[SarahO]

HME Ehrlichiosis WITH lyme disease is much worse neurologically than either by itself, as seen in this excerpt from this abstract from pubmed. I had that combo and got really sick fast so that would help explain it!!!
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1: Int J Parasitol. 2006 May 1;36(5):601-5. Epub 2006 Mar 6.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum-infected neutrophils enhance transmigration of Borrelia burgdorferi across the human blood brain barrier in vitro.

Nyarko E, Grab DJ, Dumler JS.
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA.

More B. burgdorferi crossed both human BMEC and EA.hy926 cells in the presence of A. phagocytophilum-infected neutrophils than with uninfected neutrophils without affecting endothelial cell integrity. Such a mechanism may contribute to increased blood and tissue spirochete loads.

PMID: 16600247
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...ubmed_RVDocSum

and here you see how truly NEURO sick it can make you!!!!
EXCERPT

1: Clin Vaccine Immunol. 2007 Nov;14(11):1420-4. Epub 2007 Sep 26. Links

Anaplasma phagocytophilum-Borrelia burgdorferi coinfection enhances chemokine, cytokine, and matrix metalloprotease expression by human brain microvascular endothelial cells.


Grab DJ, Nyarko E, Barat NC, Nikolskaia OV, Dumler JS.
Department of Pediatrics, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 200 North Wolfe Street, Room 3147, Baltimore, MD 21287, USA. dgrab@jhmi.edu

(this coinfection) enhanced or synergistically increased production of MMPs (MMP-1, -3, -7, -8, and -9), cytokines (interleukin 6 [IL-6], IL-10, and tumor necrosis factor alpha), and chemokines (IL-8 and macrophage inflammatory protein 1alpha) known to affect vascular permeability and inflammatory responses.

PMID: 17898182
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1...RVAbstractPlus