stable and ubiquitous. Patients with self-diagnosed “Morgellons disease” can be seen as a variation of this delusional theme. For clinicians, clinical pathways for efficient diagnostics and etiology-specific treatment are provided. Specialized outpatient clinics in dermatology with a liaison psychiatrist are theoretically best placed to provide care. The most intricate problem is to engage patients in psychiatric therapy. In primary DI, antipsychotics are the treatment of choice, according to limited but sufficient evidence. Pimozide is no longer the treatment of choice for reasons of drug safety. Future research should focus on pathophysiology and the neural basis of DI, as well as on conclusive clinical trials, which are widely lacking. Innovative approaches will be needed, since otherwise patients are unlikely to adhere to any study protocol.

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Section: The Morgellons Phenomenonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delusional Infestation

Freudenmann

Lepping²

2009

Clin Microbiol Rev

230

367

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“…A corollary to this nightmare is the growing recognition of possible spread of the Lyme disease spirochete by a variety of tick species, including the American dog tick and Pacifi c coast tick [23] . Furthermore, studies in mice have demonstrated direct transmission of B. burgdorferi without a tick vector [24,25] , and recent epidemiologic and immunologic evidence suggests that transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete may occur by direct human contact [26,27] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since most patients in these studies have an EM rash, the incidence of the rash becomes infl ated in the medical literature. The literature then perpetuates the myth that the vast majority of Lyme disease patients have an EM rash [4,26] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lyme Disease: The Quest for Magic Bullets

Stricker

Lautin²,

Burrascano³

2006

Chemotherapy

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Lyme disease represents a growing public health threat. Recent molecular and genetic studies have confirmed that Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochetal agent of Lyme disease, is one of the most complex bacteria known to man. Affinity for multiple cell types and the presence of non-replicating forms of B. burgdorferi have contributed to persistent infection and failure of simple antibiotic regimens. The controversial clinical science of Lyme disease has impeded reliable diagnosis and effective treatment of this protean illness. Two major clinical hurdles are the absence of a therapeutic endpoint in treatingLyme disease and the presence of tick-borne coinfections that may complicate the course of the illness. New strategies for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of Lyme disease are urgently needed.

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“…In 2003, Harvey and Salvato studied a group of chronically ill B. burgdorferi-seropositive and PCRpositive patients in Houston, Texas -a non-endemic areaand provided epidemiological evidence that Lyme disease could spread in the absence of infected ticks. In this scenario, intimate person-to-person transfer was implicated as the probable means of transmission [24]. A study by Stricker et al provided clinical and immunological evidence for B. burgdorferi transmission via intimate contact.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%