Can Lyme be transmitted sexually?

[JackieCalifornia]

I did a little research just now and didn't find anything definitive or even particularly helpful.

Has anyone out there read up on this topic or been advised by a doc/nurse one way or the other?

Thanks, everybody.

[youvegottobekidding]

Haha! Glad you enjoyed my punchy analysis of the CDC position!!!

The CDC repeatedly render themselves irrelevant in medical matters, yet get heaps of funding, so people take notice of tem.

My other favourite CDC example is their position on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. They insist it is all psychological, yet people with CFS are banned from donating blood, in case the recipients of the blood "catch" it. Ultra scientific that, isn't it?

[Ricobord]

"I expect with such blatant sitting on the fence like that, their genitals must hurt so much they are not having sex at all. "

LOL!  Glad to see you still have your sense of humor!  I was scratching my head at that quote, wondering about the contradiction of it all, when I got to your sentence above.  

It is scary to think that the same people who wrote that statement (and who issue official positions on medical matters) are a beacon of medical knowledge to the world, especially other countries without the resources to duplicate what the CDC does.  Shudder.

[mojogal]

It's like AIDS was when it first came on the scene. Nobody was absolutely certain of everything. The problem is Lyme doesn't get the attention AIDS got so we probably will not have any hard evidence for a long time.

[JackieCalifornia]

Oh, well said.  Sadly so, but well said.

My initial inclination was the same as your comment:  if syphilis spirochetes can swim their way into some very private places, then why not Lyme spirochetes?

Therefore ... I would assume it's possible until it is proven otherwise.  But that's just suspicious little old me.

[youvegottobekidding]

This blog post gives an overview of the evidence of possible sexual transmission in humans:
http://gotlyme.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/sexual-transmission-of-lyme-disease/
It has links to the research articles.

Here's what the CDC says:
“The CDC position on sexual intra-human Borrelia burgdorferi transmission is that it does not occur,” they argued in a recent statement. “We find no study that addresses sexual transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi among humans.”
Yet the CDC then went on to admit: “Conversely, we find no study supporting that sexual intra-human Borrelia burgdorferi transmission does not occur. Inferential data strongly suggest the possibility of human sexual transfer.”

I expect with such blatant sitting on the fence like that, their genitals must hurt so much they are not having sex at all.

Lyme disease is indisputably able to cross over the placenta, cross the blood brain barrier and also be transmitted via human breast milk. I think, therefore, it would be hard to construct a convincing explanation of why Bb in human semen will NOT lead to the infection of a sexual partner.
Perhaps I am biased because I am almost certain I gave lyme disease to my ex husband (and I don't even feel guilty about that) and I also met a guy in the Lyme clinic in Germany who was certain he had given lyme to his girlfriend.
Ho hum.

[mojogal]

You are welcome. It helps to have a friend who is a microbiologist. :)

[JackieCalifornia]

Thank you again, mojo, and thanks to your friend.

I just looked up 'Zika virus' on the CDC website, out of curiosity:

"Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus, has been isolated from sentinel monkeys, mosquitoes, and sick persons in Africa and Southeast Asia (1,2).

"Serologic surveys indicate that ZIKV infections can be relatively common among persons in southeastern Senegal and other areas of Africa, but that ZIKV-associated disease may be underreported or misdiagnosed.

"In 2007, a large outbreak of ZIKV infection occurred on Yap Island in the southwestern Pacific that infected ≈70% of the island’s inhabitants (3), which highlighted this virus as an emerging pathogen."

Interesting that Zika virus was found in SE Asia and on the far Western side of Africa, the closest part of Africa to the Americas -- more than 8,000 air miles.  

Thank you again, mojo, and to your friend for the data on Lyme and on Zika.

[mojogal]

FYI- My microbiologist friend sent this

Can Lyme disease be transmitted sexually?

There is no credible scientific evidence that Lyme disease can be spread from person-to-person through sexual contact. The biology of the Lyme spirochete is not consistent with sexual transmission, attempts to demonstrate sexual transmission in infected animals have all failed, and there has not been a single, adequately documented case of sexual transmission of Lyme disease reported in the scientific literature.

Zika virus may be transmitted sexually first case may have been found. Usually, transmitted by a mosquito.  AAAS, California Lyme Disease Association does not state that Lyme disease can be transmitted sexually.

[JackieCalifornia]

Thanks, mojo!  

Good information to have, seems odd that I haven't heard or read it discussed before.  

[mojogal]

Just wanted to add that a friend of mine who is a microbiologist, researched this and found no articles supporting sexual transmission of lyme anywhere.

[mojogal]

Ah, maybe that is why we are safe. Man to woman is more likely.

[youvegottobekidding]

Yes there are several articles online showing that it can be transmitted from men to women, no definite proof of transmission from women to men. They have found borrellia in human sperm.

I'm too wound up to dig out the articles but they aren't hard to find with Google.

[mojogal]

I did. I was concerned for my fiancée. My LLMD said she had never heard of it happening or read of it being sexually transmitted.