The US State of Illinois has designated May as Lyme Disease Awareness month throughout the ‘Land of Lincoln’. Again, it is worthwhile considering the narration of facts contained within the legislation which underpins the statute.
- In the United States, 35,000 to 45,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) each year; as it is estimated that only one out of every 10 cases of Lyme disease is reported, the actual number of diagnosed cases is closer to 476,000 annually;
- Since the late 20th century, there has been a dramatic increase in the Lyme disease infection rate each year, with infection rates having doubled from 3.74 cases per 100,000 to 7.95 cases per 100,000 since 1991, indicating that the disease is one of the fastest-growing infectious diseases in the United States and the western world;
- Lyme disease is difficult to diagnose as diagnostic tests analyse blood samples to look for the presence of antibodies, an immune response that may not be detectable in the blood until many weeks after the initial tick bite and infection;
- Up to 60% of acute cases of Lyme disease are misdiagnosed;
- Those who are diagnosed with the disease early and prescribed sufficient quantities of antibiotics may recover quickly;
- If the diagnosis is delayed or individuals are treated with insufficient antibiotic therapy, many experience late-stage symptoms that become chronic;
- A diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease for those who are not cured by antibiotics and who continue to suffer the apparent effects of the disease is controversial;
- The newest research seemingly validates the diagnosis of chronic Lyme disease and suggests that heretofore unknown bacterial persister cells remain dormant in the body, evading antibiotics and the immune system, before reinfecting the individual after the standard course of antibiotics has
been taken; - Public funding for Lyme disease research receives less than 2% of the funding allocated for researching West Nile virus and less than 0.2% of the funding that HIV/AIDS research receives, despite Lyme disease having annual case counts that dwarf those of both diseases;
