Investigating Lymes Disease Symptoms and Current Vaccines and Possible Future Ideas to Develop a New Vaccine. By: Nina M. Holz

Some Basic Background Information Regarding Ticks and Lymes Disease The tick that passes enables animals to contract Lymes Disease is called: Ixodes scapularis. The ticks generally feed on a wide variety of small mammals, birds, and reptiles, but prefer to feed on white-footed mice ( Peromyscus leucopus ), which are the important reservoir of infection in nature. Adults prefer to feed and mate on white-tailed deer. The infection is a bacteria called Borrelia burgdorferi. The ticks usually get infected from feeding on a infected host. Not all humans that get bite by ticks get Lymes diesease Only ticks that are infected with the bacteria can give Lymes to humans This is generally after a prolonged amount of time feeding on the human where they can also get Lymes disease

Internal Anatomy of a Tick Shown to the left is the internal anatomy of a tick. The picture shows the major areas involved in feeding and reproducing in the tick.

Early Onset Symptoms of Lymes Disease Within 1-4 weeks of being bitten by an infected tick, most people will experience some symptoms of Lyme disease. A circular, expanding rash (called erythema migrans) at the site of the bite develops in about 70%-80% of cases. Some people report flu-like symptoms at this stage, including fever, chills, headaches, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, joint pain, and muscle aches.” (WebMD)

Mid-Stage Onset Symptoms of Lymes Disease If the disease is not detected and treated in its early stages, it can extend to more areas of the body, affecting the joints, heart, and nervous system (about 1-4 months after the initial bite). Additional rashes may occur, and there may be intermittent periods of pain and weakness in the arms or legs. Facial-muscle paralysis (Bell's palsy), headaches, and poor memory are other symptoms at this stage, along with a rapid heartbeat and some loss of control of facial muscles.” (WebMD)

Late-Stage Onset Symptoms of Lymes Disease This is the most serious stage of the disease, when treatment was either not successful or never started (usually occurring many months after the initial bite). Joint inflammation (arthritis), typically in the knees, becomes apparent, and may become chronic. The nervous system can develop abnormal sensation because of disease of peripheral nerves (peripheral neuropathy), and confusion. Heart problems are less common, but can include inflammation of the heart muscle.” (WebMD)

Current Treatments for Lymes Disease Most Lyme disease is curable with antibiotics, particularly when the infection is diagnosed and treated early. Doxycycline, amoxicillin, and cefuroxime are the drugs of choice most of the time for early illness. Later stages might require longer-term, intravenous antibiotics, such as ceftriaxone.” (WebMD)

Vaccines made for Lymes Disease Currently, there is no human vaccine for Lyme disease. The one that did exist -- LYMErix -- is no longer available. Originally approved by the FDA in 1998 to help prevent the disease, the vaccine was pulled from the market by the manufacturer in 2002 due to poor sales. There was concern that the vaccine could trigger arthritis problems, although the FDA never found evidence that the vaccine was dangerous.” (WebMD)

Possible Ideas for a Future Vaccine for Lymes Disease Since the Salp15 protein is the protein that enables the bacteria to enter the host initially undetected, learning more about the protein anatomy and morphology would be beneficial. If there is some way to possibly degrade the protein so that the bacteria is exposed and becomes vulnerable, I think this would allow the host’s body to fight off the bacteria faster and more efficiently with hopefully less damage to the body.