Lyme disease walk takes place Saturday

New Lenox fund-raiser: Awareness raised in Will County about affliction, prevention

By Janet Lundquist
STAFF WRITER

NEW LENOX — Lyme disease has a personal meaning for Maureen Johnson.

It formed about seven years ago, after her husband Russell was bitten by a tick.

He contracted Lyme disease from the bite, which touched off a struggle to diagnose him and find effective treatment that took the family out of state. It took two years of treatment to fight back the disease, she said.

"If we had known what we know now seven years ago, we would have been able to react at the first warning," said Johnson, of New Lenox. "Once his health stabilized, I got involved with awareness on the state level."

As part of her effort to make others aware of the disease, Johnson has organized the third annual Lyme Disease Foundation Walk-A-Thon, which will be held at 9 a.m. Saturday in New Lenox.

The walk will begin and end at Martino Junior High, 731 E. Joliet Highway. Registration begins at 8 a.m. Pre-registration is preferred but is not necessary, Johnson said.

Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, lupus or chronic fatigue syndrome. Its initial symptoms are fairly general — flu-like, rashes, fatigue, headache, muscle aches and fever.

The Will County Health Department plans to closely monitor area Lyme disease activity. Plans for enhanced surveillance come in the wake of significant disease increases reported across northern Illinois during 2004.

Lyme disease is a progressive and potentially serious infection transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected deer tick. Illinois Lyme disease cases increased 317.6 percent from 1999 to 2003, and entomologists believe the tick most often implicated in disease transmission is now firmly established throughout northern Illinois.

Lyme disease was recognized in 1977, when unexplained arthritis was increasingly reported among children living in Connecticut. The disease is most common to northeastern and mid-Atlantic states, northwestern California, plus areas of Wisconsin, northern Illinois, Minnesota and Michigan.

More than 17,000 U.S. cases were reported during 2004 and the 2005 totals are expected to be much higher.

Entomologists reported that disease-carrying ticks had been identified in several Illinois counties, including Kankakee, Will and Winnebago. Will County cases totaled 22 during 2004, up from just nine the previous year.

Johnson, who has been working locally to raise awareness for about five years, said her efforts have helped some, but not enough.

Her message: take Lyme disease seriously. If you are bitten by a tick and start to see symptoms, seek immediate medical attention.

"Don't brush it off casually," Johnson said. "Whether you have the rashes or something else, it's not something that's going to go away."