Assessment Of Patients With Borrelia Infection

莱姆病是由伯氏疏螺旋体感染引起的多系统疾病，是美国主要的媒介传播疾病。莱姆病在欧洲也很常见，在俄罗斯、中国和日本也有发生。在人类中，B。伯氏感染主要在皮肤，神经系统，心脏和关节引起感染。莱姆病通常可以用抗生素治疗成功，在早期疾病患者中效果最好。不幸的是，有些患者可能对治疗没有完全反应。我们目前有三个临床方案研究莱姆病患者。两个协议是自然史研究，并作为多线调查的基础。一个方案针对莱姆病后综合征患者。另一种方案允许对典型莱姆病患者进行研究。第三个方案使用微阵列检查了患有游走性红斑病变的患者的皮肤活检中的宿主反应。我们的工作涉及莱姆病的3个方面：实验室诊断，临床表现和对B的免疫反应。burgdorferi。 我们也有一个协议，以调查南方蜱相关皮疹疾病（STARI）的原因，与疾病预防控制中心合作。STARI是一种皮疹，类似于莱姆病皮疹，发生在居住在东南部和中南部各州的人中，与孤独的星星蜱Amblyomma americanum的叮咬有关。

Lyme disease is a multisystem illness caused by infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi and it is the leading vector-borne disease in the United States. Lyme disease is also common in Europe and also occurs in Russia, China and Japan. In humans, B. burgdorferi infection causes infection primarily in the skin, nervous system, heart and joints. Lyme disease can usually be treated successfully with antibiotic therapy, with the best results seen in patients with early disease. Unfortunately, some patients may not have a complete response to therapy. We currently have three clinical protocols studying patients with Lyme disease. Two protocols are natural history studies and serve as the basis for multiple lines of investigation. One protocol addresses patients with post Lyme disease syndrome. The other protocol allow for the study of patients with classical Lyme disease. A third protocol examines the host reponse in skin biopsies from patients with erythema migrans lesions using microarrays. Our work addresses 3 areas in Lyme disease: laboratory diagnosis, clinical manifestations and immunological responses to B. burgdorferi. We also have a protocol to investigate the cause of Southern Tick-Associated Rash Illness (STARI), in collaboration with the CDC. STARI is a rash similar to the rash of Lyme disease that occurs in persons residing in southeastern and south-central states and is associated with the bite of the lone star tick, Amblyomma americanum.