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Stony Brook Lyme Disease Center

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Awareness And Prevention Are The Best Medicine To Fight Lyme Disease

Lyme Disease and the Nervous System with Patricia K. Coyle, MD

Awareness and Prevention are the Best Medicine to Fight Lyme DiseaseSuffolk County, one of the countrys highest risk areas for tick-borne disease

STONY BROOK, NY, JUNE 26, 2014 With the arrival of the warmer summer weather comes tick season, and with that, the threat of Lyme disease. Suffolk County is one of the countrys highest risk areas, so Long Island parents should be aware of the risks of tick-borne disease in children. Saul Hymes, M.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Director of the Pediatric Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Center at Stony Brook Childrens, offers some tips and advice on how to stay healthy this summer.

Overall, Lyme disease is a growing problem for Suffolk County, with as many as 5,000 to 6,000 cases a year, said Dr. Hymes. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are approximately 300,000 cases annually across the country, although only 10 percent get reported. This means that awareness is low, and that many people may not be receiving prompt or appropriate treatment. When Lyme disease goes undiagnosed, especially in children, there can be serious complications. However, know that treatment is extremely effective, especially if started early.

About the Lyme and Tick-Borne Disease Center at Stony Brook Childrens Hospital:

About Stony Brook Childrens Hospital:

Tick Borne Disease Referral Clinic

Long Island harbors a large area of beautiful, recreational parks where ticks and other insects can be found. For medical reasons, ticks are important because they are vectors of microorganisms such as bacteria, virus or parasites. Not all ticks carry these infectious organisms, thus not all tick bites are dangerous or pose a risk for acquiring an infection. Still, people can contract an infection without recognizing a recent tick bite.

Some ticks can transmit the following infectious diseases :1. Lyme Disease3. Anaplasmosis4. Babesiosis

Most of these infections are cured by a short course of antibiotics. Sometimes, these infections can cause a more severe disease in some patients. Other infectious diseases that can be transmitted by ticks in Long Island are: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Tularemia, and Powassan virus.

Our highly-trained doctors will help review and manage these infections when you are seen in our outpatient facility. For treatment purposes, we follow the Infectious Diseases Society of America Guidelines .

As Tick-Borne Diseases are a topic of national research interest, we also have research projects underway to understand and provide new medical knowledge that will help other physicians to manage these infections for their patients. Our research explores how these tick borne diseases affect the health of humans. The more we understand these diseases, the better we can assign treatment modalities to patients.

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Fighting The Competition For Funds To Fight Lyme Disease

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THE first Federal allocation for studying Lyme disease is the incentive for a contest of sorts between Westchester and Suffolk Counties, whose officials are competing here for a share of the $500,000 available.

Delegations from each county have visited the Department of Health and Human Services to argue that New York State, and one of its counties in particular, would be the best recipient of the Federal funds. While it is clear that New York will be among the states to receive funds, Westchester and Suffolk are receiving conflicting reports about their chances. The two counties together represent 44 percent of all Lyme disease cases nationwide.

The money they seek is a fraction of the $7 million in Federal allocations that were approved last year for Lyme disease, the nation’s fastest-growing infectious disease after AIDS. The National Institutes of Health is receiving $5 million. The Centers for Disease Control gets $2 million, including the $500,000 at issue the remaining $1.5 million will be used to establish the nation’s first Lyme disease center in Fort Collins, Colo.

Westchester Delegation Is First to Arrive

In addition, there is a maximum of $2 million in grants available from the National Institutes of Health for Lyme disease research in the area of pathogenesis, studying why the spirochete causes the disease.

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Tick Threat Remains A Public Health Concern

Ixodes scapularis, commonly known as the black-legged or deer tick can transmit Lyme disease, a public health concern, and can be found on a wide range of hosts, including mammals, birds and reptiles.

With the dangers of Covid-19 waning, and summer nearly upon us, another infectious disease danger remains present for our Long Island population and the region tick-borne illnesses.

Stony Brook experts have been sharing their tick expertise with the community and are available for media interviews.

Luis A. Marcos, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Stony Brook Medicine, is available to discuss this topic and what dangers are lurking, and will increase this summer. He is actively involved in the research, diagnosis and treatment related to tick-borne diseases.

Rebecca Young, RN, BSN, answers frequently asked questions about ticks as the “Help Line” nurse that receives hundreds of calls annually at 726-TICK from all over the U.S. and internationally to The Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. In 2020, she had more than 650 conversations with people, many of whom had relocated to Long Island due to the pandemic and were unfamiliar with ticks and tick-bite prevention protocols.

Young can provide tips to reduce exposure to ticks, how to safely remove an attached tick, and the commitment and work of The Regional Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center.

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How You Can Prepare For This Spring

Disclaimer: The above material is provided for information purposes only. The material is not nor should be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, nor does it necessarily represent endorsement by or an official position of Global Lyme Alliance, Inc. or any of its directors, officers, advisors or volunteers. Advice on the testing, treatment or care of an individual patient should be obtained through consultation with a physician who has examined that patient or is familiar with that patients medical history. Global Lyme Alliance, Inc. makes no warranties of any kind regarding this Website, including as to the accuracy, completeness, currency or reliability of any information contained herein, and all such warranties are expressly disclaimed.

