Active clinical trials for "Tick-Borne Diseases"

Background: Each year, the number of cases of tick-borne diseases increases. The deer tick (Ixodes scapularis) is the vector of at least 7 pathogens that cause human diseases, including Lyme disease. Researchers want to learn more to help them develop vaccines against ticks in the future. Objective: To learn how people s bodies, particularly the skin, respond to tick bites. Eligibility: Healthy adults aged 18 years and older who have no known history of a tick-borne disease or tick bite exposure. Design: Participants will be screened with a medical history, physical exam, and blood tests. Participants will have 2 skin punch biopsies of healthy skin. For this, a sharp instrument will be used to remove a round plug of skin about the size of a pencil eraser. Participants will then have 10 clean laboratory-bred ticks placed at 2 different sites on their skin (20 ticks total). The ticks will be removed from the first site 1 day after placement and from the second site 2-4 days after placement. Participants will complete symptom diary cards. They will answer questions about itching at the tick feeding sites. They will give blood samples. Photos will be taken of the tick feeding sites. Skin punch biopsies will be collected at the sites of the tick bites. Participants will repeat the tick feeding procedures 2 times, each 2-8 weeks apart. For the 2nd and 3rd procedures, 10 clean laboratory-bred ticks will be placed at 1 site. The ticks will be removed 2-3 days after tick placement. They will have telephone follow-up visits after each procedure. After the final tick removal, participants will have follow-up visits in 4-6 weeks and again in 3 months. They will give blood samples and discuss how they are feeling. Participation will last about 5-7 months.

The purpose of this pilot study is to assess the feasibility of longitudinal neurodevelopmental evaluation of fetuses and infants exposed to Lyme disease in utero. Participants with Lyme disease or Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome (PTLDS) will be recruited during pregnancy. Pregnancies will be monitored and infant development will be assessed from birth until age 18 months.

Background: Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States, but other diseases transmitted by ticks have also been on the rise in recent years. Early symptoms of a tickborne disease include fever, headache, fatigue and possible rash. Researchers want to collect information and samples from people with Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses to better understand and diagnose these diseases. Objective: To evaluate and follow people with tick-borne diseases to help researchers learn more about these infections. Eligibility: People ages 18 and older who have or are suspected of having a tick-borne infection. Design: Participants will have an initial visit, and visits about 1, 6, and 12 months later. The visits can include a physical exam, blood tests, collection of blood, urine and saliva samples for research, and filling out health-related questionnaires. Participants who have the rash of Lyme disease may be invited to have up to 3 skin punch biopsies of the rash for research.

This was an open label trial of a non-US licensed vaccine for tick-borne encephalitis. The vaccine was licensed by Baxter, and now following an acquisition by Pfizer Inc in Vienna, Austria since 2001, and has an extensive safety record in multiple European countries. Field effectiveness studies suggest > 99 percent protection against disease transmitted by the natural routes of either tick bite or ingestion of contaminated, unpasteurized milk. The vaccine is also considered to be effective against laboratory exposures and is used routinely for this purpose in European laboratories. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health acknowledge the effectiveness of the vaccine by allowing those who have received it to study tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in isolation facilities rated at BSL-3 rather than the more stringent BSL-4, with the exception of the Russian Spring-Summer Encephalitis strain. Subjects were recruited from personnel at 2 intramural campuses of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who may be exposed accidentally to any strain or serotype of viable TBEV. Approximately 160 individuals were eligible to participate. The rapid immunization schedule (injections on Days 0, 14, and 161) was used and subjects had labs drawn 21 days after the 2nd, 3rd and 4th vaccine injections to determine seroconversion. Subjects that seroconverted to TBEV were offered a booster dose of the vaccine 3 years from the date of receipt of the third dose of the vaccine. Subjects that were seropositive at entry into the study were offered a booster dose of the vaccine every 3 years from Day 0.

This is a large study of an educational program on Lyme disease prevention for passengers on ferry boats going to Nantucket Island during the period from Memorial Day until Labor Day. Some boats provide passengers with the experimental program and the other boats provide a "control" program that the researchers can compare to the experimental program. The experimental program uses live performances by entertainers to teach people about Lyme disease prevention, and also uses additional printed materials. People on the control boats receive education on injury prevention and road safety while bicycling, rollerblading, and using mopeds. The main result we will look for is Lyme disease identified by a followup survey and confirmed by reviewing medical records. We will also ask some people to take part in a smaller study of behavior change. In this study, we will ask people to complete forms on self-efficacy (a person's belief in his or her ability to reach a certain goal), their plans to take preventive steps, and actual prevention behaviors. We also ask participants who report doctor visits or illness to provide confirmation of their use of health services.

Lyme and other tick-borne diseases pose a significant health threat to outdoor workers. This study is a double-blind randomized controlled trial of outdoor workers in Rhode Island and the surrounding area that will address the following study aims: 1) Evaluate the effectiveness of LLPI clothing in preventing tick bites among outdoor workers in Lyme endemic areas; 2) Measure the urine levels of permethrin metabolites in study subjects; and 3) Measure the loss over time of knockdown activity against ticks and of permethrin in LLPI clothing.

The proposed study is a collaboration between Microbiology, SU/Sahlgrenska and the Infectious Diseases clinic at SU/Östra as well as several Infectious Diseases clinics throughout Sweden aiming at improving microbiological diagnostic assays regarding the early identification of tick-borne microorganisms (including as of yet unidentified pathogens) capable of causing human disease using modern diagnostic tools. At the initial study visit (day 0) plasma, serum, urine, saliva, and PBMCs (and tick, if available) will be collected from patients developing fever within two weeks after a tick bite. Additional follow-up samples will be obtained after 9 and 30 days as well as after 6 months. The initial samples will be analyzed using (a) directed multiplex PCR analysis for Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE), Borrelia, Anaplasma, Neoerlichia, Rickettsia, Coxiella, Tularemia, and Babesiosis in plasma, whole blood and urine, (b) conventional IgM and IgG serology for TBE, (c) "Next Generation Sequencing" (NGS) for the detection of bacterial 16s rRNA as well as unknown viruses, (d) potential biomarkers, and (e) host genetic factors. Among patients where initial sampling indicates the presence of a potential pathogen or in patients developing neurological symptoms, a lumbar puncture will be performed and CSF will be further analyzed. Samples will also be evaluated regarding potential microbiological factors predisposing for severity of infection. The primary objective of the study is to improve diagnostic tools in the initial early phase of infections caused by tick-borne pathogens, especially TBE prior to the affliction of the central nervous system, and to attempt to identify which factors impact the course of infection as it is believed that approximately 75% of infected individuals resolve their infection in this first phase whereas others develop meningoencephalitis with significant subsequent neurological sequelae. Secondary objectives of the study include investigating for the presence of and treating other tick-borne pathogens, setting the stage for coming clinical trials evaluating novel anti-viral therapies for TBE.

The study will use several laboratory diagnoses in the diagnosis of patients with fever，to find out which will be more helpful for making an accurate diagnosis in the early period of Tickborne Diseases.

Anaplasmosis is a tick-borne transmitted infection. Its clinical expression include fever, cytopenia and hepatitis.This infection was initially described in United States. In Europe, its epidemiology is not well known. Some isolated cases have been diagnosed in several country, were the tick Ixodes ricinus is known to transmitted another infection :the Lyme borreliosis.The purpose of our study is to look systematically for Anaplasmosis, in patient living in Eastern France, and presenting with compatible clinical symptoms using a new diagnosis tool : PCR in blood samples. So we will have new data about epidemiology in our country and the clinical symptoms that are associated with Anaplasmosis.