New study shows Rickettsiosis/Ehrlichiosis misdiagnosed as mild Rocky Mountain spotted fever

Another example of how poorly understood the tick-borne transmitted diseases are:

"The study probes a major mystery of the tick world: Why did reports of Rocky Mountain spotted fever jump from 1.7 to 14.3 cases per million between 2000 and 2012, even as the death rate dropped from as high as 10 percent of infections to less than 1 percent?
...
Dahlgren said that many diagnoses of Rocky Mountain spotted fever today are mostly caused by Rickettsia ambylommii, a closely related bacteria that is commonly carried by Lone star ticks that causes a milder form of the illness.
...
(Lone star ticks can also carry ehrlichiosis, Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness, and tularemia, which generally can cause fevers or muscle aches. However, Lone star ticks do not carry Lyme disease, which is transmitted by the commonly known blacklegged tick or deer tick.)
"

Press release: bit.ly/1Xx0A5g

Post Edited (mpostelnicu) : 10/27/2015 11:31:29 AM (GMT-6)

Traveler said...
Or is it that those diseases are finally being diagnosed? Just as with Lyme, if the doctors won't diagnose it, it won't be reported. It's possible that the increase in RMSF cases is due to an increased awareness, and the researchers on this study could easily have been biased - but since the names aren't being listed there's no way to know.

Yes, i think this is the original abstract www.ajtmh.org/content/93/4/875.abstract

Traveler said...

And, for those that wish to see this report, you will have to copy and paste this into your browser window, as the site is preventing us from linking to it.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/bc-nsu102315.php

Yes, thanks. I also fixed the URL in the original post.

Posted previously, but bears repeating. 52 strains, eh? And how many strains of LD & other "co-infections" that are ignored, & how many "approved" specific test bands allowed for acceptance by docs/hospitals/insurance (am I on a rant yet?).

Here's where the powers that be do not follow their own scriptures:

"Rickettsial infections pose difficult diagnostic challenges to both clinicians and laboratorians. Rapid confirmatory assays are not commonly available to guide treatment decisions of acutely ill patients. However, confirmatory assays provide the physician with vital information that retrospectively validates the accuracy of the CLINICAL diagnosis....Therefore, treatment decisions should be based on EPIDEMIOLOGIC and CLINICAL CLUES and should never be delayed while waiting for laboratory confirmation of a diagnosis. Similarly, test results should be interpreted in the context of the patient's illness and the epidemiologic setting."
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/rr5504a1.htm

Interesting that the stats show increase, but apparently the governing powers that decide whether or not a patient is treated & whether or not insurance pays for it, has decided that despite all the carriers (fleas, ticks, mites, mozzies, bears, mice, deer, etc, etc) -it poof--just magically disappears?:
http://www.cdc.gov/rmsf/stats/

From the CDC's own pages, is listed Tickborne Relapsing Fever 1990-2011: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6403a3.htm

Did "tickborne relapsing fever" just magically go away in 2011?

CDC also has a page of TBRF, tickborne relapsing fever in AZ 2014:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6423a6.htm?s_cid=mm6423a6_e

Did this 2014 TBRF also just magically go away?

From the CDC pages: "...although TBRF is usually a mild illness, severe sequelae and death can occur..." (Hmmm...Mild, yet deathly, too?!)

If TBRF is "usually a mild illness" then why are you warning a risk for pregnant women?:

"The risk for transplacental transmission has been documented and pregnant women might be more susceptible to severe complications such as spontaneous abortion, preterm delivery, and perinatal mortality..." (Mild, yet deathly, too?)

So now that I have more time () Here is the breakdown that I found a few years ago, so we have to assume the numbers are higher now:

Lyme:
8 different species
300 different strains world wide
100 different strains in the US alone.

Babesia:
Over 100 different species in the US alone.

Bartonella:
20 different strains in the US alone
26 different strains worldwide

Ehrlichia:
4 different species

Spotted Fever Group of Rickettsia:
52 different strains

And that's just what I found!

Another link below from NY TIMES, October 31, 2015:

"Relapsing fever is an infection caused by several species of bacteria in the Borrelia family.
There are two major forms of relapsing fever:
Tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) is transmitted by the Ornithodoros tick and occurs in Africa, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Asia, and certain areas in the western United States and Canada. The bacteria species associated with TBRF are Borrelia duttoni , Borrelia hermsii , and Borrelia parkerii .
Louse-borne relapsing fever (LBRF) is transmitted by body lice and is most common in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. The bacteria species associated with LBRF is Borrelia recurrentis..."

http://www.nytimes.com/health/guides/disease/relapsing-fever/overview.html