Question 1

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. I took my General Biology class on a field trip at the end of the spring semester in late April to Cattus Island County Park in Toms River, New Jersey. We noticed many of us had these tiny ticks crawling on us. There is a huge controversy in the medical community about diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease. I know how debilitating chronic Lyme disease can be and have seen friends struggle with horrible chronic symptoms. The current guidelines call for limiting antibiotic treatment to a period of one month. Many physicians, however, disagree with these guidelines and continue to treat their patients for years with antibiotics. Some of these physicians have had their licenses to practice suspended for this reason. Insurance companies may refuse to pay for medication beyond this point.

There is an excellent documentary film that played this summer called “Under Our Skin.” Here is the movie trailer which highlights the issues: http://www.underourskin.com/watch.html

Write a response to the following discussion question in the Discussion forum:

What happened to the vaccine?

Why is the lab testing not definitive?

What do we do for patients with chronic effects?

Note. Initial answers to the discussion question must be substantive and in the range of 400-500 words. Any references used should be properly cited following APA formatting guidelines.

Question 2

Florida Vibrio Update

Read the article “Florida Vibrio update: 2 additional cases reported, one death in Brevard County”

“The Brevard case brings the state death tally due to V. vulnificus to six, while the total number of cases reported in 2014 to date rises to 28. Vibriosis (“vibrio”) is a rare but potentially dangerous infection associated with swimming in natural waters, particularly warm bodies of salt or brackish water, or from eating contaminated seafood (usually raw or undercooked oysters).” http://outbreaknewstoday.com/florida-vibrio-update-2-additional-cases-reported-one-death-in-brevard-county-82967/

Write a 400- to 500-word response on the V. vulnificus outbreak or on one of the other water borne-infections such as Amebiasis, Campylobacteriosis, Cryptosporidiosis, Cholera, E. Coli 0157:H7, Giardiasis, Hepatitis A, Legionellosis, Salmonellosis, or Polio. A great resource for the latest outbreaks is award winning ProMed Mail website which is used by microbiologists and epidemiologists world wide to track infection spread. http://www.promedmail.org/

Note. Please include at least two quality references. Any references used should be properly cited following APA formatting guidelines.