DOCSLIB.ORG

Polly Murray

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Polly Murray The Pioneers Our Pioneers Eventually, Polly Murray came forward to tell the world about the spirochetal More than twenty-five years have passed illness that was discovered thanks to her since Polly Murray reported the Lyme ep- powers of observation, intelligence, and idemic and Willy Burgdorfer discovered persistence. St. Martin’s Press published the Lyme spirochete. All these pioneers her book in 1996: The Widening Circle: A entered uncharted territory and opened Lyme Disease Pioneer Tells Her Story. the way for many more to follow. They had For many suffering from Lyme disease, to be enterprising, courageous, persistent, The Widening Circle offered hope. With curious and open-minded. Lyme disease new viruses and diseases arising every day, fascinated and challenged them. They Murray's story remains an example of how brought their clinical acumen and sci- LymeDisease.org President Phyllis Mervine one person can influence the medical com- entific training to bear and refused to give (L) and Executive Director Lorraine Johnson munity - to force them to pay attention. In up. They all cared deeply about patients. (R) present Lyme spirochete discoverer Willy the end, Polly made a huge difference to the We owe them our respect and thanks. Burgdorfer their 2008 Community Service developing story of Lyme disease. Award for “leadership and dedication to reducing human suffering from Lyme disease Polly Murray Willy Burgdorfer, through research, discovery, and compassion.” relapsing fever spirochetes. “Over the next MD, PhD three years, I dissected thousands of tick,” By Phyllis Mervine Willy wrote. He figured out the complex life and transmission cycle of the African spi- When LymeDisease.org gave Willy Burg- rochetes. dorfer a Community Service Award in His professor also required his doctoral 2008, we wanted to recognize his leadership candidates to have a thorough knowledge and research. We knew the wily spirochete of the “voluminous” literature on relapsing might have remained undetected much fevers, thus Willy learned of the “speculative longer if not for the unique skills and ex- claim” by European dermatologists that a perience Willy brought to the task. We also type of rash was caused by a spirochete as- Lyme, CT, housewife Polly Murray, shown wanted to appreciate his compassion. He sociated with a tick. In 1949 he also heard here at a Lyme conference, wrote a book has been known to talk with patients who a speech by Hellerstrom reporting that the about her experiences that lead to the call his listed Montana phone number at rash could be successfully treated with pen- discovery of Lyme disease. Ken Leigner photo. wee hours of the night. icillin. No one at the time really believed Willy was thrilled when we invited him that spirochetes were involved. to San Francisco to take part in our Lyme Fast forward to 1981. Willy, looking for When artist Polly Murray and her Action Program. ILADS also stepped up Rocky Mountain spotted fever rickettsiae family became sick back in the early 1970s, to the plate, shared expenses with us, and with his NY colleague Jorge Benach, dis- there was no name for the multifaceted honored Willy with a special video and sected several hundred Dermacentor ticks illness that afflicted her and many of her ceremony. Willy later told me it was the from Long Island, NY. Not finding any neighbors. In 1975, after years of being highlight of his career. rickettsiae, they decided to check another misdiagnosed, misunderstood, and dis- In 1993 the editors of Clinics in Derma- species of tick, Ixodes scapularis. Benach missed by doctors, she was finally able tology asked him to write an article about provided 44 more ticks. Again, there were to persuade the public health authorities his 1981 discovery. He decided the story no rickettsiae, but in two ticks Willy noticed to check out the situation in her town of should “reflect my education, training, and “poorly stained, rather long, irregularly Lyme, Connecticut. They sent Allen Steere, research interest that provided the back- coiled spirochetes.” In a 2007 interview MD, then at Yale University, to investigate. ground needed for a discovery variously de- with Under Our Skin director Andy Wilson, With Steere's work, a