Abstract:Background
Ixodes scapularis ticks can carry Borrelia species as well as other pathogens that cause human disease. The frequency of tick-borne infections and co-infections in children with suspected Lyme disease is unknown, creating clinical uncertainty about the optimal approach to diagnosis.
Methods
We enrolled children aged 1 to 21 years presenting to one of eight Pedi Lyme Net emergency departments for evaluation of Lyme … Show more
“…Therefore, clinicians may select doxycycline to cover Borrelia as well as other bacterial coinfections. Using a multiplex highdefinition polymerase chain reaction assay (HDPCR), we previously found that only a minority of children with Lyme disease had a tick-borne coinfection, suggesting that the primary reason doxycycline was prescribed was for Lyme disease treatment (Nigrovic et al, 2023b). The optimal approach to the diagnosis and treatment of children with potential tick-borne co-infections requires further study.…”
BackgroundThe 2018 Infectious Disease Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that up to 3 weeks or less of doxycycline is safe in children of all ages. Our goal was to examine trends in doxycycline treatment for children with Lyme disease.MethodsWe assembled a prospective cohort of children aged 1 to 21 years with Lyme disease who presented to one of eight participating Pedi Lyme Net centers between 2015 and 2023. We defined a Lyme disease case with an erythema migrans (EM) lesion or positive two-tier Lyme disease serology categorized by stage: early-localized (single EM lesion), early-disseminated (multiple EM lesions, cranial neuropathy, meningitis, and carditis), and late (arthritis). We compared doxycycline treatment by age and disease stage and used logistic regression to examine treatment trends.ResultsOf the 1,154 children with Lyme disease, 94 (8.1%) had early-localized, 449 (38.9%) had early-disseminated, and 611 (53.0%) had late disease. Doxycycline treatment was more common for older children (83.3% ≥ 8 years vs. 47.1% < 8 years; p < 0.001) and with early-disseminated disease (77.2% early-disseminated vs. 52.1% early-localized or 62.1% late; p < 0.001). For children under 8 years, doxycycline use increased over the study period (6.9% 2015 to 67.9% 2023; odds ratio by year, 1.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.34–1.58).ConclusionYoung children with Lyme disease are frequently treated with doxycycline. Prospective studies are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of doxycycline in children younger than 8 years, especially for those receiving courses longer than 3 weeks.
“…Therefore, clinicians may select doxycycline to cover Borrelia as well as other bacterial coinfections. Using a multiplex highdefinition polymerase chain reaction assay (HDPCR), we previously found that only a minority of children with Lyme disease had a tick-borne coinfection, suggesting that the primary reason doxycycline was prescribed was for Lyme disease treatment (Nigrovic et al, 2023b). The optimal approach to the diagnosis and treatment of children with potential tick-borne co-infections requires further study.…”
BackgroundThe 2018 Infectious Disease Committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics stated that up to 3 weeks or less of doxycycline is safe in children of all ages. Our goal was to examine trends in doxycycline treatment for children with Lyme disease.MethodsWe assembled a prospective cohort of children aged 1 to 21 years with Lyme disease who presented to one of eight participating Pedi Lyme Net centers between 2015 and 2023. We defined a Lyme disease case with an erythema migrans (EM) lesion or positive two-tier Lyme disease serology categorized by stage: early-localized (single EM lesion), early-disseminated (multiple EM lesions, cranial neuropathy, meningitis, and carditis), and late (arthritis). We compared doxycycline treatment by age and disease stage and used logistic regression to examine treatment trends.ResultsOf the 1,154 children with Lyme disease, 94 (8.1%) had early-localized, 449 (38.9%) had early-disseminated, and 611 (53.0%) had late disease. Doxycycline treatment was more common for older children (83.3% ≥ 8 years vs. 47.1% < 8 years; p < 0.001) and with early-disseminated disease (77.2% early-disseminated vs. 52.1% early-localized or 62.1% late; p < 0.001). For children under 8 years, doxycycline use increased over the study period (6.9% 2015 to 67.9% 2023; odds ratio by year, 1.45; 95% confidence interval, 1.34–1.58).ConclusionYoung children with Lyme disease are frequently treated with doxycycline. Prospective studies are needed to confirm the safety and efficacy of doxycycline in children younger than 8 years, especially for those receiving courses longer than 3 weeks.
“…Another limitation of PCR is that most assays test for only a single agent, thus preventing the detection of co-infections. To overcome this shortcoming, multiplex PCR assays have been developed that can test for several tick-borne pathogens in a single assay [166][167][168][169]. This approach simplifies TBD testing and has even led to the discovery of novel tick-borne pathogens [38,62,170].…”
Co-infections are a poorly understood aspect of tick-borne diseases. In the United States alone, nineteen different tick-borne pathogens have been identified. The majority of these agents are transmitted by only two tick species, Ixodes scapularis and Amblyomma americanum. Surveillance studies have demonstrated the presence of multiple pathogens in individual ticks suggesting a risk of polymicrobial transmission to humans. However, relatively few studies have explored this relationship and its impact on human disease. One of the key factors for this deficiency are the intrinsic limitations associated with molecular and serologic assays employed for the diagnosis of tick-borne diseases. Limitations in the sensitivity, specificity and most importantly, the capacity for inclusion of multiple agents within a single assay represent the primary challenges for the accurate detection of polymicrobial tick-borne infections. This review will focus on outlining these limitations and discuss potential solutions for the enhanced diagnosis of tick-borne co-infections.
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