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Eradication of Borrelia Burgdoferi in vitro using Chlorine Dioxide: A Novel Approach

Lyme disease, which is caused by the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi is the most prevalent tick-borne illness in the world today and has grown into a major public health problem during the last decade, irrelevant to decades of efforts from various health professionals. The conventional treatment for Lyme disease is the use of a variety of antibiotics, but relapse often occurs when antibiotics are discontinued. There are several reasons why this relapse may occur, given that B. burgdorferi is a pleomorphic microorganism that can convert from vegetative spirochetes to a variety of different round bodies and biofilm colonies. Therefore, there is an urgent need for novel approaches that can eliminate all these different morphologies. This has challenged many health practitioners around the world, not to mention the suffering of many afflicted people. In this study, Chlorine dioxide (CD) at different concentrations was tested for its effectiveness in vitro against B. burgdorferi using combined fluorescent and darkfield microscopy with Live-or-Dye staining methods. Our experiments demonstrated that it is possible to completely eradicate all forms of B. burgdorferi at specific concentrations of Chlorine dioxide. Our extensive research has shown that Chlorine dioxide can be used for the eradication of B. burgdorferi morphologies. At certain concentrations of chlorine dioxide above 2 ppm the Borrelia morphologies appear to be eradicated as there is no motility of either spirochetes or round bodies, only biofilms visible. However, incubating again for another 7 days resulted in the Borrelia being motile again as they come out of the biofilms. We, therefore, decided to conduct each experiment with what we termed the Regrowth Kill Test (RKT) by incubating the initial sample with the CD in an incubator at 37 degrees centigrade in the Campypack for 7-days. It appeared that the biofilms that are quickly formed as soon as the CD is added in the initial experiment, broke up and released small spirochetes and round bodies of different morphologies. After numerous RKT experiments, it was determined that the concentration that resulted in a near complete disinfection of the spirochetes as well as round bodies was 30 ppm CD.