We think it is staph... we're not sure yet. It's definitely a bacterium. Some people treated with antibiotics have now been without symptoms for over ten years. My rashes, eye and heart symptoms were knocked out as of September 1998 after eight weeks of treatment of my own design. There has been no return of Lupus symptoms. I believe that it initially starts with another pathogen and the Lupus symptoms are a secondary infection in addition to the original that must be present. Evidence indicates that if the first pathogen is suppressed then the Lupus can go into remission because of the interaction between the two pathogens. Ergo, there is more than one way to go after this disease. Taking out either pathogen causes the Lupus complex to collapse.