Fw: EHRLICHOSIS 1996

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[Lyme-aid] EHRLICHOSIS

From: " Barbara Fitzmaurice " <blfitzma@...>

1996 Article

http://www.accessexcellence.org/WN/SUA07/tick696.html

EHRLICHOSIS: NEW TICK TEST

By Henahan, Access Excellence

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BALTIMORE As tick season begins, researchers are putting

increased focus on granulocytic ehrlichosis, a potentially fatal

disease spread by the same tick that spreads Lyme disease. A

newly developed cell culture test should help researchers

understand and treat the disease.

Photo: Ixodes scapularis ( VanDyk)

Hikers and campers are at risk for both diseases. This

complicates diagnosis and treatment because the symptoms of

ehrlichiosis can be mistaken for Lyme disease. In one study of

Midwesterners with ehrlichiosis, 56 percent of patients were

hospitalized and two percent died. In serious cases, the body's

defense systems weaken and opportunistic viral, fungal and

bacterial infections cause fatal complications.

" Patients with ehrlichiosis start with very general, flu-like

symptoms-- fever, headaches, muscle aches, and most doctors say,

It's a virus! Go home and get some rest.' That's scary because

there's a special antibiotic that can cure patients in 24 to 48

hours if the infection is caught early, " says J. Dumler,

M.D., associate professor of pathology at s Hopkins

University.

" We have only isolated human granulocytic ehrlichia from six

patients, " Dumler says. " By allowing us to isolate more samples

of the bacteria, this test should help us identify which forms

can cause serious illness and study how they are different from

the forms that cause almost no symptoms. "

Dr. Dumler's team is the first to identify the species of the

genus Ehrlichia of the family Rickettsiaceae that causes

Ehrlichosis. The obligate, intracellular bacteria are found

within white blood cells. Ehrlichiosis in humans was first

reported in 1986. A canine form of the disease was recognized

earlier. It has similar symptoms to Lyme disease, except without

the characteristic rash. And, like Lyme disease, the infection

can be treated effectively with common antibiotics.

Dumler and colleagues examined blood and tissues from the first

case of granulocytic ehrlichiosis, a patient from Duluth, Minn.

After tracking infections that ranged from a mild, flulike

illness to a serious weakening of the body's defenses, they

identified the bacteria responsible.

" Ehrlichia can't be grown on lab dishes like most bacteria, " he

explains. " They belong to a class of organisms that are so highly

adapted that they can't grow outside of cells. The new technique

solves that problem, and could help us study this whole class of

organisms. "

Lyme disease is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi.

The white-footed mouse is the primary animal reservoir for the

nymphal and larval ticks, with deer the preferred host for the

adult ticks. Dogs can also host these ticks.

The new test was announced May 20, 1996 at the annual meeting of

the American Society for Microbiology.

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