Notice to the media - Public Health Agency of Canada
OTTAWA, March 8 /CNW Telbec/ - National and international Lyme disease experts are gathering in Toronto to review existing Canadian Lyme disease guidelines and to identify future surveillance and research priorities.
Representatives participating in the two-day meeting will be reporting on the purpose of the meeting and the progress being made.
Access to the meeting room will be allowed 10 minutes before the group breaks for lunch to accommodate background shots.
Date ---- Thursday, March 9, 2006
Media Availability ------------------ 11:45 a.m. EST
Location -------- Regent Room (Main Level) Park Plaza Toronto Airport Hotel 33 Carlson Court Toronto, Ontario
For further information: Media Inquiries: Aggie Adamczyk, Public Health Agency of Canada, (613) 941-8189
Ann-OH
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2020
posted
Here is an article about the Canadian meeting on Lyme.
Sure enough, our guy at the front, Jim Wilson, head of the Canadian Ld Fd., was there. Still would like to know who else was consulted.
Maybe Jim will publish an article on their website.
Ann
Experts, activists attempt to bridge divide on Lyme disease rates in Canada Provided by: Canadian Press Written by: HELEN BRANSWELL Mar. 9, 2006
TORONTO (CP) - Experts and activists are attempting to bridge the divide on the controversial issue of Lyme disease diagnosis and prevalence in Canada.
A two-day meeting, which concluded Thursday, looked at issues related to how widespread the ticks which carry the disease are, how best to diagnose suspected cases and how to assess the rate of infection in this country.
While work will continue on some of the more contentious questions, the scientist leading the discussion said it was important to get a start on new guidelines. The current Canadian guidelines on diagnosing and treating the disease were drawn up in 1991.
"That's 15 years ago and there's no question there's so much new information about Lyme disease," said Dr. Harvey Artsob, chief of the division of zoonoses and special pathogens for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
"We just had to have the meeting. It's long overdue to update those guidelines."
Jim Wilson agreed. And the president of the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation was at peace with the idea that the meeting wouldn't answer all the issues his group has been advocating for, such as adopting diagnostics that appear to produce more positive tests.
"We're just glad we've been invited, that we are being given a voice in what's going to determine the future health of those who we represent," said Wilson, who suffered with the disease's debilitating symptoms for 3 1/2 years before being diagnosed and treated in the mid-1990s.
One area of agreement relates to the distribution of the blacklegged ticks that can carry the bacterium which causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi.
Those who say the disease is under-diagnosed in Canada argue infected ticks can be picked up in many parts of the country beyond the agreed-upon hot zones of Southern Ontario, southern British Columbia and in Lunenburg County, N.S.
Artsob said that while infected colonies are established in those areas - and perhaps in southeastern Manitoba - infected ticks can drop from passing birds in almost any part of the country. Ticks submitted to the National Microbiology Laboratory by veterinarians across the country are tested for the bacteria; those tests have shown there is a risk of infection outside the hot zones.
"We've shown there is a theoretical possibility that Canadians can get infected and have Lyme disease basically across Canada," Artsob said.
But the experts and the activists still do not agree on how many people suffer from Lyme disease in Canada. While Artsob acknowledges the current estimate of about 30 cases a year is too low, he doesn't believe Wilson's estimate of "thousands" of sufferers either.
"We don't have any hard evidence to suggest that at all," he said.
"We're sure that the numbers we have are not capturing all the true cases of Lyme disease that are occurring. We don't, however, necessarily agree with some of the figures that are being bandied about."
For Wilson, the top priority going forward is better testing. "Right now the lab testing is unacceptable from a victim's perspective."
But there is disagreement there too. A controversial laboratory in California uses a test that confirms as positive many cases ruled out by other labs. But Artsob said many are skeptical about that test, suggesting that while it may be more sensitive - and therefore picks up more true cases - it may also produce more false positives.
"We know none of the tests are perfect," he said.
Ticks pick up the bacterium when they feed on infected animals, including mice, squirrels and birds. These ticks can be as small as a head of a pin or as large as a pencil eraser, depending on the stage of development.
Typical symptoms of Lyme disease include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash that may look like a bull's eye around the site of the bite. Untreated, the infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.
Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, although laboratory testing may be helpful in the later stages of disease. Most cases can be treated successfully with antibiotics taken over several weeks.
The disease was first identified in Lyme, Conn., in 1975 after an abnormally large number of children developed signs of rheumatoid arthritis, a symptom of the disease.
posted
Good for the Canadian lymies. This is a world wide problem. If they make some progress, it will help everyone.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
| IP: Logged |
The Lyme Disease Network is a non-profit organization funded by individual donations. If you would like to support the Network and the LymeNet system of Web services, please send your donations to:
The
Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey 907 Pebble Creek Court,
Pennington,
NJ08534USA http://www.lymenet.org/
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
Printer-friendly view of this topic