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Lyme Disease In An African American Child With Downs Syndrome

Welcome to another Inside Lyme Podcast with your host Dr. Daniel Cameron. In this episode, Dr. Cameron discusses the case of a 3-year-old African American child with Downs syndrome, developmental delays and disseminated Lyme disease. By Dr. Daniel Cameron “A case of disseminated Lyme disease in a child with skin of color” was published by Bax and colleagues in the journal Pediatric Dermatology.¹ The child, who had trisomy 21 (Downs

Sbu Scientist Recognized Worldwide For Lyme Disease Research Named To Largest International Science Association

SBU Scientist Recognized Worldwide For Lyme Disease Research Named To Largest International Science Association Dr. Jorge Benach Discoverer of Organism Causing Lyme Disease Named AAAS Fellow

2010 AAAS Fellow, Jorge Benach

STONY BROOK, N.Y., January 19, 2011 Jorge Benach, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Professor, Chair of the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Director, Center for Infectious Diseases, Stony Brook University, has been named a 2010 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science . Dr. Benach joins leading scientists worldwide as a Fellow in the Medical Sciences Section. He and other new fellows will be honored on February 19 at the 2011 AAAS annual meeting in Washington, D.C.

The election of an AAAS fellow is awarded to individuals by their AAAS peer members. The nomination process starts with a steering group from the particular AAAS section a person is part of, and each steering groups recommendations are then voted on by the AAS Council, the policymaking body of the association. This year the AAAS Council elected 503 fellows based on their scientifically or socially distinguished efforts to advance science or its applications.

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Tick Resource Annual Report

Get Your Free Tick Removal Kit!Our Tick Removal Kits contain all you need to be prepared for tick bitespointy tweezers, magnifier, first-aid supplies, and Tick ID Cardall packaged in a kit you can hang on your backpack or put in your pocket. These kits are free to the public. Request a Tick Removal Kit by contacting us at or 726-TICK. Please provide your mailing address.

Stony Brook Doctors Continue To Look For Cures For Lyme Disease Symptoms

Yao Syndrome: Andrea Atkins – Stony Brook Medicine

Most people only think about Lyme disease when taking a hike in a park, but for many doctors, the condition weighs heavily on their minds every day.

Dr. Benjamin Luft, director and principal investigator of Stony Brook WTC Wellness Program, is one of those doctors. He is currently working on two clinical studies examining the disease. One involves those who continue to present symptoms after being treated, and the other study involves Latinos on Long Island who work in the landscaping and agricultural fields.

In a recent phone interview, Luft said the clinical study involving Latinos is a straightforward one, where the aim is to help a population that has been underserved and understudied due to their work schedules. The other study is more involved.

After being bitten by a tick infected with a bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi, many people with a bulls eye rash or flulike symptoms may receive treatment and feel better but there are those who will continue to suffer for a prolonged period, even years, with a variety of complaints like aches, pains and brain fogginess. Luft said at times there may be no clear signs of the disease in the body, but doctors may find evidence of it after thorough neuropsychological exams that can detect subtle abnormalities.

This study is really geared toward diagnosing and to find ways to be able to monitor the disease, Luft said, adding in the future his hope is to conduct studies testing new ways to treat Lyme disease.

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More Than Lyme: Study In Long Island Finds Multiple Agents Of Tick

In a study published in mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, Jorge Benach and Rafal Tokarz, and their co-authors at Stony Brook University and Columbia University reported on the prevalence of multiple agents capable of causing human disease that are present in three species of ticks in Long Island.

Tick-borne diseases have become a worldwide threat to public health. In the United States, cases more than doubled, from 22,000 in 2004 to more than 48,000 in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Tick-borne diseases range from subclinical to fatal infections with disproportionate incidence in children or the elderly. Moreover, some infections can also be transmitted by blood transfusions and cause severe disease in patients with underlying disorders. While public attention has focused on Lyme disease, in recent years, scientists have uncovered evidence that ticks can carry several different pathogens capable of several different tick-borne diseases, sometimes in a single tick.

In evaluating tick-borne infection, more than one organism needs to be considered, says senior author Rafal Tokarz, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and a graduate of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stony Brook University. This study emphasizes the need to focus on all tick-borne diseases, not just Lyme.

Transmission Of Bb Via Ixodes Spp Vectors

The black-legged ticks, Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus on the West Coast, are the primary vectors of Bb in the USA. In endemic areas, the proportion of Ixodes spp. ticks infected with Bb can be remarkably high. One recent survey of the pathogen burden of 197 Ixodes scapularis ticks collected from New York and Connecticut where LD is endemic, revealed 111 ticks were infected with Bb and 37 were co-infected with more than one human pathogen . The high pathogen burden is consistent with previous tick surveys in the same region . In contrast, the percent of infected ticks in other regions of the USA is much lower. In recently published surveys across California, for example, fewer than 5% of Ixodes spp. ticks were infected . Ixodes ticks sometimes carry multiple strains of Bb that may impact the course of disease in people that are co-infected. One tick survey showed that 39% of Ixodes ticks in North America are infected with multiple genotypes of Bb .