description of a new scribed as ‘a scientific breakthrough,’ ‘seren- Willy describes the moment of discovery. tick-borne infection he called “Lyme ar- dipity,’ or even ‘an accident.’” I remember that time quite well…. But thritis” began to emerge. The causative or- In 1946, Willy was a graduate student it was not an “Aha” [moment]. It was a ganism was discovered 1982 by Willy Burg- in Switzerland when his professor handed “What in the hell? What’s in that smear?” dorfer, PhD, a scientist with the National him a “glass dish filled with light brown And then my work [on relapsing fever] Institutes of Health (NIH), after which the soil from an incubator.” The sand con- bacterium is named. tained ticks from the Congo infected with Continued on page 18 2014 Volume 26 Number 1 15.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lyme Disease: the Social Construction of a New Disease and Its Social Consequences
    Lyme Disease: The Social Construction of a New Disease and Its Social Consequences ROBERT A. ARONOWITZ University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey; Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden e c a u s e d is e a s e s o f t e n e v o k e a n d r e f l e c t collective responses, their study can provide an understanding of the values and attitudes of the society in which they occur. TheB term “social construction of disease” has come to represent a mode of historical analysis in which nonbiological factors —beliefs, economic relationships, societal institutions — are seen as greatly influencing, if not defining, our understanding of particular ills. Historians of science and medicine most often choose to study diseases that elicit strong re­ sponses because of stigma attached either to the affected population or to the mode of disease transmission, as with syphilis or AIDS; a contro­ versial somatic basis (which invites debate over personal responsibility), as in the case of alcoholism or psychiatric diagnoses like anorexia ner­ vosa; or fear of acquiring a deadly disease, for example, during epi­ demics of a disease like cholera. Diseases that are not deeply stigmatized, that have unassailable bio­ logical foundations, and that are not deadly are less frequently studied using the social constructionist approach, but they are no less resonant with social meaning. Lyme disease is one such case. It is a contempo­ rary, somatic, treatable ailment that is typically contracted during wholesome outdoor activity. The history of Lyme disease exemplifies The Milbank Quarterly, Vol.
    [Show full text]
  • Final Report of the Lyme Disease Review Panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA)
    Final Report of the Lyme Disease Review Panel of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE In November 2006, the Connecticut Attorney General (CAG), Richard Blumenthal, initiated an antitrust investigation to determine whether the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) violated antitrust laws in the promulgation of the IDSA’s 2006 Lyme disease guidelines, entitled “The Clinical Assessment, Treatment, and Prevention of Lyme Disease, Human Granulocytic Anaplasmosis, and Babesiosis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America” (the 2006 Lyme Guidelines). IDSA maintained that it had developed the 2006 Lyme disease guidelines based on a proper review of the medical/scientifi c studies and evidence by a panel of experts in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of Lyme disease. In April 2008, the CAG and the IDSA reached an agreement to end the investigation. Under the Agreement and its attached Action Plan, the 2006 Lyme Guidelines remain in effect, and the Society agreed to convene a Review Panel whose task would be to determine whether or not the 2006 Lyme Guidelines were based on sound medical/scientifi c evidence and whether or not these guidelines required change or revision. The Review Panel was not charged with updating or rewriting the 2006 Lyme Guidelines. Any recommendation for update or revision to the 2006 Lyme Guidelines would be conducted by a separate IDSA group. This document is the Final Report of the Review Panel. REVIEW PANEL MEMBERS Carol J. Baker, MD, Review Panel Chair Baylor College of Medicine Houston, TX William A. Charini, MD Lawrence General Hospital, Lawrence, MA Paul H.
