Is there an acceptable time period to get treatment once a Borreliosis / Lyme disease infection is suspected?
A.12 – No. In Mandell, Douglas and Bennett’s “Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases, Alan Steere MD wrote: “It has been shown that virulent strains of Borrelia burgdorferi are able to resist elimination by phagocytic cells, thereby evading the first line in the host defence system against infection”. This assists an infection to disseminate quickly”. Dr Steere also wrote: “Borrelia burgdorferi seems to cross the cell monolayer at intracellular junctions, although it can penetrate through the cytoplasm of a cell. In a rat model, permeability changes in the blood-brain barrier began within 12 hours after inoculation with the spirochete, and the organism may be cultured from the cerebrospinal fluid within 24 hours”. With its ability to evade the host immune system, and its rapid penetration of the central nervous system, Borrelia has the ability to cause acute onset of neurological disease. Many experts would therefore agree that waiting for symptoms to appear before commencing a