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Stony Brook Physicians And Scientists Meld Minds To Fight Tick

Tick-borne infectious diseases are an epidemic on Long Island, and Stony Brook Medicine is leading efforts to understand and treat them.

To share scientific data and educate the public, Stony Brook Medicine hosted a recent symposium about the diagnosis and treatment of tick-borne diseases. Stony Brook University President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, an infectious disease specialist, said insect-borne illnesses are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality around the world.

The University has actively been engaged in combatting these illnesses, he told a packed lecture hall filled with clinicians and researchers at Stony Brook University Hospital.

When we think of these diseases, we tend to think of malaria, which infects millions of people and kills millions of children annually. Everyone is aware of Zika virus. And there is an outbreak of yellow fever right now in South America, Dr. Stanley said. But we dont have to travel to those countries, to contract insect-borne disease. You can simply go in your backyard on Long Island and contract a tick-borne disease.

In fact, a disproportionate amount of tick-borne diseases in the United States and in the world takes place right here, he said. Thousands of our citizens on Long Island have suffered from them.

Philanthropists David and Michele Knapp are president and vice president, respectively, of Island Outreach.

Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever are most prevalent in children, particularly in boys.

What Parents Need To Know About Children And Lyme Disease

Stony Brook doctors continue to look for cures for Lyme disease ...

With the arrival of warmer weather also comes tick season, and with it the threat of Lyme disease. Did you know that Suffolk County is in the heart of one of the countrys highest risk areas? Parents, especially, need to be aware of the risks of tick-borne disease in children. Dr. Cristy Beneri, Associate Professor of Pediatrics.

What is Lyme Disease?

Lyme Disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by the bite of the Ixodes scapularis tick. In acute infections, it can cause days of headache, fevers, rash and muscle aches. More severe cases can progress to a Bells Palsy or meningitis. Untreated, it can lead to heart problems, arthritis, and even long-term neurologic and/or rheumatologic conditions. Other illnesses carried by ticks local to Long Island include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis and Ehrlichiosis, Tularemia and STARI.

Is Lyme disease a problem for children?

Overall, Lyme disease is a growing problem for Suffolk County, with as many as 5,000 to 6,000 cases a year. The Centers for Disease Control estimates that there are approximately 300,000 cases annually across the country, although only 10 percent get reported. This means that awareness is low, and that many people may not be receiving prompt or appropriate treatment. When Lyme disease goes undiagnosed, especially in children, there can be serious complications. However, know that treatment is extremely effective, especially if started early.

Where do I find experts in Lyme disease?

Recommended Reading: Lyme Disease Symptoms And Treatment In Humans

More Than Lyme: Tick Study Finds Multiple Agents Of Tick

STONY BROOK, N.Y., September 16, 2019 In a study published in mBio, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology, Jorge Benach and Rafal Tokarz, and their co-authors at Stony Brook University and Columbia University, reported on the prevalence of multiple agents capable of causing human disease that are present in three species of ticks in Long Island.

Tick-borne diseases have become a worldwide threat to public health. In the United States, cases more than doubled, from 22,000 in 2004 to more than 48,000 in 2016, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Tick-borne diseases range from subclinical to fatal infections with disproportionate incidence in children or the elderly. Moreover, some infections can also be transmitted by blood transfusions and cause severe disease in patients with underlying disorders. While public attention has focused on Lyme disease, in recent years, scientists have uncovered evidence that ticks can carry several different pathogens capable of several different tick-borne diseases, sometimes in a single tick.

In evaluating tick-borne infection, more than one organism needs to be considered, says senior author Rafal Tokarz, PhD, assistant professor of epidemiology in the Center for Infection and Immunity at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, and a graduate of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stony Brook University. This study emphasizes the need to focus on all tick-borne diseases, not just Lyme.

Sample Collection Processing And Storage

Enrollment sites were selected based on their location in areas of endemicity and their ability to identify and enroll patients with early LD. Contracts were individually negotiated and signed with each collecting site. Institutional review board approval was obtained for each site through the LDB sponsor protocol or the sites local IRB. For sites with a bilingual staff, consent forms were translated into Spanish, enabling the enrollment of Spanish-speaking participants. Individuals with signs or symptoms consistent with early LD were enrolled, including patients presenting with EM or an erythematous, annular, expanding skin lesion and individuals presenting with signs or symptoms but without an EM/annular lesion and with a suspected tick exposure or tick bite. While individuals with annular lesions of 5cm suspicious of LD were included, those with tick-bite reactions were excluded. Uninfected individuals from the same regions were also eligible to participate. Controls were defined as healthy individuals living in an area of endemicity with no history of LD or TBI. Inclusion and exclusion criteria are detailed in Table 1. Individuals enrolled in the type 1 group had EM/annular lesions, while individuals enrolled in the type 2 group had no skin manifestations.

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