Week 3 ~ Could Lyme Disease Be Sexually Transmitted?

Deer tick on the right

Last spring it was recommended by my doctor that I have some blood tests done because I was feeling very fatigued all the time, as well as other symptoms that caused me to feel out of it most of the day. I have come across the term "brain fog" many times, which is definitely what I was experiencing. After reviewing the results, my physician highly suspected that I had Lyme. I don't ever remember being bitten by a deer tick, but since they are so small many people never realize they've been bitten. I have been camping every year since I was in elementary school and enjoy working outside during the summer, so the possibility that I had at one time or another been bitten by a deer tick was very likely. Lyme disease is becoming more and more common (or at least more people are being diagnosed with it). I have heard of many people around my town who have it and are being treated for it. This past summer I had a Lyme test done. My blood was taken and cultured for a certain amount of days. The results came back inconclusive, but my doctor was still leaning toward Lyme (apparently the Lyme tests are not very accurate). Then near the end of 2013 my sister ended up having her blood taken to be tested. Just like for me, our physician thinks she has Lyme as well. After meeting with our doctor many times, my family has noticed that she seems to focus a lot on Lyme disease and feels that it is the cause of many people's unknown symptoms. I was planning on starting treatment with antibiotics this month, but now my mom thinks we should get a second opinion first before moving forward.

I just recently came across an article discussing how Lyme disease could possibly be sexually transmitted. I have never heard this before or even thought about it, so it really peaked my interest. I have done quite a bit of research on Lyme disease ever since my doctor first suggested it, but I have never read or heard about this possibility. I decided to search for other articles to see what other information I could find. There was a study done recently that suggests that Lyme disease may be sexually transmitted. An abstract of the research was published in the January issue of the Journal of Investigative Medicine. According to the CDC, though, Lyme disease can only be transmitted through the bite of an infected tick.

Causative agent: B. burgdorferi

Lyme disease is a tickborne infection caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. This corkscrew-shaped bacteria is known as a spirochete, and it ironically resembles the agent of syphilis. The study that was done tested semen samples and vaginal secretions from three groups of patients: "control subjects without evidence of Lyme disease, random subjects who tested positive for Lyme disease, and married heterosexual couples engaging in unprotected sex who tested positive for the disease" (The Dispatch, 2014). All of the control subjects tested negative for B. burgdorferi in the semen samples and vaginal secretions. All the women with Lyme disease tested positive for the bacteria in vaginal secretions; however, only about half of the men with the disease tested positive for the spirochete in semen samples. One of the heterosexual couples with Lyme disease showed identical strains of B. burgdorferi in their genital secretions.

Since we just discussed last class about disease transmission, I thought this was an interesting topic to talk about. Even if the CDC is right and people cannot contract Lyme through sexual contact, it is an interesting idea to think about. If Lyme disease is in fact able to be transmitted sexually, that would explain why the disease is becoming more and more prevalent. In 2013, the CDC announced that Lyme disease is more common than previously thought, and there are over 300,000 new cases diagnosed each year in the United States.

I thought it was very interesting that one of the married couples had identical strains of the bacteria. Of course this could just be a coincidence or they could have been bitten around the same time in an area with ticks carrying the same strain, but this definitely supports the prediction. But this brings up the question why the other married couples did not have identical strains. They could have possibly both contracted the disease before they met or before they started having unprotected sex, but it doesn't seem like the study took into consideration when each person was diagnosed with Lyme.

I think there should definitely be more studies to research this Lyme STD theory. Even if it most likely seems that Lyme disease can only be transmitted by infected ticks, I believe it would be very beneficial for more research and studies to be done not only on this specific Lyme disease topic but on Lyme disease in general. Many people are being misdiagnosed and may never know they have Lyme disease (or may not find out for years), and others may be diagnosed with Lyme but not actually have it. From what I have learned about this disease over the past year, it seems that Lyme disease is not as researched as it should and could be. The more information we know, the better protected against it we can be. Reading about this STD prediction also got me thinking about other insect-borne diseases and if any of them have the possibility of being sexually transmitted. There is a lot to think about and consider when researching how diseases can be transmitted, but the more we learn about each disease and how they work the better we can be at preventing, treating, or managing them.


References
1. Borreli, L. (2014). Is Lyme Disease Contagious? Clues Hint That It May Be A Sexually Transmitted Disease. Medical Daily. Retrieved from http://www.medicaldaily.com/lyme-disease-contagious-clues-hint-it-may-be-sexually-transmitted-disease-267964
2. The Dispatch. (2014). Is There A Risk Of Getting Lyme Disease In The Bedroom? Yes, According To One Study. Retrieved from http://www.theglobaldispatch.com/is-there-a-risk-of-getting-lyme-disease-in-the-bedroom-yes-according-to-one-study-73842/
3. Photo (top): http://fyi.uwex.edu/news/files/2013/04/Deer-tick-on-right.jpg
4. Photo (bottom): http://cvmdl.uconn.edu/images/borrelia.jpg