Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #bartonella

Most recents (15)

[CASE REPORT] Brain biopsy detects #Bartonella in brain lesions: A 28-year-old woman presented to the neurology department with progressive vision loss in both eyes over the prior four months (continued in comments). #Lyme #Lymedisease pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37153245/
1/5 She had a history of #lupus and had been on high-dose prednisone. A brain MRI showed numerous lesions in her cerebral and cerebellar hemispheres.
2/5 A brain biopsy was performed, and Bartonella henselae was discovered. Antibiotics were started, her vision improved, and the lesions resolved.
Read 6 tweets
🚨 Did you know common infections can cause severe mental illness that’s mostly overlooked by MDs?

@krisnewby wrote abt stunning case of healthy teen dx’d w schizophrenia after bug bites transmitted #Bartonella.

He was committed to psych ward...

nowthisnews.com/swamp-boy
He failed all major psych drugs & only got worse.

His dad had hunch that docs were missing something important & began reviewing literature.

He presented MDs w his findings of infection-mediated illness #PANS.

MDs wrongly dismissed him, insisted it was psychiatric.
Dad was right.

His research led him to the work of brilliant Dr Ed Breitschwerdt from @NCStateVetMed , 🌍 leading expert on bartonella, who I interviewed last week (will post link).

He contacted Dr B whose lab found bartonella in his blood.
Read 9 tweets
Joseph Burrascano, MD - Diagnostic Tools
#Lyme Clinical Presentation: nonspecific, viral-like symptoms that persist, & new ones appear. Then symptoms more focused on musculoskeletal, peripheral and central nervous systems, heart and skin. Muti-systemic & migratory. #ILADS2022 Image
2/Burrascano: Sorting out the co-infections #NotJustLyme #Bartonella #Babesia #Ehrlichia #Anaplasma #Mycoplasma #ILADS2022 ImageImageImageImage
3/Burrascano: Types of tests
SEROLOGIES are indirect, B-cell based tests:
B-cells create antibodies and serologies measure these antibodies #ILADS2022
Read 19 tweets
Robert Bransfield, MD: Thousands of peer-reviewed journal articles demonstrate the causal association between infections and #mentalillness 400+ peer reviewed scientific articles demonstrate the causal association between tick-borne disease and mental illness. #ILADS2022 #Lyme
2/Bransfield: Up to 40% of patients w/ #Lyme develop peripheral or central nervous system involvement. Psychiatric reactions include: #paranoia #dementia #schizophrenia #bipolar #panicattacks #depression #anorexianervosa, and #ODC #ILADS2022
3/Bransfield: Lyme is over represented in psychiatric patients. #ILADS2022
Read 15 tweets
Joseph Burrascano, Jr. MD: Ticks are "Nature’s Dirty Needle." In addition to #Lyme, ticks may be infected with #Babesia #Bartonella #Ehrlichia #Anaplasma #Chlamydia #Mycoplasma #WestNileVirus #Nematodes #candida and viruses. #ILADS2022
2/Burrascano: B. microti and B. duncani (also known as WA-1) are the predominant cause of Babesiosis in the United States #Babesiosis has been detected in all 50 states #ILADS2022
3/Burrascano: #Babesia odocoilei has been found in ticks across N America, but not human samples, perhaps due to defective primers. Immunoblot data shows significant % of Babesia species in human patients are not microti or duncani. Could be divergens and/or odocoilei? #ILADS2022
Read 8 tweets
Dempsey: Bartonella is a stealth multi-systemic infection transmitted by fleas, biting flies, body louse, mosquitoes and possibly ticks #ILADS2022 ImageImage
2/Dempsey: Objective findings of #Bartonella include fever, rash, swollen lymph nodes, uveitis #ILADS2022 Image
3/Dempsey: #Bartonella is multisystemic and can involve every organ. #ILADS2022 Image
Read 11 tweets
📣Important new #LongCovid study finds low cortisol & persistent infection (reservoir of Covid &/ or reactivated OTHER infections like EBV) may be driving symptoms.

Thank you, @PutrinoLab @VirusesImmunity @EricTopol for shining light on this global pandemic of chronic illness! Image
Please look for other stealth, chronic pathogens like #Lyme and #bartonella, which also seem to be reactivating in face of Covid and causing patients to relapse. Re-treating TBDs has brought relief to some LC pts!

Link to article: science.org/content/articl…
Important: Image
Read 6 tweets
I’m noticing many friends, colleagues, acquaintances developing strange, new symptoms yet not attributing them to Covid.

This is eerily reminiscent of my experience w #Lyme; migrating, hard-to-describe, bizarre symptoms that no one has answers for that you just pray will stop.
I feel strongly this needs to be addressed and that the medical world needs to consider not only persistent Covid, but other common reactivated infections other than EBV. The # of tick-borne disease pts who crashed after Covid but got better w retreated shld not be discounted.
I would have my docs look for common persistent pathogens like #Lyme, #bartonella, #EBV, #babesia, etc and treat empirically if symptoms are suggestive w/o + tests, since testing for most of these (not EBV) is terrible.
Read 4 tweets
My biggest lesson after almost losing my life to #Lyme ❤️ failure after 12 dogmatic NYC docs failed to recognize what was wrong, gaslighted me, & implied my serious symptoms were in my head…

NO ONE WILL DECIDE MY FATE.
I was bitten by a tick in my sleep in LBI, NJ, July 4th weekend 2014, there for friend’s wedding.

