Health officials report increase in Lyme disease
7/13/09 | 6 comments
Health

Health officials report increase in Lyme disease


By The Associated Press

AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine health officials report back-to-back increases in confirmed or probable cases of Lyme disease in 2007 and 2008.

The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention said there were more than 900 cases of the tick-borne illness in humans last year, an increase of 72 percent. In 2007, there were 529 cases, a 57 percent increase, according to the center.

In 1997, 34 cases of Lyme disease were reported in Maine, the center has said.

Lyme disease is caused by bacteria transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected deer tick. Most common in southern and coastal Maine, Lyme is gradually moving up the state.

While the disease often causes symptoms such as joint pain and fatigue, it can be more serious. For some people, it brings fevers and meningitis-type symptoms.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to confirm a diagnosis.

“When we’re fortunate and people show up and tell us that they’ve had a tick, and then they get the rash and the rash is an expanding red rash at the site of the bite, that’s an easy diagnosis. The problem is, most people don’t remember a tick attachment and not everyone gets a rash,” said Dr. Bea Szantyr, a Lincoln-based physician who specializes in educating people about Lyme disease.

Gordon Smith, director of the Maine Medical Association, said it’s not uncommon for patients to disagree with some of the treatment decisions their doctors make.

Doctors had difficulty diagnosing what was wrong with Brunswick teenager Katonya Casterlin after she suffered an ear infection, 105.4-degree fever and meningitis-type symptoms, loss of the use of the left side of her body, and swelling on the right side.

Katonya’s family could be considered at high risk for two reasons: They live in Cumberland County, which along with York County has the most cases of Lyme disease in Maine, and they spend a lot of time outside on their 40-acre farm.

“We really don’t want to move. We love Maine. We just know that our choices to be outside people, farming and landscaping, means we’re always going to have to keep a full-length mirror in our bathroom and be like the primates and chimpanzees and pick each other for ticks,” said Katonya’s mother, Debbie Casterlin.

In May, two people were being treated for the disease at Waldo County General Hospital in Belfast, a hospital spokesperson reported at the time.

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Comments
6 comments on this item
On 7/12/09 at 8:53 PM, Cre8RoyalPalm wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Try keeping dogs and cats inside; or people inside anyplace in the summertime. It is impossible. I would wonder if the bite resembles and itches like a black fly or mosquito bite at first. Nothing in the article was mentioned about how the first signs of the bite appears. All that was mentioned are the after-effects of the bite - the rash. I guess the MCDCP would have more information.

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On 7/13/09 at 10:18 AM, anonon wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I was diagnosed with lyme disease 5 years ago.

I was working in my back yard on Mount Desert Island where the deer population has greatly increased due to no hunting laws,with that the increase in lyme diseases cases is very high in the area among humans and pets. I started out with a bite that was very itchy like a blackfly bite,then after a couple days I noticed a red rash forming around the bite which was very hot to the touch.I then started feeling like I was comming down with the flu,severe body aches,when I went to the doctors they said it was cellulitis infection under the skin,they put me on antibiotics for 6 weeks and it did nothing, I went to see another doctor and she brought in a book with the same kind of rash that I had and indicated that she wanted to start me on the antibiotics for lyme disease for 6 weeks and after about 3 weeks, my rash cleared up and the symptoms went away. If not treated they said it can go to a third stage and affect the thinking process in the brain. This is nothing to take lightly. I suggest that if you go out into the woods, make sure your socks are pulled up over your pant legs and your bare skin is covered.

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On 7/13/09 at 12:12 PM, bxr3main wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

I think more than ticks have it. I was bit by what is supposed to ba a harmless cross spider, the ones you see in gardens. They look more fierce than they are. I must have found a rabid one (figurative). The same symptoms of lyme emerged. doctors are dumber than scientists on the subject of lyme disease, so I stuck it out..it took six months, another 1000 gallons of clean non-bangorian fluids and excersize. The climax was with in days with dizzy and vomit. Exremely sore. It is a bite of crap. get the crap out of your body. wild is much more dense than human, that is all that disease is. A density of defense gained in the wild. If a little bug is living with the ingredients, we sure as hell can. Call me the doctor. Quit paying misprogonosers and pill poppers.

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On 7/13/09 at 2:30 PM, ParkAveJoe wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Lyme disease is very dangerous.

It is related to syphilis, and seems to be more difficult to diagnose and cure than syphilis.

I understand the rash around the bite does not always happen when people are infected.

As as for that stuff about if you remove a tick before a certain period of time after it first attached to you--how can you be sure how long it was attached before you found it?

This is nothing to take lightly.

If another vaccine isn't developed, I predict lyme disease will drastically curtail outdoor activities, including tourism.

Lyme disease is potentially devastating to health and the economy both.

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On 7/13/09 at 2:44 PM, ParkAveJoe wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Excellent radio broadcast on Lyme disease on NPR this past June .

You can listen and read about it here: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/06/19/segments/134687

Learning about this disease is a must for everyone, even in "urban" areas like NYC, where Lyme is also present.

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On 7/13/09 at 5:47 PM, FrankC wrote:         Repeated separate thumbs down will cause comment to be hidden

Here are some good links - One aspect that makes Lyme so difficult to diagnose, is that if not caught early enough (like syphilis) the symptoms are quite varied and effect people differently.

Dr. Burrascano's Guidelines 2008

http://www.ilads.org/lyme_disease/B_guidelines_12_17_08.pdf

ILADS

http://www.ilads.org/

Lyme Disease Foundation

www.lyme.org

Lyme Disease Association

www.lymenet.org

Columbia Lyme

http://www.columbia-lyme.org/index.html

When to Suspect Lyme

http://cassia.org/essay.htm

Cheryl's Lyme site

http://www.lymeinfo.net/lyme.html

Neuropsychiatric Lyme disease

http://www.lymeinfo.net/neuropsych.html

Kay's Lymesite

www.lymesite.com

The Lyme Conspiracy

http://www.jersey.net/~joebur/conspire.htm

The Dirty Truth About Lyme Disease Research

http://www.angelfire.com/biz/romarkaraoke/Lymetruth.html

Rash Diagnosis

http://www.nurseweek.com/news/features/02-08/lyme_web.asp

Maine on Lyme

http://maine.gov/dhhs/boh/ddc/_lyme/lyme_1.htm

BOOKS

Everything You Need to Know About Lyme Disease

Karen Vanderhoof-Forschner

Coping with Lyme Disease

Denise Lang

Cure Unknown

Pam Weintraub

The Lyme Solution

Dr. Kenneth Singleton

Biography of a Germ

Arno Karlan

The Widening Circle

Polly Murray

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