Those in the Midwest often feel ignored when most literature states that Lyme disease rarely occurs in the Midwest and only the "hyper" endemic states are listed.
Here is an OLD article I found from 1999 discussing how tick-borne illness is under-recognized in Iowa. Sadly, little has changed.
Seven years later, people are still asked frequently by ducks in Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, etc "Did you travel to Wisconsin or the east coast, because we don't have Lyme here." ~~~~~~~~~~~
Researchers hope physicians request testing for tick-borne agents other than Lyme disease.
August 1999
CHICAGO - The prevalence of tick-borne illnesses in Iowa and other states in the upper Midwest may be under recognized and under reported, according to a study led by scientists at the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory.
The findings were presented here at the 99th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. Tom Gahan, public health microbiologist, Mary Gilchrist, PhD, director, the Hygienic Laboratory, Patricia M. Quinlisk, MD, at the Iowa Department of Public Health conducted the study.
The researchers analyzed 760 human blood samples collected in 1998 by health care providers in Iowa. Most of the samples (668) were initially submitted for testing for one of the several tick-borne organisms that can cause illness.
An additional 92 samples were tested that were originally submitted and found to be negative for enterovirus infections. Enteroviruses cause illnesses with symptoms similar to those of some tick-borne diseases.
When the blood samples were first sent to the laboratory, researchers tested for only one tick-borne illness, usually Lyme disease, as requested by the physician who submitted the sample.
Using these stored blood samples, the researchers then performed a retrospective study, testing for antibodies against six tick-borne diseases whose agents are known to exist in parts of Iowa and pose potential health risks to humans. In addition to Lyme disease, these diseases included Rocky Mountain spotted fever, typhus fever, human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE), human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) and babesiosis.
Of the 760 samples, 54 (7.1%) had elevated antibody levels indicating exposure to at least one of the six possible tick-borne agents. Of those 54, 19 showed evidence of a current or recent infection. Thirteen of the 19 were considered unexpected cases, since a tick-borne agent other than the agent initially requested for testing by the physician came back positive. Seven of the 19 infections detected were part of the enterovirus group.
"Our findings suggest that tick-borne illnesses may be under recognized by health care providers in Iowa," he said. "The public is somewhat aware of the risk of Lyme disease associated with tick bites, but it is less well known that a number of other diseases are attributed to organisms carried by ticks. Our hope is that physicians will become more aware of these other tick-borne agents, which will lead to more requests for laboratories like ours to test for these agents and get a better sense of what is out there," he said.
Gahan noted that the areas in the upper Midwest usually associated with Lyme disease are in Minnesota and Wisconsin. "However, I think other states that border the endemic areas may be experiencing the same thing we have found here in Iowa. There just are not a lot of requests from health professionals for testing for HGE, HME, and some of the lesser-known tick-borne illnesses at this time," he said.
Part of the problem for physicians may lie in diagnosing tick-borne diseases. For example, the "bull's eye" rash commonly associated with Lyme disease actually occurs in slightly more than half of the patients with the disease.
It is a similar situation with HGE and HME. These and other tick-related disease symptoms including low-grade fever, headache, malaise and a possible rash may resemble a flu-like illness, making initial recognition of a tick-borne disease less than clear-cut.
Since HGE and HME were only discovered in the past 10-15 years, many physicians may be unfamiliar with their occurrence and symptoms.
It is not known how long each of the six tick-borne agents studied by the researchers have been present in Iowa, but an increased prevalence may be partly due to an increase in the deer population over the past several decades. With more deer come more deer ticks, which carry these organisms.
Deer serve as sentinels in tick-borne disease detection, since they typically stay within a small geographic region and receive hundreds of tick bites each year. Hygienic Laboratory researchers have studied deer blood samples to assess the prevalence of tick-borne agents in Iowa.
"The key is to raise awareness among health professionals and the public, which will lead to better surveillance as well as prevention," said Gahan.
Posted by bettyg (Member # 6147) on :
Thanks for the article on Iowa.
You have some good suggestions you gave Tincup for our dream chronic lyme treatment center! Posted by JimBoB (Member # 8454) on :
Bravo Snoflake, for a good article.
I live IN Wisconsin, a HOTBED of Lyme. BUT undertreated, to be sure. ONE LLMD in the state. Actually TWO, but one is not taking any more patients.
I don't remember the population of Wisconsin as it is constantly changing, but I imagine it is over 6 million now. Guess I will have to look into that. BUT even if that figure isn't exactly accurate. Can you imagine ONE doctor trying to handle 6 MILLION possible patients in an endemic state?
What IF only 10% of the populace has symptoms and wants testing? That is 600,000 people.
WHAT does THAT tell you? DO our birds and animals ALWAYS stay here in Wisconsin? I don't remember hitting a big glass bubble when I flew out of here a few times. OR drove out for that matter.
SO WHO has the smarts enough to say there is no Lyme, (co-infection), problem in Iowa? Or should I say DUMBS?
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