posted
Does anyone know how many cases of Lyme Disease were reported to the CDC for each year: 2003, 2004, and 2005? This info should be in their MMWR data, shouldn't it? I've tried tapping their website but get nowhere. Would one of you far more savvy lymenetters help me out? I need the figures for a meeting with a state senator. Thank you!
Posts: 422 | From Luck home | Registered: Sep 2005
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I guess you know that lymeinfo.net has several quotes relating to the undercounting issue.
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
Hey Lou! Thanks. The links helped, but I still didn't find the 2004 or 2005 state or national figures. I did find some interesting stats tho.
Posts: 422 | From Luck home | Registered: Sep 2005
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-------------------- **Eat Chocolate** Posts: 942 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2005
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bettyg
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posted
Shucky darn, you folks posted those 2 links, and I just got back from spending about 1 hr. reading all the CDC stuff. Did you notice their CONTACT ME that gave their email addy?
There are a lot of inaccuracies in there of course. How about drawing their attention to them?
Me, I'm going to address the small font print on most of their stuff but the nice large, legible print size on their contact me & symptoms list, etc.
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posted
I posted those links because I didn't know if you wanted to use the total US figures or the ones from your own state.
When I contact legislators, I explain the undercounting problem, using official quotes, and then multiply my state's reported cases by that number. If you then do this for a period of ten years, for example, in endemic states this can be a large number, and apt to get the attention of the legislator!
The number of reported cases is also dependent on the counting procedure. CT several years ago stopped requiring labs to report lyme, leading to a nosedive in the numbers. This may have been the reason they changed the procedure, to minimize the epidemic. But it becomes important in the overall number of cases when an endemic state does something like this.
You might also be interested in knowing that the only other tickborne disease commonly found in association with lyme that is nationally reportable is ehrlichia. Here is an abstract showing it should have darn high numbers, but is obviously not being reported or even not being detected accurately either.
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Arch Virol Suppl. 2005;(19):147-56.
Ehrlichia under our noses and no one notices.
Walker DH.
Department of Pathology, Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX 77555-0609, USA.
Ehrlichia chaffeensis, an obligately intracellular bacterium, resides within a cytoplasmic vacuole in macrophages, establishes persistent infection in natural hosts such as white-tailed deer and canids, and is transmitted transstadially and during feeding by ticks, particularly Amblyomma americanum. Ehrlichial cell walls contain glycoproteins and a family of divergent 28 kDa proteins, but no peptidoglycan or lipopolysaccharide. The dense-cored ultrastructural form preferentially expresses certain glycoproteins, including a multiple repeat unit-containing adhesin. Ehrlichiae attach to L-selectin and E-selectin, inhibit phagolysosomal fusion, apoptosis, and JAK/STAT activation, and downregulate IL-12, IL-15, IL-18, TLR2 and 3, and CD14. Mouse models implicate overproduction of TNF-alpha by antigen-specific CD8 T lymphocytes in pathogenesis and strong type 1 CD4 and CD8 T lymphocyte responses, synergistic activities of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha, and IgG2a antibodies in immunity. Human monocytotropic ehrlichiosis (HME) manifests as a flu-like illness that progresses in severity to resemble toxic shock-like syndrome, with meningoencephalitis or adult respiratory distress syndrome in some patients, and requires hospitalization in half. In immunocompromised patients, HME acts as an overwhelming opportunistic infection. In one family physician's practice, active surveillance for three years revealed an incidence of 1000 cases per million population. Diagnosis employs serology or polymerase chain reaction, which are not utilized sufficiently to establish the true impact of this emerging virus-like illness.
Publication Types:
* Review
PMID: 16358425 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
Posts: 8430 | From Not available | Registered: Oct 2000
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posted
imanurse I could have looked at the CDC website until next year and never have come up with the goods! You did! Thank you so very much.
betty and lou thanks for your help too. Yes, I see lots of mistakes in their site.
One of our email contacts here in Wisconsin bent the ear of a political aid by using the WI 2003 figure of 1,090 representing only 10% of the actual Lyme cases for that year. He then explained that there are tens of thousands affected by Lyme--most of them chronic--and that all will be looking for and voting for Lyme-friendly legislators. Savvy, huh?
Thanks again.
Posts: 422 | From Luck home | Registered: Sep 2005
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bettyg
Unregistered
posted
Firecop, contact whoever diagnosed you CLNIICALLY, and request they contact your state's health dept.
I was my PCP's 1ST LYME dx, and he didn't do it since he wasn't aware he had too and also thought their HUGE LAB STAFF would do it, and they didn't either.
I'm going to copy/paste my comments on CDC site & start another thread. Bettyg
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