    [Show full text]
  • Lyme Disease: Implications for General Practice
    Editorials Lyme disease: implications for general practice INTRODUCTION Lyme disease is a complicated disease that has been under-reported, and sometimes “Lyme disease is seen throughout the UK and is more unknown. A recent surge in Lyme disease prevalent than many people realise. If left untreated, or -focused publications has resulted in a if treated very late, Lyme disease can result in years of much needed growth in Lyme disease awareness. The National Institute for disability.” Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has published a guideline with an overview of the main issues with regard to Lyme disease;1 Rayment and O’Flynn have written DIAGNOSIS OF LYME DISEASE of Lyme disease often mimic flu or other a summary for the BJGP covering some An erythema migrans (EM) is considered diseases. There is no single distinctive pattern important points;2 and Cruickshank et al, definitive for a diagnosis of Lyme disease, of symptoms to help with the diagnosis. It is have also published a recent summary of and is described in the NICE Guideline1 therefore a challenge for doctors to make a the disease in the BMJ.3 and in the BJGP summary;2 however, many confident diagnosis. In the last 40 years, Lyme disease has patients with Lyme disease do not have The oral antibiotic doxycycline is usually rapidly become the most common tick- this distinctive rash, and so they need to be effective for early stage Lyme disease, borne infection in many parts of Europe diagnosed using other criteria. Only 25% and is a relatively benign treatment. Given and the US.
    [Show full text]
  • Massachusetts General Hospital
    3/2/20, 8:14 PM Page 1 of 1 Home - Medicine - Rheumatology - Treatments & Services DEPARTMENT OF MEDICINE Lyme Arthritis Program The Massachusetts General Hospital Lyme Arthritis Program is recognized internationally for its expertise in researching, diagnosing and treating the manifestations of Lyme disease, including Lyme arthritis. Patient Gateway 617-726-7938 Lyme Arthritis Program Phone: 617-726-7938 Explore This Program Overview What to Expect About A Pioneer in Lyme Disease Our program is led by Allen Steere, MD, one of the world's foremost experts on Lyme disease. Dr. Steere discovered the illness in 1976 and laid the foundation for understanding the many manifestations of the disease, including Lyme arthritis (a late-stage manifestation of Lyme disease). Today, Dr. Steere is researching why some patients with Lyme arthritis have persistent joint inflammation after using antibiotic therapy to eliminate the Lyme disease bacterium. This research is leading to improved diagnostic and treatment capabilities for such patients. What to Expect Prior to your first appointment, one of our rheumatologists will review your records, particularly previous Lyme testing. Based on this evaluation, you will either be scheduled for a formal appointment, or referred to one of our colleagues in Neurology, Infectious Disease, or another appropriate specialist for the best care available for your specific case. At your first appointment, one of our rheumatologists will review your history, perform a physical examination and decide which tests are necessary for diagnostic purposes. Many symptoms of Lyme disease can be seen in other conditions. Our physicians' experience with Lyme disease—and the diagnostic tests we have developed— help us recognize that infection or differentiate it from other diseases, and if Lyme disease, determine what stage it is in.
    [Show full text]
  • MOTILITY and CHEMOTAXIS in the LYME DISEASE SPIROCHETE BORRELIA BURGDORFERI: ROLE in PATHOGENESIS by Ki Hwan Moon July, 2016
    MOTILITY AND CHEMOTAXIS IN THE LYME DISEASE SPIROCHETE BORRELIA BURGDORFERI: ROLE IN PATHOGENESIS By Ki Hwan Moon July, 2016 Director of Dissertation: MD A. MOTALEB, Ph.D. Major Department: Department of Microbiology and Immunology Abstract Lyme disease is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in United States and is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. The disease is transmitted from an infected Ixodes scapularis tick to a mammalian host. B. burgdorferi is a highly motile organism and motility is provided by flagella that are enclosed by the outer membrane and thus are called periplasmic flagella. Chemotaxis, the cellular movement in response to a chemical gradient in external environments, empowers bacteria to approach and remain in beneficial environments or escape from noxious ones by modulating their swimming behaviors. Both motility and chemotaxis are reported to be crucial for migration of B. burgdorferi from the tick to the mammalian host, and persistent infection of mice. However, the knowledge of how the spirochete achieves complex swimming is limited. Moreover, the roles of most of the B. burgdorferi putative chemotaxis proteins are still elusive. B. burgdorferi contains multiple copies of chemotaxis genes (two cheA, three cheW, three cheY, two cheB, two cheR, cheX, and cheD), which make its chemotaxis system more complex than other chemotactic bacteria. In the first project of this dissertation, we determined the role of a putative chemotaxis gene cheD. Our experimental evidence indicates that CheD enhances chemotaxis CheX phosphatase activity, and modulated its infectivity in the mammalian hosts. Although CheD is important for infection in mice, it is not required for acquisition or transmission of spirochetes during mouse-tick-mouse infection cycle experiments.
