Per the inquiry below, Emerging Infectious Diseases is a CDC publication and all the authors are members of the chronic Lyme denialist's club referencing each others junk science. Will I receive a response from the corresponding author?
Contact info from the HHS Employee Directory:
Peter Drotman, MD, MPH Editor-in-Chief, Emerging Infectious Diseases
dpd1@cdc.gov
Matthew J. Kuehnert, MD Deputy Editor-in-Chief
mgk8@cdc.gov
Byron Breedlove, MA Managing Senior Editor
wbb1@cdc.gov
---------- Original Message ----------
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: klemen.strle@tufts.edu
Cc: sergio.hernandez@tufts.edu, kwkelley@illinois.edu, Misa.Korva@mf.uni-lj.si, KSTRLE@mgh.harvard.edu, andrej.kastrin@gmail.com, janis.weis@path.utah.edu, katarina.ogrinc@kclj.si, franc.strle@kclj.si, petra.bogovic@kclj.si, Tereza.Rojko@kclj.si, dpd1@cdc.gov, mgk8@cdc.gov, wbb1@cdc.gov, Alley@ustimespost.com, admin@ustimespost.com
Date: 05/16/2023 12:23 PM
Subject: Association of Persistent Symptoms after Lyme Neuroborreliosis and Increased Levels of Interferon-α in Blood
Emerging Infectious Diseases
Association of Persistent Symptoms after Lyme Neuroborreliosis and Increased Levels of Interferon-α in Blood
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/29/6/22-1685_article#r1
From the Abstract:
Although the infection serves as the initial trigger, sequelae after antibiotic therapy are associated with unremitting systemic IFN-α levels, consistent with the pathogenic role of this cytokine in interferonopathies in other conditions.
Klemen Strle
Tufts University School of Medicine
145 Harrison Ave.
Boston, MA 01222
Dear Assistant Professor Strle,
In regards to “interferonopathies in other conditions” I would like to point out that IFN-α levels are elevated in chronic hepatitis C per the following references:
1. Serum Levels of Soluble Interferon Alfa/Beta Receptor as an Inhibitory Factor of Interferon in the Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C
https://aasldpubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hep.510300516
-Serum levels of sIFN a/b receptor in 81 patients with chronic hepatitis C and 31 control subjects were assessed.
-Serum levels of sIFN a/b receptor were significantly higher in patients with chronic hepatitis C than in healthy control patients
2. Serum levels of interferon-αand-γin acute and chronic hepatitis B virus infection
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF02208991
In conclusion, in acute hepatitis B, serum levels of interferon-α and-γ did not show a significant difference between patients who subsequently cleared the virus and those who became HBsAg carriers. In chronic hepatitis B, the raised serum levels of interferon-α correlated with the presence of viral replication, while the raised serum levels of interferon-γ correlated with the presence of histological evidence of active hepatitis.
________________________________________
Question: Would a chronic persistent Lyme infection raise IFN-α levels?
Per the following 1995 publication, the patient received thirteen spinal taps, multiple courses of IV and oral meds, and relapsed after each one, proven by CSF antigens and/or PCR. The only way this patient (said to be a physician) remained in remission was to keep her on open ended clarithromycin- was on it for 22 months by the time of publication.
Seronegative Chronic Relapsing Neuroborreliosis.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7796837
Lawrence C.a · Lipton R.B.b · Lowy F.D.c · Coyle P.K.d
aDepartment of Medicine, bDepartment of Neurology, and cDivision of Infectious Diseases, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and dDepartment of Neurology, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, NY., USA
Eur Neurol 1995; 35:113–117 (DOI:10.1159/000117104)
Abstract
We report an unusual patient with evidence of Borrelia burgdorferi infection who experienced repeated neurologic relapses despite aggressive antibiotic therapy. Each course of therapy was associated with a Jarisch-Herxheimer-like reaction. Although the patient never had detectable free antibodies to B. burgdorferi in serum or spinal fluid, the CSF was positive on multiple occasions for complexed anti-B. burgdorferi antibodies, B. burgdorferi nucleic acids and free antigen.
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The following 2018 study recently identified chronic Lyme disease in twelve patients from Canada. All patients were culture positive for infection (genital secretions, skin and blood) even after multiple years on antibiotics so there was no relief from current antimicrobials. Some of these patients had taken as many as eleven different types of antibiotics.
Persistent Borrelia Infection in Patients with Ongoing Symptoms of Lyme Disease
http://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/6/2/33
There seems to be a great deal of “treatment-resistant” evidence published in multiple journals over the past three decades:
Peer Reviewed Evidence of Persistence of Lyme Disease Spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and Tick-Borne Diseases (700 References)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/n09sk90eo6xz7ua/700%20articles%20LYME%20EvidenceofPersistence-V2.pdf?dl=0
I ask the question again; Would a chronic persistent Lyme infection raise IFN-α levels?
A response to this inquiry is requested.
Respectfully submitted,
Carl Tuttle
Hudson, NH
Member of NH Gov Chris Sununu's Lyme Disease Study Commission
http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/statstudcomm/committees/default.aspx?id=1515
Cc: Alley Einstein, USTimesPost, “Why some recover fast and others do not”
Peter Drotman, MD, MPH Editor-in-Chief, Emerging Infectious Diseases
Matthew J. Kuehnert, MD Deputy Editor-in-Chief
Byron Breedlove, MA Managing Senior Editor