Raymond Dattwyler- 67 Studies in 22 Years

If Lyme disease is so easy to diagnose and easy to cure why has Raymond Dattwyler published 67 different studies on Lyme disease in the last 22 years (1986–2008) and why is he continuing to receive grants to research it? And why are so many people still sick, suffering and disabled after following his recommended “easy” and "cost-effective" treatment protocols?

1986- Dattwyler RJ, Thomas JA, Benach JL, Golightly MG.

Cellular immune response in Lyme disease: the response to mitogens, live Borrelia burgdorferi, NK cell function and lymphocyte subsets. Zentralbl Bakteriol Mikrobiol Hyg [A]. 1986 Dec;263(1-2):151-9. PMID: 2953150

2008- Del Rio B, Dattwyler RJ, Aroso M, Neves V, Meirelles L, Seegers JF, Gomes-Solecki M.

Oral immunization with recombinant Lactobacillus plantarum induces a protective immune response in the Lyme disease mouse model. Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2008 Jul 16. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 18632920

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If Lyme disease is so easily diagnosed and cured with "standard antibiotic treatment" why did Dattwyler say… "Diagnosis is not always straightforward, and is currently hampered by lack of a specific serologic assay"?

TITLE: Complications of Lyme borreliosis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=1580609&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b AUTHORS: Cooke WD; Dattwyler RJ AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Guthrie Foundation for Medical Research, Sayre, Pennsylvania 18840. SOURCE: Annu Rev Med 1992;43:93-103 ABSTRACT: Lyme borreliosis is the multisystem infectious disease caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi. Complications of this infection can involve many organ systems, especially the skin, joints, nervous system, and heart. These manifestations may be acute, or evolve slowly over months or years. Diagnosis is not always straightforward, and is currently hampered by lack of a specific serologic assay.``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

If Lyme disease is so easily cured with "standard antibiotic treatment" why did Dattwyler report that "Clinical studies have documented the efficacy of antibiotics, but therapy has failed in as many as 50% of cases of chronic infection" ?

TITLE: A perspective on the treatment of Lyme borreliosis. AUTHORS: Luft BJ; Gorevic PD; Halperin JJ; Volkman DJ Dattwyler RJ AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Department of Medicine, University of New York, Stony Brook 11794-8153. SOURCE: Rev Infect Dis 1989 Sep-Oct;11 Suppl 6:S1518-25 ABSTRACT: Clinical studies have documented the efficacy of antibiotics, but therapy has failed in as many as 50% of cases of chronic infection.

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If Lyme disease is so easily cured with "standard antibiotic treatment" why did Dattwyler write that "no treatment is considered universally effective" and why did Dattwyler specifically note "the high resistance rate of some B. burgdorferi strains."?

TITLE: Antibiotic treatment of Lyme borreliosis. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=2686769&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b AUTHORS: Dattwyler RJ; Luft BJ AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Department of Medicine, SUNY 11794. SOURCE: Biomed Pharmacother 1989;43(6):421-6 ABSTRACT: Unlike most bacterial infections, where diagnosis is by identification of the causal organism, diagnosis of infection by Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme's borreliosis) relies mostly upon indirect techniques. This situation has some short-comings. As long as no technology permits a microbiological diagnosis of this infection, controversy will exist as to the clinical symptoms and the criteria for the cure of the disease. Despite the lack of consensus upon both the clinical definition and the treatment of Lyme's borreliosis, it is widely agreed that the affection is best understood if regarded as a progressive general infectious disease. Indeed, following a bite with local infection, there occurs a fairly rapid dissemination of the spirochaetes. In vivo therapeutic trials have shown the potential effectiveness of beta-lactams and tetracyclines, but no treatment is considered universally effective. Most of the first trials were empirical, as antibiograms were not used. Antibiotic concentrations reached with some oral therapies are too low for the protection of certain sites such as the central nervous system. In vitro studies conducted on various strains of B. burgdorferi both in the US and in Europe are very enlightening. Among the more perplexing results of some of these studies, it is worth noting the high resistance rate of some B. burgdorferi strains to penicillin, reported by Johnson et al. and by Preac Mursic et al.

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If there is no such thing as “chronic Lyme disease”, why did Dattwyler report "We studied 17 patients who had presented with acute Lyme disease and received prompt treatment with oral antibiotics, but in whom chronic Lyme disease subsequently developed"?

