What is congenital Lyme disease?
When an infected mother can pass Lyme to her child before birth, and what families and physicians need to watch for afterward.
It has been shown that an infected mother can transmit the infection to the fetus, per the CDC, which can cause difficulties that often persist throughout a child's life. Symptoms in children can be devastating to the health and well-being of the whole family. Mothers often experience seemingly unrelated physical and psychiatric symptoms that are only diagnosed as Lyme once their child is diagnosed, or the other way around.
A congenital playlist of Kristina's interviews is available on her YouTube channel. The video above is a conversation with Lyme expert and retired LLMD Dr. Ron Wilson.
How Lyme can pass from mother to child
Untreated Lyme disease during pregnancy can lead to infection of the placenta, according to the CDC. Spread from mother to fetus is possible, though considered rare, leaving affected children to live with challenging, lifelong symptoms and debilitated parents to care for them. Classifying congenital Lyme as rare overlooks a key fact: the traditional blood test used to detect it fails 30 to 70 percent of the time.
Gestational (during pregnancy) Lyme and associated tick-borne diseases, by Dr. Ronald Wilson, OBGYN, LLMD. Ticks carrying Lyme are present across the US and most countries. Lyme is the most rapidly growing vector-borne illness in the US, with over 500,000 cases reported annually, and it is poorly understood in the context of pregnancy. Fetal consequences can include miscarriage, premature labor, cardiac and renal pathology, hydrocephalus, cortical blindness, IUGR, neonatal respiratory distress, fetal death, and SIDS.
"The following cites more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, including eight co-authored by IDSA/AAN/ACR 2020 Guidelines panelists, where Lyme disease in pregnancy was found to result in congenital infection of the newborn. These articles provide evidence of congenital infection with Lyme disease and adverse pregnancy outcomes in treated and untreated patients. Additional references are included in Appendix A."
What is pediatric Lyme, and what symptoms should you look for?
Difficulties can include psychiatric and physical symptoms. Every child is unique and can experience very different symptoms, even within the same family. If your child has one or more of these, seek an evaluation from a Lyme specialist (LLMD) educated in the most current science, findable through ILADS.org.
Physical symptoms
- Flu-like symptoms
- Body pain
- Arthritis
- Neuropathy
- Seizures
- Dizziness
- Constipation or diarrhea
- Sleep difficulties
- Vision irregularities
- Food sensitivities
- Bedwetting and urinary issues
- Chest pain and/or tachycardia
Publications from 2017 on Lyme borreliosis infection during pregnancy
- Gardner and other authors have conclusively shown that certain individuals infected with Borrelia acquired their disease gestationally. This is further supported by the finding of Borrelia in semen and by its similarity to how Treponema transmission has been documented in the literature.
- Transplacental transmission has been clearly documented in case reports of infected fetuses.
- Complicating diagnosis further, serologic testing of mothers in the post-partum period and their neonates is often negative, as shown in case reports.
- Over 70% of neonates with tissue-verified borreliosis at the time of delivery will not produce antibodies in sufficient quantity to be diagnosed as sero-positive.
- Negative serology in an infant does not rule out congenital infection, since the majority of infected infants will still screen negative.
- Transmission of Borrelia infection occurs via both zoonotic vectors and other humans.
- Congenital transfer is an established fact, and animal data, alongside other evidence, supports that sexual transfer can also occur.
- Maternal-to-fetal transfer of Borrelia can be clinically silent or unrecognized. If not successfully treated, infection can be lifelong, with latency, late activation, and reactivation all possible.
Points evident from current research
- Lack of tissue inflammation seen in tissues with evidence of spirochetes
- Significant discrepancy in maternal serology testing, often negative in mothers
- Positive cultures of spirochetes from fetal organs
- Effects of infection during the first trimester, during cardiac organogenesis
- Fetal growth restriction
- Mothers infected in "non-endemic" areas
Think a family member might be affected?
Start with a Lyme-literate physician who understands congenital and pediatric presentations, or reach out to Kristina directly through TXLA's support network.