Came back to nyc, woke up w crushing head/ neck ache. Little did I know “summer flu” is usually #Lyme.

Few days later, was feeling a bit better but saw bite & rash on shoulder.
Walked to urgent care. They said it was #Lyme, told me not to google it 😑, & that with 3 weeks of doxycycline, I would be 💯 fine.

My gut feeling said something was very wrong. But I wanted to believe.

I followed up w an @IDSAInfo doc from NYU to be sure.
Read 32 tweets
Powassun is a potentially deadly virus found in an astonishing 92% of ticks in an area of PA. This virus killed Sen Kay Hagan, but severely damaged her brain first. It is transmitted in minutes (other tick borne diseases can be, too— the 24 “rule” is bogus.)

No bite is safe.
You don’t have to be camping or hiking to get a tick bite. Deer ticks are as small a poppy seeds. I was bitten IN MY SLEEP at a beach house in NJ, almost died from ❤️ failure from #Lyme & #Bartonella.

Do tick checks, treat shoes w permethrin, shower after high-risk activiites.
Tick borne diseases are also a pandemic, found ALL OVER the US and all continents other than Antarctica. They are just not fully recognized due to many of the same politics that also drive Covid, & they cause a staggering amt of chronic, autoimmune, psych / neuro illness.
Read 12 tweets
#idboardreview 50 M s/p heart transplant 5 yrs ago, has outdoor cats, presents w/ fever, thigh nodule, groin lymphadenopathy. diagnosis? #medEd #idmeded #idtwitter Image
#Bartonella henselae gram neg bacilli. Human infection is typically associated with cat and flea exposure, particularly young cats. Immunocompetent: typically localized, self-limited lymphadenitis near site of inoculum, cat scratch disease
#bartonella Immunosuppressed pts: risk for dissemination. Solid organ transplantation: increased frequency of cases in renal transplant recipients, followed by liver, then lung and heart transplant recipients
Read 7 tweets
#idboardreview 35 M PLWH CD4 10, VL >200k presents w/ fever and myalgias x 1mo. CT w/ hypodense lesions, biopsy with 'blood lake'. Warthin-Starry stain+ diagnosis? #idmedEd #medEd #IDtwitter ImageImage
hepatosplenic #bacillary #peliosis #bartonella #henselae “blood lake” due to vascular dilation mixed with focal bleeding, numerous bacilli on WS stain or immunostaining
#Peliosis #hepatis rare condition characterized by tumor-like liver lesions composed of multiple blood-filled cavities. Associated with cytotoxic drug, gamma-ray, bacterial or viral infection, immunodeficiency etc
Read 10 tweets
I deeply relate to this. After almost dying of ❤️ failure from #Lyme & being told by 11 “top” docs that in spite of my tick bite, bullseye, & classic symptoms, I could not poss still have it after a short course of doxy. Well, I did. 1/
And after the 12th doc saved my life (thx @StevePhillipsMD), I wrote my story in @HuffPost. I didn’t think anyone would care. But they did. The editor called & asked me to keep writing about this scandal as so many ppl were reading my story. 2/ huffpost.com/entry/how-11-t…
So I kept writing and began hearing from people all over the world, including a nurse from Ghana, who used my story to guide them back to health. I even interviewed celebrities who had gone through it like Daryl Hall. 3/ m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_11…
Read 16 tweets
Images of Infectious Diseases

This is the histopath and gram stain of culture of a lymph node biopsy of a person with tender purulent inguinal adenopathy.
Dr. @dwchallener
Dr. @ali_eberly
MCQ #MayoIDQ to follow Image
72M. Crohn’s. 2 pet dogs. 1 pet cat.
2 mo after L knee surgery —> tender L inguinal node with purulence. No F/C. No response to TMP-SMX.

Biopsy (see photo): Stellate suppurative granuloma with central necrosis and clumps of bacteria.

What is the most likely diagnosis?
1/
#Gram stain: a first step in bacterial identification —> two major groups:
1. Gram-positive: retains primary stain (crystal violet)
2. Gram-negative: does not retain crystal violet but counterstained by safranin/fuchsine —> red / pink

Named after Hans Christian Gram (photo) Image
Read 12 tweets
@jenbrea Hey! Yes several people spoke on that topic at the recent #ILADs conference I was at 👉 and remember this case history which found that a woman treated w/ antibiotics to target persistent #Bartonella had substantial improvement in EDS symptoms: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
@jenbrea 2/2 As for #mast cell activation in response to persistent #pathogens...there is extensive literature on how a range of bacterial, viral and fungal pathogens can drive #MCAS-like symptoms 👉 for example: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…
@jenbrea 3/3 There is even a receptor common in #connective tissue who’s activity controls mast cell activation in response to bacterial signaling molecules that drive #biofilm formation: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/31278…
Read 11 tweets

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