Please see the following inquiry that will most likely go unanswered. Note that Dr. John Aucott is a coauthor of this study who often says he believes in chronic Lyme disease but only at Lyme disease events held by advocacy groups.
---------- Original Message ----------
From: CARL TUTTLE <runagain@comcast.net>
To: "aghirsch@geisinger.edu" <aghirsch@geisinger.edu>
Cc: "aejustice1@geisinger.edu" <aejustice1@geisinger.edu>, "cmnordberg@geisinger.edu" <cmnordberg@geisinger.edu>, "nsjosyula@geisinger.edu" <nsjosyula@geisinger.edu>, "jaucott@jhmi.edu" <jaucott@jhmi.edu>, "alison.rebman@gmail.com" <alison.rebman@gmail.com>, "bschwar1@jhu.edu" <bschwar1@jhu.edu>, "bmcinfectiousdiseases@biomedcentral.com" <bmcinfectiousdiseases@biomedcentral.com>, "irina.masalagiu@springernature.com" <irina.masalagiu@springernature.com>, "rauf.bhat@springernature.com" <rauf.bhat@springernature.com>
Date: 03/01/2025 12:04 PM EST
Subject: A comparison of genome-wide association analyses of persistent symptoms after Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, and myalgic encephalomyelitis – chronic fatigue syndrome
A comparison of genome-wide association analyses of persistent symptoms after Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, and myalgic encephalomyelitis – chronic fatigue syndrome
https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-024-10238-x
Annemarie G. Hirsch, Anne E. Justice, Amy Poissant, Cara M. Nordberg, Navya S. Josyula, John Aucott, Alison W. Rebman & Brian S. Schwartz
To: Annemarie G. Hirsch, Corresponding Author
I read your manuscript with great interest and wanted to share a comment on your article I received from a fellow researcher who has experienced first-hand the devastation of Lyme disease. I added HTML links (references) to his statement and included my own comment. Additionally, I have a question for you and your co-authors.
Comment received:
“With respect may I say as Lyme and PTLD victim, Borrelia has the following characteristics:
It likes to evade the immune system and treatments by invading cartilage etc. 2) It has a persister form (round body) when the environmental conditions are unfavorable. 3) It has a biofilm form that protects the bacteria.
Or, maybe it’s as the authors claim that PTLD is associated with:
“Our top index single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs77857587, is in high linkage disequilibrium with a long-range protein quantitative locus SNP, rs111774530, for the MARC2 (Mitochondrial Amidoxime Reducing Component 2) protein.”
Carl Tuttle’s comment:
If I’m interpretating his comment correctly, it would appear that we have been dealing with an antibiotic resistant/tolerant superbug and essentially, “the emperor has no clothes.”
Question:
What academic discipline would you encounter if your department acknowledged chronic Lyme disease and began focusing on finding effective antimicrobial treatments for all borrelia forms; round body, biofilm etc.?
A response to this inquiry is requested.
Carl Tuttle
Independent Researcher
Hudson, NH
Cc: Rauf Bhat, Senior Editor
Stefan Baral, Senior Editorial Board Member
Letter to the Editor of the BMJ published June 2020
https://www.bmj.com/content/369/bmj.m1041/rr-1
(It should be noted that the corresponding author refused to reply after repeated requests by BMJ Editor Fiona Godlee)