Ron Davis's trypanosome 'signature' finding (IIMER conference 2018)

The question which strikes me about this is whether this is another manifestation of the TH2 shift which according to Dr Cheney some viral infections can induce. EBV produces a viral IL-10 analogue for example, which is considered a TH2 cytokine.

The reason viruses evolve to do this is that the TH2 response tends to suppress the TH1 response due to feedback mechanisms. This makes sense for viruses because the TH1 response is aimed squarely at them, intracellular infections i.e. viruses inside cells, so by activating the TH2 pathway they take the heat off themselves and throw the immune system a red herring.

TH2 responses handle extracellular threats like trypanosomes.

So the question I am asking myself is, wouldn't a TH2 shift in progress activate the same immune genes as a trypanosome infection activating the TH2 pathway for real?

In other words if Ron does not find a trypanosome then he could look at finding out if there is a TH2 shift in progress due to another cause.

I guess first though he has to eliminate the obvious "looks like a duck" possibility.

 

I'm just guessing the latter would be more likely, because of the male-female ratio in ME? (Well, I confess I haven't read up on whether trypansome vectors choose their meals based on the gender offered on the menu)

 

cc : @Hip

The connection might be that EBV, Coxsackie Virus, HHV-6, Cytomegalovirus and many many more viruses disrupt Liver function :

Regarding Trypanosomes :

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27693222


Here is another list of viruses that may affect Liver function :

I hypothesize that Suramin is relevant to ME/CFS because it ameliorates Liver Injury :

EDIT : @Jonathan Edwards Would you like to comment on these two hypotheses?

 

Parasitic Illness From a Bug That Bites People at Night Is Spreading Worldwide, Doctors Warn

https://www.sciencealert.com/chagas-disease-parasite-spreading-and-causing-heart-problems-us-europe

Doesn't seem like there are any similarities to ME, but it does persist without symptoms (or so we think) in many cases. From wiki:

 

This current news article claims that there are 300,000 people in the US with Chagas and it is "spreading."

However, I strongly suspect that the news article is irresponsibly leading people to believe Chagas transmission is rampant in the U.S. when it is not.

This paper from 2011 says:

So, in all likelihood, when the current article claims that Chagas is "spreading" in the US, it is referring to a growing number of people who have been infected elsewhere, but who are now being recognized/diagnosed in the US.

 

video of the talk now posted here:
https://www.s4me.info/threads/ronald-w-davis-phds-presentation-at-the-iimec13.5793/

explanation of the typanosome/sleeping sickness connection around 32 minutes in.

 

just so... how funny when i read @alex3619 post on phoenix, where he was told something like "yes, if you had been to vietnam"
think, it was him who told here, he was born in africa ?
maybe i mix up

but funny, because i was in vietnam and asked for a test.
was told "yes, if you had been to africa previously"

i declared (by mail) i had been to africa previously.
then, when in the tropical hospital, they asked where...
when i said "egypt" they felt outright insulted

 

regarding parasite travels/transmissions:

1) for some 3000 years or more .. animals have traveled on ships - as foods, as pets/mice, rats, cats etc. insects and artrophods as well.
apart from the humans on board.
importing exotic "pets" has been popular since all times (snakes, budgies, exotic birds, monkeys)

2) migrating birds
they may travel all the 1000s of km with their mites on board. if not the bird, then the mite can be easily infected.

3) i remember some "study" or it was just an idea on some of these study publishing sites, where two guys wondered if vaccines could have been contaminated with trypanosomes.
why would they think that? its definitely possible, and vaccine contaminations with serious pathogens happen.
(sorry no link)

4) i saw some studies on publishing sites, that found trypanosoma in cattle in nordic countries and in france. they were looking for that. numbers were low.
but how much meat do we eat in a lifetime?
how often gets cattle bitten by mosquitoes, that may take up parasites when sucking blood and transfer them further ?
nobody checks for such parasites by default in our areas. only veterinaries may. in rare cases. tests are expensive and require much effort. what for - it so super rare, isnt it?
(sorry no link)

5) a lot of vectors can transfer trypanosomes. when only a few are named in the context of the parasite/pathogen, then because no other vectors have been tested. others are not ruled out. thats my take, may be wrong.

 

Climate change has been affecting vector borne disease for the past 10 years- it's one of the early indicators as entropy rates are higher for insects etc
Malaria in particular is now in places that were previously relatively free of the disease......