    [Show full text]
  • Solving the Puzzle of Lyme Disease
    News to enrich your lifestyle Spring 2015 Misunderstood, Misdiagnosed and Often Mistreated: Solving the Puzzle of Lyme Disease Unsurprisingly for an illness known as “The Great damage to tissue and the immune system. Still others, Imitator,” the misconceptions surrounding Lyme including Dr. Allen Steere, who first recognized Lyme Disease continue to proliferate. Acute or chronic? disease back in 1975, say it is being over-diagnosed, Highly treatable or stubbornly resistant? Misdiag - mistaken for chronic fatigue or chronic pain. nosed because of symptoms that mimic conditions The continued questioning spurred John Aucott, MD, like lupus, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s and Lou assistant professor of rheumatology at Johns Hopkins Gehrig’s disease, or overestimated for the same University School of Medicine and founder of the reason? While television celebrity Yolanda Foster Lyme Disease Research Foundation, to launch the recently gained national attention during her bout nation’s first controlled study examining long-term with chronic Lyme disease, she also fanned the health and outcomes of the disease. flames of controversy surrounding this sometimes mystifying condition. A brief overview of current “It does no good to keep debating the existence of Lab tests are generally needed knowledge follows…however experts have not yet long-term problems related to Lyme disease while to confirm the diagnosis, followed by a course of reached a consensus on all aspects of this disease. people are suffering a debilitating illness. These oral antibiotics. However, people with early Lyme patients are lost. No one really knows what to do with Research indicates that Lyme disease is transmitted disease do not develop antibodies for several them.
    [Show full text]
  • UOS Claim Name Description Source 12 of 14 IDSA Lyme Guidelines Authors Have Conflicts of Interest. (00:43:29;04) Allen Steere
    UOS Claim Name Description Source 12 of 14 IDSA Lyme guidelines Allen Steere, 2006 Lyme Coordinating investigator “Conflicts of Interest in authors have conflicts of interest. guidelines author for clinical trial of Lyme Disease: Laboratory SmithKline Beecham Testing, Vaccination, and (00:43:29;04) vaccine Treatment Guidelines” (Section XI), Lyme Disease Association Inc, 2001 source Minutes of FDA Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee Meeting Transcript source Received consulting fees Self-disclosure in “Uphill for Baxter vaccine trials Struggle,” Nature, February 2006 source Received an honorarium of Self-Disclosure in “High over $10,000 from Levels of Inflammatory Novartis Vaccines and Chemokines and Cytokines Diagnostics in Joint Fluid and Synovial Tissue Throughout the Course of Antibiotic- refractory Lyme Arthritis,” Arthritis & Rheumatism, April 2007 source Sells Borrelia biological ATCC The Global samples for use in test and Bioresources Center Chain vaccine manufacturing of Custody: A.C. Steere to Gundersen Medical Foundation to ATCC source Gary Wormser, 2006 Received $1.5 million from “Conflicts of Interest in Lyme guidelines lead Pasteur Mereiux Lyme Disease: Laboratory author Connaught to run vaccine Testing, Vaccination, and trials Treatment Guidelines” (Section V), Lyme Disease Association Inc, 2001 source Co-Founder of Diaspex Self-disclosure in “A Tests which has patented a Critical Appraisal of Lyme peptide for use in “Chronic Lyme Disease,” vaccine-compatible
