Time to up awareness of Lyme Disease

By Meg Hughes
May 21, 2005

On April 15: In an unusual show of unity, more than half of California's legislators in both political parties have voted to pass a resolution declaring the first week of May Lyme Disease Awareness Week, according to Herb Dorken, Ph.D., volunteer legislative advocate for the all-volunteer nonprofit California Lyme Disease Association (CALDA), the resolution's sponsor. May 4 to 10 was California's first Lyme Disease Awareness Week.

I am writing this as a patient, caretaker for three other family members, and past co-leader of Sierra Foothills Lyme Disease Support Group, with experience extending more than fifteen years.

Lyme Disease is very serious and there are many diagnosed patients in our community. Tick borne Lyme Disease is a year-round problem in Nevada and Placer counties. Nymphs are most prevalent in spring and summer, with adult ticks active fall through spring. Many people don't identify or notice tick bites, particularly if they have been bitten by a nymph, which may be less than poppy-seed size. Nymphs are common in leaf litter under deciduous trees, especially under oaks and anywhere mice are numerous. Sitting on downed logs is especially risky, since nymphal ticks climb up on them.

The United States Center for Disease Control protocol states that Lyme Disease is a clinical diagnosis. The diagnosis is aided by additional information, including blood tests, which need to be interpreted carefully, according to several local doctors. It's important to note that the typical "bulls-eye rash" is seen in less than 60 percent of those who develop Lyme Disease. Most of the time the rash is not a classic "bull's eye," and rashes may show up later at other sites than the tick bite. People may not experience the flu-like symptoms.

When Lyme Disease is diagnosed promptly and treated properly, most people recover quickly. However a CALDA survey showed almost half the respondents had their diagnosis delayed four years because their doctors did not understand how to interpret the tests. People not treated early often develop chronic Lyme disease with crushing fatigue, cognitive dysfunction, neurological damage, arthritis, heart rhythm irregularities, vision or hearing deficits, or mental problems. People may be misdiagnosed with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, MS, or even a psychiatric illness.

Since the spirochetes can remain dormant for periods of months to years, even when treatment is given promptly, patients and doctors often believe that minimal antibiotic treatment has been effective. Many people who contact the Sierra Foothills Lyme Disease Support have originally been treated, assumed they were cured, and later have relapsed. It is also possible for reinfection to occur.

Lyme Disease may be complicated by co-infections. Ticks in California may also carry ehrlichia, a disease that also infects horses; babesia, a malaria-like parasite that infects red blood cells; and tularemia, or rabbit fever, a potential bioterrorism agent; and several other diseases.