Volume 17, Number 12—December 2011
Another Dimension
The Life and Death of Anaplasma
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Setu Vora
This is the dark saga of Anaplasma phagocytophilum
That lurks inside white-footed mice and white-tailed deer.
Ferried by blood-thirsty ticks in the sticks,
This Anaplasma soul is passed on to its bodily incarnations—
Larva to nymph to tick.
A new generation of infected vampires is born.
Our love for the outdoors encroaches on tick territory.
A tick bite injects Anaplasma storming defender neutrophils,
Using MSP2 hooks to scale the walls.
Zombie neutrophils forget to defend—the aliens multiply into a morula.
Natural killer cells spew IFN-γ to inflame the fire
That reaches a feverish frenzy of cell death.
Now whether the man lives or dies, it is the end of the road for Anaplasma.
It has reached Moksha liberation from the cycles of death and rebirth.
Dr. Vora is a physician at Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Norwich, Connecticut. His research interests are adult medicine, lung diseases, intensive care, and sleep disorders.
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Table of Contents – Volume 17, Number 12—December 2011
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Page created: December 01, 2011
Page updated: April 02, 2012
Page reviewed: April 02, 2012
The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:
Setu Vora, Pulmonary Physicians of Norwich, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, 330 Washington St, Ste 430, Norwich, CT 06363, USA