Patients and physicians managing chronic illnesses are often unsure of what is causing the mysterious symptoms. They could be caused by autoimmune diseases or difficult-to-diagnose stealth infections. Flea-and tick-borne pathogens cause a variety of similar non-specific symptoms despite their distinct morphologies and pathogeneses. Furthermore, more than one pathogen can be transmitted during a single bite […]
What are Bacillary Angiomatosis and Bacillary Peliosis?
In a previous post we discussed the relatively short history of scientific recognition of Bartonella species infections (bartonellosis). Chronic Bartonella infection in the United States was only recognized at the end of the 20th century as symptoms began to be seen more frequently in HIV patients. Furthermore, symptoms tended to be more serious in these […]
How do researchers study the prevalence of Bartonella in people?
A question we are asked all the time is, “How likely is it that my symptoms are caused by Bartonella species?” This is a very difficult question to answer. The number of people who have been infected by Bartonella species in the general population is different than the number of people affected by particular symptoms. [...]
New Educational Resource Concerning Lyme Borreliosis in Humans
At Galaxy Diagnostics, one of our goals is to take new findings regarding flea and tick-borne diseases, like Lyme disease and bartonellosis, and develop educational resources for patients and the medical community. A couple of months ago, we helped break down the 2018 Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Report to Congress into a four-part series. […]
Galaxy Diagnostics Co-Founder Reflects on Differences Between Research and Commercial Diagnostic Testing
We asked Dr. Ricardo Maggi, co-founder and chief technical officer at Galaxy Diagnostics and research professor at North Carolina State University, “Galaxy Diagnostics is celebrating our 10-year anniversary in 2019. As one of the co-founders, what have you learned about laboratory medicine over the years?” In his reply, Dr. Maggi focused on the difference between […]
A Brief History of Three Diseases Caused by Bartonella
The oldest indication of human Bartonella infection (bartonellosis) was found in a tooth of a person who died about 4,000 years ago. The history of the scientific description of Bartonella is much shorter. Three acute diseases caused by these bacteria—trench fever, Carrión’s disease, and cat scratch disease—were only scientifically described starting toward the end of […]
