EASTON — An educational meeting about Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses will be held at 6 p.m. Monday, July 21, at the Easton branch of the Talbot County Free Library.
Marilyn Williams, vice president of the Lyme Disease Association of the Eastern Shore, will be the speaker. She will educate attendees on how to recognize Lyme disease in adults and children, other common diseases ticks spread, the problems with current testing methods, how Lyme is treated and how to prevent tick bites.
“The bacteria which causes Lyme disease can be elusive,” Williams said. “It is often misdiagnosed as other illnesses, such as fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimers, Parkinson’s, ‘growing pains’ in children, depression and other psychiatric disorders, because the current testing methods are unreliable.”
In 2013, the Commonwealth of Virginia passed a law requiring that doctors who order testing for Lyme disease provide their patients with a disclosure informing them that blood tests for Lyme disease are unreliable and a negative test result does not necessarily mean the person doesn’t have an active infection. Attendees at the Easton event will learn when to suspect tick-borne diseases as a cause of health issues. The meeting is free and open to the public.
“This year seems to be extremely bad,” Williams said. “We’ve been hearing from a lot more people who have gotten sick from a tick bite this year.”
The Lyme Disease Association of the Eastern Shore of Maryland is a nonprofit organization which provides educational resources on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. The group meets monthly on the last Monday of the month in Salisbury.
For more information about the Easton event, contact the group at 410-749-LYME.
Steve
Posted by Stainsofpain (Member # 43417) on :
Awesome - wish I lived closer I would attend - It is about a 2.5 hr drive and I work full time - WIsh my area had something like this !!
Posted by steve1906 (Member # 16206) on :
Hey Stainsofpain, You probably already know of this web-site, but this Maryland's Lyme site.