Just as Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber this year announced his Lyme disease diagnosis, bringing new attention to the illness, a University of Guelph research lab has published a paper intended to improve testing, treatment and patient prognosis.
The paper, which is likely the most comprehensive scientific review of the disease microbiology, gives researchers an up-to-date summary of what’s known about the tick-borne illness and suggests avenues for further study.
Lead author Melanie Wills, director of the G. Magnotta Lyme Disease Research Lab at U of G, said the paper is “the most wide-ranging review ever to our knowledge of the peer-reviewed literature” on the complex underpinnings of diagnostic and treatment challenges associated with the illness.
Based on more than 350 research studies published in North America and Europe over the past four decades, the new paper recently appeared in the journal Pathogens.
Wills said the paper is intended to help researchers and clinicians better understand the complex disease by exploring the underlying microbiology and identifying knowledge gaps.
In her U of G lab, scientists are now looking at genetic susceptibility to chronic illness, pathogen diversity and how the micro-organism evades antibiotics.
Read more at University of Guelph
