If you talk to a patient with a bulls-eye rash, one of eleven possible Lyme rashes, which is 99% proof of a Lyme infection, you will learn that most of their physicians do not test for Bartonella or Babesia.
I have talked about Babesia in other articles on this web site. Simply, it causes profound fatigue, sweats and headaches.
Bartonella has massive emotional symptoms such as suicidal feelings, panic, depression, agitation, rage and serious anxiety.
My experience in Pennsylvania's state "deer farm,"-- I mean by that all areas in the state except the cities -- is that the patients I treated had a frequency of co-infections that is consistent with this research. Basically, 30% of those with Lyme also had Babesia, which has a risk of death, and about 40-45% of those with Lyme also had Bartonella.
- J Clin Microbiol. 2004 Jun;42(6):2799-801.Prevalence of Borrelia burgdorferi, Bartonella spp., Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophila in Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in Northern New Jersey.
Adelson ME, Rao RV, Tilton RC, Cabets K, Eskow E, Fein L, Occi JL, Mordechai E.
Medical Diagnostic Laboratories L.L.C., 133 Gaither Dr., Suite C, Mt. Laurel, NJ 08054, USA.
PCR analysis of Ixodes scapularis ticks collected in New Jersey identified infections with Borrelia burgdorferi (33.6%), Babesia microti (8.4%), Anaplasma phagocytophila (1.9%), and Bartonella spp. (34.5%). The I. scapularis tick is a potential pathogen vector that can cause coinfection and contribute to the variety of clinical responses noted in some tick-borne disease patients.
- Arch Neurol. 2001 Sep;58(9):1357-63.Comment in: Arch Neurol. 2001 Sep;58(9):1345-7.
Concurrent infection of the central nervous system by Borrelia burgdorferi and Bartonella henselae: evidence for a novel tick-borne disease complex.Eskow E, Rao RV, Mordechai E.
Hunterdon Medical Center, Flemington, NJ, USA.
OBJECTIVES: To investigate Bartonella henselae as a potential human tick-borne pathogen and to evaluate its role as a coinfecting agent of the central nervous system in the presence of neuroborreliosis. DESIGN: Case report study. SETTING: A primary health care center in Flemington, NJ, and the Department of Research and Development at Medical Diagnostic Laboratories LLC in Mt Laurel, NJ. SUBJECTS: Two male patients (aged 14 and 36 years) and 2 female patients (aged 15 and 30 years, respectively) with a history of tick bites and Lyme disease. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Laboratory and diagnostic findings before and after antimicrobial therapy. RESULTS: Patients residing in a Lyme-endemic area of New Jersey with ongoing symptoms attributed to chronic Lyme disease were evaluated for possible coinfection with Bartonella species. Elevated levels of B henselae-specific antibodies were found in these patients using the immunofluorescent assay. Bartonella henselae-specific DNA was detected in their blood. None of these patients exhibited the clinical characteristics of cat-scratch disease. Findings of cerebrospinal fluid analysis revealed the presence of both B henselae- and Borrelia burgdorferi-specific DNA. Bartonella henselae-specific DNA was also detected in live deer ticks obtained from the households of 2 of these patients. CONCLUSIONS: Our data implicate B henselae as a potential human tick-borne pathogen. Patients with a history of neuroborreliosis who have incomplete resolution of symptoms should be evaluated for B henselae infection.