The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last week released the webinar, HHS Working Group on Lyme and Other Tickborne Diseases presents: Vaccines for Lyme Disease – Past, present, and future, which looks at such issues as Why we need a vaccine for Lyme disease?, Potential vaccine strategies and targets for Lyme disease, A critical appraisal of LYMErix and lessons learned and Progress toward a second generation Lyme vaccine.
The webinar is moderated by Dr. Ben Beard is the Associate Director for Climate Change and Chief of the Bacterial Diseases Branch of CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases in Fort Collins, Colorado, where he coordinates CDC’s programs on Lyme disease, plague, and tularemia.
The CDC notes a Lyme disease vaccine is no longer available. The vaccine manufacturer discontinued production in 2002, citing insufficient consumer demand. Protection provided by this vaccine diminishes over time. Therefore, if you received the Lyme disease vaccine before 2002, you are probably no longer protected against Lyme disease.
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I’ve heard about a new ultraviolet machine called the UVLRx that’s being used for Lyme patients. It uses a fiber optic thread which is inserted directly into the vein and the treatment lasts for an hour, so all the blood is treated. Has anyone tried this?
The CDC and doctors in the West seem to think there is no way someone can contract Lyme in my area but I was bitten at age 10 in California and again at age 20 in Nevada. I was misdiagnosed with Arthritis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Peripheral Neuropathy, PTSD, Fibromyalgia and Somatic Pain Disorder. I was given so many drugs to treat all these symptoms that I was unable to walk, talk, work or feed myself. Once I was diagnosed 2 years ago I spent my entire life’s savings, cashed in my retirement and borrowed all the money I could to treat it because my insurance company would not acknowledge it was possible for me to have Lyme. Now that I am cured, they still won’t treat my nerves that were severely damaged by the disease. http://www.gofundme.com/xxfyz45w