Frontiers in Medicine (Oct 2020)

Borrelia miyamotoi Serology in a Clinical Population With Persistent Symptoms and Suspected Tick-Borne Illness

  • Shannon L. Delaney,
  • Shannon L. Delaney,
  • Lilly A. Murray,
  • Lilly A. Murray,
  • Claire E. Aasen,
  • Clair E. Bennett,
  • Clair E. Bennett,
  • Ellen Brown,
  • Ellen Brown,
  • Brian A. Fallon,
  • Brian A. Fallon

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2020.567350
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7

Abstract

Read online

Eighty-two patients seeking consultation for long-term sequalae after suspected tick-borne illness were consecutively tested for Borrelia miyamotoi antibodies using a recombinant glycerophosphodiester phosphodiesterase (GlpQ) enzyme immunoassay. Twenty-one of the 82 patients (26%) tested positive on the GlpQ IgG ELISA. Nearly all of the patients (98%) had no prior B. miyamotoi testing, indicating that clinicians rarely test for this emerging tick-borne pathogen. Compared to patients who solely tested positive for Lyme disease antibodies, patients with B. miyamotoi antibodies presented with significantly more sleepiness and pain. A prospective study is needed to ascertain the relationship between the presence of B. miyamotoi antibodies and persistent symptoms.

Keywords