I-Newswire.com
New Study Predicts One-Third Increase in Number of Lyme Disease Cases per Year in the United States over a Ten-Year Period.
Published by the World International Lyme Disease Emergency Rescue Network ( www.WILDERNetwork.org ) a new study predicts the number of Lyme disease cases per year in the United States to grow a whole third from 2002 to 2012. The maximum possible predicted increase is two-thirds more. This means for every three people who have Lyme disease, there is an expected one more with a maximum possibility of two more.
It is important to note that data for this study was collected from the Federal Centers for Disease Control, who says that their published surveillance data may under-represent the actual number of cases in the US by as much as ten fold. This translates to an expected increase of at least 80,000 Lyme disease cases per year and up to a maximum of 160,000 cases per year by the year 2012.
Being the fastest growing vector-borne disease, an accurate estimation of individuals infected with Lyme disease is of major importance. However, there are larger questions regarding the actual number of Lyme disease cases including; how much is Lyme disease going to cost society in medical expenses and lost wages, and how much will it add to the disability benefits burden for taxpayers?
As children are much more likely to be infected than adults, the escalated incidence of pain and suffering of children and families may have a potentially disabling impact on America’s present and future workforce. Certainly, knowledge of the future magnitude of this disease will assist in better planning and implementation of infrastructure of our medical system for more efficient management of this disease.
Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by a tick bite; it is the most common tick-borne disease and the most rapidly emerging of all vector-borne diseases. Lyme disease can invade multiple systems in the human body, giving rise to a wide variation of symptoms and disabilities.