I would be very sure to research the information on vaccines.  I am pro choice on the matter of vaccines but have talked to quite a few Lyme patients who can trace the onset of their Lyme disease symptoms  to a vaccination.

REPOST
source: tapes of the 1996 Boston Conference on Lyme Disease. This is a direct quote from the public forum.  It is from one of the most Lyme literate pediatric infectious disease doctors.  He is from Westchester county in New York.

"Dr. Cosaro:  "I'd like to comment from the point of view of pediatrics. This is something I do see on a regular basis.  If you have latent Lyme disease, that's Lyme disease unrecognized and you receive the standard immunizations, your disease can be reactivated instead of quieted......In the rheumatological literature it is well known that if you have active juvenile  rheumatoid arthritis, you should not receive any of the standard immunizations DPT, measles, flu shot because these are known to reactivate the arthritis phase of that disease.  The same thing happens in Lyme disease and I've seen a lot of patients who we clearly can state that their symptoms started within 2 weeks of receiving the measles, mumps, german measles shots, for instance, which is mandatory for 5 year olds in New York before they start kindergarden.  I see a number of children present with arthritis, children whose symptoms began within two weeks of receiving that immunization."
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The Lyme Disease Network
Conference Abstract


Title:Management of Patients with Lyme Disease: Reactivation of Latent Infection
Authors:Donta ST
Conference:10th Annual International Scientific Conference on Lyme Disease & Other Tick-Borne Disorders, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD April 28-30, 1997
Presenter:Sam T. Donta, M.D.
Professor of Medicine, Boston Univ. Medical School

Abstract:
In examining the various clinical courses of Lyme Disease in patients, several patterns can be observed that can be used as the basis for developing models of chronic infection. The clinical result of initial infection that is untreated or partially treated may be the progressive development of symptoms, a period of asymptomatic infection prior to the onset of symptoms, or no obvious clinical infection. The mechanisms responsible for these patterns likely involve both bacterial (e.g. initial inoculum size, antigenic variation, intracellular localization, toxins) and host (e.g. hormones, cytokines) factors.

Particularly intriguing is the issue of reinfection vs. reactivation of latent infection. Using examples of other chronic infectious diseases (e.g. tuberculosis, salmonellosis, herpes virus, syphilis), and analyses of patients with recurrent tick bites, patients who received Lyme vaccines, as well as other patients, including pregnant women, the evidence would seem to favor reactivation of latent infection vs reinfection in patients who were previously asymptomatic.

A better understanding of the microbial and host factors responsible for chronic infection should lead to better methods to diagnose and treat the disease.

Unique ID: 97LDF024
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(Source: AVN e mail board)

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