    [Show full text]
  • The Worldwide Saga of Lyme Borreliosis 1
    The Worldwide Saga of Lyme Borreliosis 1 Jorge L. Benach and Juan Carlos García-Moncó Abstract neighbourhood in their town had developed what The clinical–epidemiological studies of a cluster they had been told was juvenile rheumatoid ar- of arthritis in Lyme, Connecticut, intersected thritis. Soon thereafter, a joint investigation by the with ongoing studies on tick-borne diseases in Connecticut State Health Department and the Long Island, New York, to set the stage for the Yale University School of Medicine was begun discovery of the spirochaete agent of Lyme dis- to investigate the reports made by both mothers. ease. Studies on the microbiology of spirochaetes This fortuitous occurrence developed into a most in other parts of the country were instrumental dramatic epidemiological study that resulted in for the cultivation of the newly discovered the identification of a world-wide infection. organism. The multinational clinical studies in The possibility of a focal episode of juvenile Europe throughout the twentieth century on the rheumatoid arthritis in Lyme kindled the inter- dermatological and neurological manifestations est of Dr Allen Steere, who had just joined the characterized and enlarged the syndrome that we Division of Rheumatology at Yale, which in now know as Lyme borreliosis. For reasons that turn was headed by Dr Stephen Malawista, a are discussed in this chapter, controversies have noted rheumatologist with a long track record arisen among advocate patient groups and the on inflammatory rheumatic diseases. Dr Steere, clinicians and scientists that are at the forefront joined by Dr David Snydman of the State Health of research in Lyme borreliosis.
    [Show full text]
  • The Lyme Times V 24 No 2
    FEATURE - My History of Lyme Ivory Tower Coverups Impede Progress Toward Cure Frontline physicians knew about persistence and how to treat it 20 years ago By Joseph J. Burrascano, Jr., MD new. By the early 1930s, we had the basic Lyme Disease is not a new illness. It has framework for Lyme (acute and chronic been recognized in one form or another skin lesions), plus constitutional, neu- for over a hundred years. In unraveling rologic and arthritic symptoms associated its history, one can see many instances with a tick bite. Why was this crucial of missed opportunities, unrecognized history ignored by American researchers patterns and outright mistakes by scientists, in the 1970s? physicians and government officials. Lyme before Connecticut Over time, a divide has developed In 1965, Dr. Sidney Robbin, semi-retired between the frontline Lyme-treating phy- internist in Montauk, NY, described ex- sicians and scientists and physicians at panding circular rashes that responded In 1982, Willi Burgdorfer, Ph.D., seen here major university and government insti- to penicillin treatment. He also described inoculating ticks, discovered the spirochete that tutions throughout the U.S. a peculiar monoarthritis that he named causes Lyme disease in ticks from Shelter Island, How did this come to be? What are the “Montauk Knee.” NY . The spirochete was later named Borrelia consequences? Could any of the troubles In 1970, Dr. Rudolph Scrimenti, a Wis- burgdorferi in his honor. Photo: NIAID/RML we now face in the Lyme Wars have been consin dermatologist, published the first prevented? report of ECM rash in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Citizens Alert!