TITLE: Seronegative Lyme disease. Dissociation of specific T- and B-lymphocyte responses to Borrelia burgdorferi [see comments] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=3054554&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b AUTHORS: Dattwyler RJ; Volkman DJ; Luft BJ; Halperin JJ; Thomas J; Golightly MG AUTHOR AFFILIATION: Department of Medicine, State University of New York, School of Medicine, Stony Brook 11794-8161. SOURCE: N Engl J Med 1988 Dec 1;319(22):1441-6 COMMENTS: Comment in: N Engl J Med 1989 May 11;320(19):1279-80 "The diagnosis of Lyme disease often depends on the measurement of serum antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi, the spirochete that causes this disorder. Although prompt treatment with antibiotics may abrogate the antibody response to the infection, symptoms persist in some patients. We studied 17 patients who had presented with acute Lyme disease and received prompt treatment with oral antibiotics, but in whom chronic Lyme disease subsequently developed. ...We conclude that the presence of chronic Lyme disease cannot be excluded by the absence of antibodies against B. burgdorferi and that a specific T-cell blastogenic response to B. burgdorferi is evidence of infection in seronegative patients with clinical indications of chronic Lyme disease."

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If Lyme disease is so easily cured with "standard antibiotic treatment" why did Dattwyler report on necessary therapy for "refractory Lyme disease"?

TITLE: Ceftriaxone as effective therapy in refractory Lyme disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=3572042&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b AUTHORS: Dattwyler RJ; Halperin JJ; Pass H; Luft BJ SOURCE: J Infect Dis 1987 Jun;155(6):1322-5 [No abstract available.]

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If Lyme disease is so easily cured with "standard antibiotic treatment" why did Dattwyler report that five Lyme disease patients "developed significant late complications, despite receiving tetracycline early in the course of their illness"?

TITLE: Failure of tetracycline therapy in early Lyme disease. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Entrez/query?uid=3580012&form=6&db=m&Dopt=b AUTHORS: Dattwyler RJ; Halperin JJ SOURCE: Arthritis Rheum 1987 Apr;30(4):448-50 ABSTRACT: We describe the clinical courses of 5 patients with Lyme disease who developed significant late complications, despite receiving tetracycline early in the course of their illness. All 5 patients had been treated for erythema chronicum migrans with a course of tetracycline that met or exceeded current recommendations. The late manifestations of Lyme disease included arthritis, cranial nerve palsy, peripheral neuropathy, chronic fatigue, and changes in mental function.

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If Lyme disease is so easily diagnosed and cured with "standard antibiotic treatment" why did Dattwyler warn that within 2 weeks of a tick bite Lyme can be in the spinal fluid/brain and it requires special attention with proper antibiotics?

JAMA. 1992 Mar 11;267(10):1364-7.

Erratum in:

JAMA 1992 Aug 19;268(7):872.

Comment in:

JAMA. 1992 Aug 19;268(7):872; author reply 873.

Invasion of the central nervous system by Borrelia burgdorferi in acute disseminated infection.

Luft BJ, Steinman CR, Neimark HC, Muralidhar B, Rush T, Finkel MF, Kunkel M, Dattwyler RJ. Department of Medicine, SUNY at Stony Brook 11794-8153.

OBJECTIVE--To determine central nervous system (CNS) involvement in acutely disseminated Borrelia burgdorferi infection by measurement of borrelia-specific DNA using the polymerase chain-reaction (PCR) assay and to compare the results of this with standard serological tests… PATIENTS--Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected from 12 patients with acute disseminated Lyme borreliosis with less than 2 weeks of active disease…. RESULTS--Eight of the 12 patients (four of six with multiple areas of erythema migrans and four of six with cranial neuritis without erythema migrans) had B burgdorferi-specific DNA in their CSF. Among the 12 patients studied, nine had acute cranial neuritis and six had multiple erythema migrans lesions. Just four of the eight who were found to have spirochetal DNA in their CSF had complaints suggestive of CNS infection. In three of the PCR-positive CSF samples, no other abnormalities were noted. None of 16 samples from controls were positive in the PCR assay. CONCLUSION--B burgdorferi can invade the CNS early in the course of infection. Careful consideration should be given to choosing antibiotics that achieve adequate CSF levels in patients with disseminated infection.