March 29, 2024

Lyme 10 Times More Prevalent Than Reported

Posted by Carolyn Egeli
Leading Edge

Borrelia burgdorferi,the causative agent of Lyme disease

Borrelia burgdorferi,the causative agent of Lyme disease

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced that the actual number of Lyme disease diagnoses is 10 times that reported and that a full 96 percent of the revised 300,000 estimate occur in 13 states. Maryland is one of them.

For a map of the disease’s concentration, visit PBS’s NewsHour report “Why Lyme Disease Is 10 Times More Common Than Previously Thought.”

Much is unknown about the disease and diagnosis can be tricky. Fewer than half of patients diagnosed with Lyme recall a tick bite. Untreated, it can lead to severe health consequences.

Early diagnosis is key; however, it is not as simple as taking the tests in general use today. Even when diagnosed and treated, theĀ  treatment might do no more than end the symptoms but fail to eradicate the disease.

Up to 25 percent of patients treated for Lyme disease, and testing negative for the presence of the Lyme bacteria, continue to experience symptoms, sometimes for years, The Boston Globe reported last month. Its story spotlights a young woman whose persistent suffering was treated by the medical establishment as psychological.

CDC recommends that if you experience symptoms and live or have visited one of the 13 states to seek medical attention immediately.

  • Red, expanding rash called erythema migrans (EM)
  • Fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint aches, and swollen lymph nodes

Undiagnosed symptoms become milder but can later flair up in increasingly severe manners if left untreated.

ILADS, a nonprofit, international, multi-disciplinary medical society ,is dedicated to the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of Lyme and its associated diseases. The organization’s annual Lyme disease conference will be in San Diego next month. The conference includes a one-day basic course on Lyme disease for medical professionals.

Lyme disease can be devastating with increasingly severe consequences if undiagnosed.

We in Southern Maryland live in a woodland paradise just as paradisaical for deer-ticks, the culprits spreading the disease to humans. Talk with your medical professionals about ILADS and what more can be done for early diagnosis and successful long-term treatment.

 

 

Comments
One Response to “Lyme 10 Times More Prevalent Than Reported”
  1. Carolyn Egeli says:

    When I went online to comments about the PBS documentary on Lyme, it was enlightening to note, how inaccurate most viewed the map to be. Lyme is much more prevelant everywhere in the U.S., but it is not being reported or diagnosed as it should be.

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