    Citizens Alert! Biological Warfare Experiment on American Citizens Results in Spreading Pandemic CDC-Created Epidemic Spreading Down East Coast of U.S. Doctors Prevented from Treating Patients by Secretive Biowarfare Arm of the CDC (Epidemic Intelligence Service) Working with the IDSA in Phase II of the CDC’s Infamous Tuskegee Experiment Jerry Leonard “Who could imagine the government, all the way up to the Surgeon General of the United States, deliberately allowing a group of its citizens to die from a terrible disease for the sake of an ill-conceived experiment?” --Commentary on the Tuskegee Experiment “How tragic would be the irony if an agency established to control and find cures for diseases caused instead their proliferation.” –Comment on Plum Island’s Biological Warfare Research, quoted in Lab 257 “A much more discreet, diabolical and effective method of disabling a country would be to employ a moderately infectious organism, or combination of organisms (Russian Doll Cocktail), which would pass slowly through the population unnoticed.” – Marjorie Tietjen, Lyme researcher Americans are under attack from an insidious biological warfare agent perpetrated by agencies within our own government. This attack is centered on the American East Coast, but nobody should feel safe. Shockingly, I am talking about Lyme disease,1 an affliction that the uninformed may believe is nothing more than arthritis caused by a tick bite. But according to the CDC, this “multisystem, multistage” illness is capable of inducing disorders including “chronic
    [Show full text]
  • Study Provides Greater Understanding of Lyme Disease-Causing Bacteria 30 June 2009
    Study provides greater understanding of lyme disease-causing bacteria 30 June 2009 Lyme disease in the U.S. is caused by the tick- researchers feel confident that the distribution borne bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi and usually reflects what has been observed in the skin begins with a skin lesion, after which the bacteria because they were able to identify numerous OspC spread throughout the body to the nervous system, and RST types, and the distribution was similar to heart or joints. About 60 percent of untreated what has been reported in previous studies of skin individuals develop arthritis, which affects the lesions. knees in particular. Lyme disease usually responds well to antibiotic therapy, but in rare cases arthritis One might presume that the association of RST1 can persist for months or years after treatment, a strains with antibiotic-refractory arthritis may reflect rare condition known as antibiotic-refractory Lyme a greater ability of these strains to survive in the arthritis. Joint fluid usually tests negative for B joint despite antibiotic therapy. However, this burgdorferi after treatment, indicating that joint seems not to be the case. Rather, RST1 strains inflammation may persist even after the bacteria seem to induce a more marked immune response, has been eradicated. which may set the stage for joint inflammation that persists after antibiotic therapy in genetically Two genetic marker systems are used to correlate susceptible individuals. the variation of this bacterial strain with clinical outcomes: OspC typing divides B burgdorferi "We hypothesize that RST1 strains are more strains into 21 types, while the ribosomal RNA virulent, leading to larger numbers of organisms in intergenic spacer type (RST) system divides them blood, and more inflammation in joints," the authors into just three groups, with certain RST groups state.
    [Show full text]
  • The Fight Against Lyme Disease
    COMMENT BOOKS & ARTS MEDICAL RESEARCH Although antibiotics can clear infection in some cases, Fallon and Sotsky describe how The fight against genetic differences in Borrelia bacteria found on different continents make treat- ment difficult. There Lyme disease Conquering Lyme are, for instance, three different species in the Disease: Science James G. Logan hails a study of the controversial Bridges the Great complex in Europe. Divide tick-borne condition. The authors note that BRIAN A. FALLON & each can cause differ- JENNIFER SOTSKY ent symptoms in peo- Columbia University t occurs in more than 80 countries and disease has struggled to keep up. ple with Lyme disease Press: 2017. is the most commonly reported vector- The many presentations of an illness who develop neuro- borne disease in the Northern Hemi- known as the “great imitator”, and its inher- logical complications. So a treatment that Isphere. In the United States alone, it spawns ent complexities, are why medical com- works for one species of the bacterium may 300,000 new cases each year. Yet Lyme disease munities have often failed to find common not work for another. — caused by species of Borrelia bacteria car- ground on diagnosis and treatment, as the And spirochaetes can remain in the ried by ticks of the Ixodes genus — remains authors explore. The manifestations range body even after courses of antibiotics one of the most poorly understood infec- from no symptoms, or mild influenza-like (E. Hodzic et al. Antimicrob. Agents Chem- tions. It has divided researchers, clinicians ones, to severe complications such as inflam- other. 52, 1728–1736; 2008).
    [Show full text]