From Lymedisease.org
Lyme pediatric specialist Charles Ray Jones, MD, compiled a list of common symptoms of infection in his young patients:
Dr. Jones has also documented congenital, or gestational, Lyme disease in some children he thinks were infected in utero or by breastfeeding. In these patients his suspicion is raised when the child has:
- severe fatigue unrelieved by rest
- insomnia
- headaches
- nausea, abdominal pain
- impaired concentration
- poor short-term memory
- inability to sustain attention
- difficulty thinking and expressing thoughts
- difficulty reading and writing
- being overwhelmed by schoolwork
- difficulty making decisions
- confusion
- uncharacteristic behavior
- outbursts and mood swings
- fevers/chills
- joint pain
- dizziness
- noise and light sensitivity
Dr. Jones has also documented congenital, or gestational, Lyme disease in some children he thinks were infected in utero or by breastfeeding. In these patients his suspicion is raised when the child has:
- frequent fevers
- increased incidence of ear and throat infections
- increased incidence of pneumonia
- irritability
- joint and body pain
- poor muscle tone
- gastroesophageal reflux
- small windpipe (tracheomalacia)
- cataracts and other eye problems
- developmental delay
- learning disabilities
- psychiatric manifestations
STUDIES ON CHILDREN & LYME: The development of chronic Lyme disease can affect the child physically, mentally, emotionally and create severe problems in the area of education. An early CDC study of 64 school children in NJ with Lyme disease indicated the following: median duration of illness at the time of interview was 363 days, mean number of school days missed because the child was too ill to attend was 103 days (a range of 2 to 548 days), median duration of home instruction was 98 days, with a range of 5 to 792 days, 78% of the parents stated that their children experienced a fall in grade point average during the time of illness.
A 1998 Columbia University study documents IQ improvement of 22 points in a 16-year-old after IV treatment for Lyme disease. A 2004 Columbia University Study shows children with Lyme disease had significantly more cognitive and psychiatric disturbances. Cognitive deficits were still found after controlling for anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and the study indicated Lyme in children may be accompanied by long-term neuropsychiatric disturbances, resulting in psychosocial and academic impairments. Regarding depression, parents indicated that 41% of children with LD had suicidal thoughts and 11% had made a suicide gesture. A 2008 study from Columbia Teacher’s College and the NYS Psychiatric Institute of 25 adolescents and 25 matched controls found in the Lyme group deficits in cognition (short-term visual memory, short term & delayed verbal memory, all forms of recognition), worse attendance, grades, and subjective reports of memory problems without differing in predisease achievement/depression. Deficits in visual memory exceeded deficits in verbal memory. Conclusion: adolescents with history of Lyme are at risk for long-term problems in cognition & school functioning. A 2002 study on Lyme disease in children describes how the Lyme bacteria persist in their gastrointestinal tract, perhaps one of the means by which it evades detection and eradication.
A 1998 Columbia University study documents IQ improvement of 22 points in a 16-year-old after IV treatment for Lyme disease. A 2004 Columbia University Study shows children with Lyme disease had significantly more cognitive and psychiatric disturbances. Cognitive deficits were still found after controlling for anxiety, depression, and fatigue, and the study indicated Lyme in children may be accompanied by long-term neuropsychiatric disturbances, resulting in psychosocial and academic impairments. Regarding depression, parents indicated that 41% of children with LD had suicidal thoughts and 11% had made a suicide gesture. A 2008 study from Columbia Teacher’s College and the NYS Psychiatric Institute of 25 adolescents and 25 matched controls found in the Lyme group deficits in cognition (short-term visual memory, short term & delayed verbal memory, all forms of recognition), worse attendance, grades, and subjective reports of memory problems without differing in predisease achievement/depression. Deficits in visual memory exceeded deficits in verbal memory. Conclusion: adolescents with history of Lyme are at risk for long-term problems in cognition & school functioning. A 2002 study on Lyme disease in children describes how the Lyme bacteria persist in their gastrointestinal tract, perhaps one of the means by which it evades detection and eradication.