Bugs
Disclaimer. This web site is for research and educational purposes only. The information given in this site is not intended to replace a therapeutic practitioner relationship.
Stealth bugs are pathogens that can hide in your body and cause long term disability. There are likely many such pathogens that are still unknown.
Stealth bugs can be conveniently divided using size and type. Here is a limited list of stealth bugs in rough order of size, big to little.
'Worm-like' parasites: Tapeworms, Whip worms, Thread worms, Trypanosomes, Strongyloides, Trichina
Fungi and yeasts: Candida, Coccidioidomycosis, Aspergillosis
Protozoa: Babesia, Amoeba, Giardia, Blastocystis, Plasmodium (malaria), Schistosomiasis
Bacteria with a cell wall: Borrelia, Bartonella, Rickettia, Anaplasma, Ehlichia, Coxiella
Cell wall deficient bacteria: Chlamydia, Mycoplasma
Viruses: Cytomegalovirus, Ebstein Barr Virus, Ross River Fever, Human Herpesvirus 6
As far as laboratory identification of stealth bugs is concerned there are problems in my opinion. It is easy to miss a stealth pathogen on lab testing. So history, symptoms and signs are vital to evaluate. Important parts of clinical history include travel, bites, similar symptoms in close contacts, what makes symptoms better or worse and response to various treatments. If I believe that you might have some unusual bug or if I find any unusual bugs or parasites on lab testing, it is likely that I will refer you to an infective disease specialist for confirmation and treatment.
Treatment principles: Start with the bigger bugs first. I am suspicious that some of the smaller pathogens live in the bigger ones. This has been proven by Murdoch university research and organisms that live inside another are called intracellular endosymbionts (Gofton et al. Parasites & Vectors, 2015, 8:345). So if you just target the small bugs they may just come out of hiding from the big bugs and reinfect you.
Herxing (symptoms caused by the dying of pathogens) should be minimized or avoided. Herxing can be minimized by starting with a low dose of bug killers, treating general conditions that are favouring bug activity and supporting detoxification systems, particularly the liver. It appears that mutations or polymorphisms that reduce the body's ability to methylate (MTHFR gene issues) may increase the likelihood of having bad herx or die-off reactions when treating bugs.
Use the safest bug killers available. Be well informed. Get practitioner advise. Don't treat on a 'whim' only but base decisions on evidence.
Avoiding too much sugar in the diet is very important. Sugar tends to depress the immune system and feed pathogens like yeasts.
Try and work out where and how you may have been infected and take precautions to avoid re-infection. Do you need to take anti-tick prevention measures around your property? How pure is your water supply? Do your pets need treatment? Are you aware of the risks of travel?
Another bug issue is chronic dental infections. See the page on dental issues for more information.
Don't underestimate parasitic worms and protozoa. If you have ever traveled in Africa, South America or parts of Asia or the Philippines and paddled in fresh water then, in my opinion, you have a high risk of having been exposed to schistosomiasis. I haver read that globally, this pathogen is second only to Malaria in significance as a human protozoan disease-causing organism. In my experience, it can cause intractable headaches as well as general fatigue. Major animal-human transmission of parasites occurs. If you have close contact with pets or other animals then you may be at risk. Also, eating poorly cooked meat will put you at risk.
Is there a Lyme stealth bug in Australia? I personally think that there is a 'lyme-like bug' in Australia. But it is not that common compared with all the other stealth bug issues I see. It often responds very well to treatment with a melaleuca oil product that comes from Australian tea tree ('98-Alive'). Treatment with this product usually causes a severe herx (of about three weeks) and then clearing of symptoms unless there is a significant co-infection not responsive to tea-tree. One of my patients consulted an Aboriginal healer about their lyme-like bug who told them they could get rid of it but he would need to brew up a tea tree remedy that they would need to take for a long time.
Australia has been shown to have the relapsing type of Borrelia (Gofton et al. Parasites & Vectors, 2015, 8:345). This research found the following species of medical significance: "Borrelia relapsing fever group sp., Bartonella henselae, novel 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia' spp.,Clostridium histolyticum, Rickettsia spp., and Leptospira inadai."
An unknown species of Borrelia has been found in an Australian echidna (Loh et al. Parasites & Vectors, 2016, 9:339). How it is transmitted and whether it can effect humans is still not known.
