Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Follow the Research Trail

Strain-specific Lyme disease immunity lasts for years 

(Read article here)

Date:
April 2, 2014
Source:
University of Pennsylvania
Summary:
Lyme disease, if not treated promptly with antibiotics, can become a lingering problem for those infected. But a new study led by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania has some brighter news: Once infected with a particular strain of the disease-causing bacteria, humans appear to develop immunity against that strain that can last six to nine years.




"At least 16 different strains of the Lyme disease bacterium have been shown to infect humans in the United States" 

I have seen this sort of stats used all over the place but have not seen a source. 

Was it the CDC that said that? Why then are we only being tested for one strain?

Titer tests would then show a positive result of exposure and therefore could be confused with an active infection, this also makes the Elisa test even more unreliable. 
Somehow these reports are not comforting to me, they only raise more questions.

Now HERE'S why this study was done in the first place and also keep in mind that depending on what the sponsor is looking for, the outcome usually favors what that sponsor is looking for.

"The fact that the strain-specific immunity is lasting has implications for vaccine design. If you could make a vaccine that covers several of these strains," Brisson said, "you could substantially reduce the probability of infection in vaccinated people. The vaccine could last several years, perhaps requiring a booster once every several years."

Pffft!! All of that research money being spent on their "easily treated" and "hard to catch" disease. 

I decided to see who helped sponsor the study/research and found it had 2 sources of funding, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and The Burroughs Wellcome Fund.  Unlikely NIH has an agenda so I looked into the other one.

Here's the Burroughs websites "About" section:

http://www.bwfund.org/about

"In 1993, a generous gift from the Wellcome Trust in the United Kingdom, enabled BWF to become fully independent from the company, which was acquired by Glaxo in 1995. BWF has no affiliation with any corporation."

Glaxo is NOT a corporation? I didn't know...........

THEN we looked at the Glaxo websites "About" section 
http://www.gsk.com/about-us.html

"An overview of what GSK does worldwide including information on our three main business areas: Pharmaceuticals, Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare"

Remember above when the Burroughs Wellcome Fund stated they aren't affiliated with any corporation? Glaxo merged with BWF right?
Here's the link to read up on the Glaxo Corporation 

Corporate Executive Team | About us | GlaxoSmithKlinewww.gsk.com
"Information on what we can offer you as an alliance partner, from business development and contract services, to academic collaborations and investment."

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Faces of Lyme - The Mayday Project





Change happens this year, be a part of that change. Come and join us May 22nd and 23rd as we swarm and protest the IDSA. Don't be on the fence, come out and fight for your life. We need you and your help!

Friday, April 11, 2014

Tick Biology and Diseases (playlist)

Adding daily to this new playlist, Check it out and Subscribe today.

Tick Biology and Diseases (playlist)

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Our YouTube Channel

  Busy streamlining our YouTube Channel and getting new video to upload. I've been battling my neuro symptoms for a very long time and it takes me quite a while to get my projects done. I'm getting there though and with everyones help we are making our channel shine :-)

  Please continue to share and if you haven't subscribed yet please do and share with others. The more people the better to get the word out of the battle of Patients trying get proper diagnosis and treatments for Lyme Disease and the other tick borne illnesses.

Join us at "The Many Sides of Lyme Disease"
https://www.youtube.com/user/CherylLyme1