Lyme Borreliosis

This book is a compact clinical introduction to Lyme borreliosis for physicians of all specialties who care for patients with suspected B. burgdorferi infection, whether in hospital or general practice. The book provides a great deal of practice-oriented information on symptomatology, diagnosis, treatment, and prophylaxis with a special emphasis on the situation in Europe. At the same time, it describes contemporary scientific knowledge in as much detail as is required in order to understand the pathogenetic relationships and their relevance to medical care. The authors are members of an interdisciplinary expert group of epidemiologists, biologists, microbiologists, and clinicians who have been working in the area of tick-borne diseases for many years. The personal experience of each of the authors, accumulated through their daily work with patients in special clinics or by confrontation with complicated questions in basic research, epidemiology, and laboratory diagnostics of Lyme borreliosis, represents an important mainstay of the book. Written from the perspective of clinical management and practical problem-solving, this topical monograph will assist clinicians in meeting diagnostic challenges and providing appropriate medical aid to patients with Lyme borreliosis.

Auteur

Klaus P. Hunfeld, MD, MPH, has served since 2009 as a Consultant for Laboratory Medicine and Head of the Institute for Laboratory Medicine, Microbiology, and Infection Control at the Northwest Medical Center, an academic teaching hospital of the Medical Faculty, Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. In 2004 he obtained an MPH from Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA with a special focus on vector-borne and infectious diseases. Moreover, he is currently lecturing as an Adjunct Professor for medical microbiology, virology, and epidemiology of infection at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, and served as Professor for microbiology, virology, and hygiene at the Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Ruprecht-Karls University, Heidelberg, Germany, from 2011 to 2013. He is also a member of ESGBOR (European Study Group of Lyme borreliosis) and a section editor for the journal Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases. He is licensed as a physician and is board certified in medical microbiology, infection control, and laboratory medicine. His clinical and research focus has mainly been on the microbiology of infectious diseases caused by fastidious and vector-borne microorganisms, the rapid molecular diagnosis of pathogens in immune-compromised and septic patients, and the epidemiology and resistance mechanisms of multi drug resistant (MDR) microbes. Professor Jeremy Gray, PhD, Emeritus Professor of Animal Parasitology lectured in animal parasitology and the biology of zoonotic diseases at University College Dublin for 35 years. He is the author of many research articles and reviews on ticks and tick-borne diseases, and is the lead editor of a CABI book on the biology of Lyme borreliosis. He coordinated an EU Concerted Action on Lyme borreliosis (EUCALB) from 1993-1996 which involved 14 research groups in 9 different countries and he continued to edit the EUCALB website for a further 20 years. During this time the website served as an information resource for the EUCALB successor, ESGBOR (European Study Group of Lyme borreliosis), of which he was a founder member and which is one of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infections Diseases (ESCMID) study group. Although retired from routine university life he is still active in his field, is a subject editor for the journal Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases, is currently coediting a Pathogens Special Issue on human babesiosis, and is a member of the Ireland Health Protection Surveillance Centre sub-committee for vector-borne diseases.

Contenu

Chapter 1) Characteristics of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.- Chapter 2) Tick Ecology and Eco-epidemiology of Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato.- Chapter 3) Pathogenesis and Immune Defense.- Chapter 4) The History, Epidemiology, Clinical Manifestations and Treatment of Lyme Borreliosis.- Chapter 5) Special Aspects of Lyme Borreliosis in the United States.- Chapter 6) Laboratory Diagnosis of Lyme Borreliosis.- Chapter 7) Prophylactic Measures Including Future Perspectives.- Chapter 8) Public Health Aspects of Lyme Borreliosis - The German Experience.- Chapter 9) Other Ixodes-Borne Diseases.