A species of trypanosome has been found in Australian koala bears (Trypanosoma irwini). How it is transmitted and whether it can effect humans is still not known.
Stealth bugs can be conveniently divided using size and type. Here is a limited list of stealth bugs in rough order of size, big to little.
'Worm-like' parasites: Tapeworms, Whip worms, Thread worms, Trypanosomes, Strongyloides, Trichina
Fungi and yeasts: Candida, Coccidioidomycosis, Aspergillosis
Protozoa: Babesia, Amoeba, Giardia, Blastocystis, Plasmodium (malaria), Schistosomiasis
Bacteria with a cell wall: Borrelia, Bartonella, Rickettia, Anaplasma, Ehlichia, Coxiella
Cell wall deficient bacteria: Chlamydia, Mycoplasma
Viruses: Cytomegalovirus, Ebstein Barr Virus, Ross River Fever, Human Herpesvirus 6
As far as laboratory identification of stealth bugs is concerned there are problems in my opinion. It is easy to miss a stealth pathogen on lab testing. So history, symptoms and signs are vital to evaluate. Important parts of clinical history include travel, bites, similar symptoms in close contacts, what makes symptoms better or worse and response to various treatments. If I believe that you might have some unusual bug or if I find any unusual bugs or parasites on lab testing, it is likely that I will refer you to an infective disease specialist for confirmation and treatment.
Treatment principles: Start with the bigger bugs first. I am suspicious that some of the smaller pathogens live in the bigger ones. This has been proven by Murdoch university research and organisms that live inside another are called intracellular endosymbionts (Gofton et al. Parasites & Vectors, 2015, 8:345). So if you just target the small bugs they may just come out of hiding from the big bugs and reinfect you.
Herxing (symptoms caused by the dying of pathogens) should be minimized or avoided. Herxing can be minimized by starting with a low dose of bug killers, treating general conditions that are favouring bug activity and supporting detoxification systems, particularly the liver. It appears that mutations or polymorphisms that reduce the body's ability to methylate (MTHFR gene issues) may increase the likelihood of having bad herx or die-off reactions when treating bugs.
Use the safest bug killers available. Be well informed. Get practitioner advise. Don't treat on a 'whim' only but base decisions on evidence.
Avoiding too much sugar in the diet is very important. Sugar tends to depress the immune system and feed pathogens like yeasts.
Try and work out where and how you may have been infected and take precautions to avoid re-infection. Do you need to take anti-tick prevention measures around your property? How pure is your water supply? Do your pets need treatment? Are you aware of the risks of travel?
Another bug issue is chronic dental infections. See the page on dental issues for more information.
Don't underestimate parasitic worms and protozoa. If you have ever traveled in Africa, South America or parts of Asia or the Philippines and paddled in fresh water then, in my opinion, you have a high risk of having been exposed to schistosomiasis. I haver read that globally, this pathogen is second only to Malaria in significance as a human protozoan disease-causing organism. In my experience, it can cause intractable headaches as well as general fatigue. Major animal-human transmission of parasites occurs. If you have close contact with pets or other animals then you may be at risk. Also, eating poorly cooked meat will put you at risk.
Is there a Lyme stealth bug in Australia? I personally think that there is a 'lyme-like bug' in Australia. But it is not that common compared with all the other stealth bug issues I see. It often responds very well to treatment with a melaleuca oil product that comes from Australian tea tree ('98-Alive'). Treatment with this product usually causes a severe herx (of about three weeks) and then clearing of symptoms unless there is a significant co-infection not responsive to tea-tree. One of my patients consulted an Aboriginal healer about their lyme-like bug who told them they could get rid of it but he would need to brew up a tea tree remedy that they would need to take for a long time.
Australia has been shown to have the relapsing type of Borrelia (Gofton et al. Parasites & Vectors, 2015, 8:345). This research found the following species of medical significance: "Borrelia relapsing fever group sp., Bartonella henselae, novel 'Candidatus Neoehrlichia' spp.,Clostridium histolyticum, Rickettsia spp., and Leptospira inadai."
An unknown species of Borrelia has been found in an Australian echidna (Loh et al. Parasites & Vectors, 2016, 9:339). How it is transmitted and whether it can effect humans is still not known.
A species of trypanosome has been found in Australian koala bears (Trypanosoma irwini). How it is transmitted and whether it can effect humans is still not known.
Images and content © D. Bird 2017