Drug prevents dangerous tick diseases

Lyme disease is the blight of countryside users but it may be prevented with a single injection, according to research published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology.

The US saw nearly 20,000 cases of Lyme disease in 2006 and there are up to 2,000 cases a year in the UK, a figure that is increasing steadily. Now scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colorado, USA, have developed an injection that protects against two severe diseases transmitted by tick bites: Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis.

“Along the North-eastern seaboard of the US, ticks are often co-infected with the bacteria that cause Lyme disease and Anaplasmosis,” says Dr Nordin Zeidner. “Currently there is no vaccine to protect against either organism. We have shown that a single injection of sustained-release antibiotics can prevent both diseases in mice.”

A single dose of doxycycline given orally is only 20-30% effective at preventing these diseases in mice. The researchers found that a new formulation of doxycycline hyclate that is programmed to release the drug over a 20 day period is 100% effective.

“The underlying copolymer formulation has been in use for over 20 years. It has no adverse effect on humans and it can be programmed to release a drug over several weeks to several months,” says Dr Zeidner. “We plan to test the doxycycline formulation to develop different release kinetics and delivery methods. For example, a slow release patch could be used in conjunction with current recommended protection against ticks, such as repellents and personal tick checks.”

Source: Society for General Microbiology

Related stories:

States ask baby product companies to avoid BPA
(AP) -- Attorneys general from Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware sent letters Friday to 11 companies that make baby bottles and baby formula containers, asking they no longer use the chemical bisphenol A in their manufacturing because they said it was potentially harmful to infants.
Pediatricians double vitamin D recommendations
(AP) -- The nation's leading pediatricians group says children from newborns to teens should get double the usually recommended amount of vitamin D because of evidence that it may help prevent serious diseases.
Limit on cold remedies for kids was FDA's idea
(AP) -- When drug makers made a surprise announcement this week that they no longer recommend cough and cold remedies for youngsters under 4, they didn't let on that it was the government's idea.
Moose killing riles Michigan town
Some residents of the town of Ishpeming, Mich., are furious at police officers and a state biologist who killed a female moose that wandered into town, leaving its twin calves to fend for themselves during the winter.
Blood test may soon find heart disease
The discovery of genetic markers showing the presence and intensity of coronary artery disease means that a diagnosis could be made with a simple blood test, said a Duke University cardiologist who led research on the link.
Visualizing election polls
Do you want to know the percentage of white women who support vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin? What about college-educated versus high school-educated white women? Or those who also hunt?
Jump seen in staph-linked flu deaths in kids
(AP) -- More children have died from flu because they also had staph infections, according to a new government report that urges parents to have their kids get the flu shot.
TB Bacterium Uses Its Sugar Coat To Sweeten Its Chances Of Living In Lungs
(PhysOrg.com) -- Common strains of tuberculosis-causing bacteria have hijacked the human body’s immune response to play tricks on cells in the lungs, scientists say.

News discussion:

Medicine & Health news