Pennsylvania Lyme
Pennsylvania Governor, Tom Wolf reminded residents Thursday they can take steps to prevent mosquito and tick bites, highlighting the increase of Lyme disease cases in Pennsylvania over the past two years.
According to the 2016 Lyme disease data, more than 2,000 more cases of Lyme disease were reported in 2016 than in 2015. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) most recent data indicates that Pennsylvania leads the nation in Lyme disease cases.
“We know that mosquito and tick-borne illnesses are part of living in Pennsylvania,” Acting Health Secretary and Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine said. “In 2016 alone, there were more than 11,000 confirmed cases of Lyme disease. But there are easy ways to protect yourself and reduce your risk of illness.”
The first line of defense against Lyme disease and any other tick-borne illnesses is avoidance of tick-infested habitats, such as areas dense with shrubbery or tall grass. Proper use of personal protective measures such as repellents and protective clothing, and checking for and removing attached ticks is also an important deterrent to tick-related complications.
According to a Lancaster Online report today, staff writer, Heather Stauffer writes: WellSpan Health doctors have treated more than 900 patients in Lancaster and Lebanon counties for Lyme disease in the last two months.
And, regional medical director Dr. Marijka A. Grey said in an email Thursday, more than 400 of those were in the last week.
Global Lyme Diagnostics
Global Lyme Diagnostics has announced that Dr. Mark Filidei, and Dr. Jodie Dashore have joined GLD’s Scientific Advisory Board.
“We are very pleased to have Dr. Filidei and Dr. Dashore join our Scientific Advisory Board. Their clinical advice will be extremely valuable in furthering GLD’s science to help the global Lyme community, ” stated Mickey Ramchandani, CEO of Global Lyme Diagnostics. “Misdiagnosis is a core issue, as Lyme Disease can masquerade as many things – juvenile arthritis, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis and a host of other diseases. We are passionate about providing a diagnostic solution that decreases the misdiagnosis of Lyme Disease.”
The origins of the Lyme controversy
In a blog post on the Lyme Action Network website, the author describes events starting in the 1970s that led to the controversy we see today concerning the tick borne disease.
LISTEN: Lyme advocate discusses CDC MMWR Chronic Lyme article
Lyme disease and climate change
Cases of Lyme disease in the U.S. have nearly tripled in the last two decades—and experts say this spike is partly due to climate change. Vox put out this video discussing this situation.
Related:
- A new Lyme disease test: Dr Richard Marconi discusses the GLD Test
- Lyme disease, Stevia and the quest for better treatments
- Vaccines: How they work and some common misconceptions
- Lyme disease: Borrelia biofilm in the body demonstrated
- 23andMe: USF professor warns of privacy risks
- Powassan virus: The spread is inevitable
- Lyme disease still has a big cost to society when it comes to outdoor activities: Yale researchers
- Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome: UND researchers seek treatment
- Lyme Disease Biobank launched, one-stop access to patient samples
- Babesiosis cases likely on the rise