Question: What benefit is it to patients to test for multiple genospecies of borrelia? Dr. Knox: While B burgdorferi is the dominant borrelia species found in US patients, infections with other genospecies of borrelia have been seen (B. afzelii, B. garinii) and other strains of the bacteria have been identified in ticks in the US (B. miyamotoi). Standard FDA approved Lyme testing will not detect these infections and patients will remain undiagnosed and untreated. We recently had a case where…
A 57-year-old woman from Minnesota was admitted to the hospital after having a fever of 102 degrees for four days. Her family said she hadn’t been feeling well for a week. In addition to the fever, she presented with fatigue, confusion, and difficulty walking and speaking.