For your information I herewith submit the latest thinking from the IDSA. At this point I am beyond the chewing on the carpet stage and want to know how you respond to the statements which I submit to you below. I would love to know the basis for what the man is saying. I find the thing simply incredible. It is voodoo pure and simple, without even any blue paint. Cheers.
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Media Contact: Shelbi Ladd Sheena Quinn 312/558-1770
Infectious Disease Experts Offer Advice to Prevent and Treat Lyme Disease
[May 24, 2006] - It's tick season, but gardeners, hikers, and others enjoying the great outdoors shouldn't let concerns about Lyme disease keep them inside. A few tips to keep ticks away, and some advice from infectious diseases doctors about Lyme disease, should help you enjoy the spring and summer weather, according to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), a medical professional association representing the nation's foremost experts in Lyme and other infectious diseases. ``With tick season upon us, it's important to put Lyme disease into perspective,'' said Gary P. Wormser, MD, chairman of the IDSA expert panel on Lyme disease and chief, division of infectious diseases, department of medicine, New York Medical College, Valhalla. ``The vast majority, more than 95 percent, of people who do contract the disease are easily treated and cured with short-term antibiotic therapy.'' Lyme disease caused by Borrelia burgdorferi is a bacterial infection transmitted by a particular type of tick that typically feeds on small mammals, birds and deer but may also feed on cats, dogs and humans. Although the disease has been reported in nearly all states, most cases are concentrated in the Mid-Atlantic and northeast states. A number of cases also have been reported in Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern California. Most people who are infected have a circular, red rash surrounding the site of a tick bite, swelling in their joints and, sometimes, facial paralysis. ``The symptoms are sometimes alarming, but with proper diagnosis and treatment almost all will go away in a few weeks,'' Dr. Wormser said.
Preventing Lyme Disease
``The best method for managing Lyme disease is to avoid tick-infested areas. If exposure to ticks is unavoidable, measures should be taken to decrease the risk that ticks will attach to the skin,'' he said. Some simple steps to avoid the tick bites that cause Lyme disease include:
Wear protective, light-colored clothing that minimizes exposed skin and provides a contrast to ticks, making them more visible. Use tick and insect repellents and apply them to your exposed skin or clothing, following directions on product labels. If you are outdoors and may have been exposed to ticks, check your entire body every day to locate and remove ticks, especially at the end of the day. Check children's skin thoroughly, including skin folds and the head, scalp and neck area. Treating Lyme Disease
Persons who remove attached ticks should be monitored closely for signs and symptoms of tick-borne diseases for up to 30 days. Single-dose doxycycline therapy may be considered for deer tick bites when the tick has been on the person for at least 36 hours. Most patients who develop Lyme disease are cured with a single course of 14-28 days of antibiotics, depending on the stage of their illness. Occasionally a second course of treatment is necessary. More prolonged antibiotic therapy is not recommended and may be dangerous, according to Dr. Wormser. ``Nearly all people - more than 95 percent - who do get sick with Lyme disease and are treated with the recommended course of antibiotics get better and go on with their lives,'' said Dr. Wormser, lead author of IDSA's 2000 guidelines on Lyme disease. He also is chair of the expert panel currently considering revisions to the guidelines, which are due out later this summer. The expert panel reviews the published scientific literature related to the topic before reaching consensus on guideline recommendations.
Chronic or Post-Lyme Disease Syndrome
A small number of patients report a variety of non-specific symptoms such as generalized pain, joint pain or fatigue following an episode of Lyme disease that has been treated appropriately. A small number of physicians advocate treating these patients with repeated or prolonged courses of oral or intravenous (IV) antibiotics, but Dr. Wormser cautioned that ``there are no convincing published data showing such treatment to be effective.'' Furthermore, long-term antibiotic therapy may be dangerous and it also can lead to drug-resistant superbugs that are impossible to treat, he added. ``These patients with symptoms that persist for weeks, months or longer appear to be a heterogeneous group, and they report non-specific symptoms that also are associated with a number of other medical diseases, both infectious and noninfectious,'' he said. Patients who continue to have symptoms that persist after appropriate antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease should consult their physicians about whether the diagnosis was accurate or if they may have a different or new illness. More information about Lyme disease--including a fact sheet for the public and practice guidelines for physicians--can be found on the IDSA website at www.idsociety.org .
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IDSA is an organization of physicians, scientists and other health care professionals dedicated to promoting human health through excellence in infectious diseases research, education, prevention and patient care. Major programs of IDSA include publication of two journals, The Journal of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Infectious Diseases, an Annual Meeting, awards and fellowships, public policy and advocacy, practice guidelines and other membership services. The Society, which has 8,000 members, was founded in 1963 and is headquartered in Alexandria, VA.
-------------------- Thomas Parkman Posts: 341 | From Columbia SC 29206 | Registered: Feb 2003
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
I had that article sent to me by several well-meaning friends.
I honestly believe that the lid will split wide open on lyme and the mistreatment people have been getting....within two years.
Hey TC and TP....nice hearing from you. Have you read the Yerges and Stanley's book, "Confronting lyme disease...what patient stories teach us?" It is sad and makes me so angry, But I have given copies to several doctors and will give one to the local library as well.
I feel momentum building.
Have a loud, wonderful rally...wish I could be there.
Posts: 190 | From BC Canada | Registered: Jul 2004
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david1097
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3662
posted
Thomas,
Some of what the fellow says is true, and if you read CAREFULLY all of what he says is true. Things like EASILY,MOST and MANY are powerful diversionary words that convey different meanings to different people. The treatment that he advocates is not too much different than that used by ILADS, for EARLY CASES. He also does not mention why the IDSA sometimes recommends the use of high power IV drugs in certain cases. Easily treated???? Again easy, compared to what, pancreatic cancer?
If you do send a letter to this guy, you might mention that the American lyme disease foundation, of which many of the old school lyme specialist are advisors (www.alfd.com) , openly recognize the LIKELYHOOD of multi pathogen infections concurrent occurring with lyme infections, with the end result being refractory "lyme disease". The post lyme symtoms that he is talking about is also correct as he specifically mentions subjective signs, which automatically excludes cases with overt or objective signs of refractory ("chronic") disease, the question is WHAT DOES HE CALL THESE CASES WITH OBJECTIVE SIGNS.
You may also mention that he is doing a civic dis-survice to the public in downplaying the risk of tick bites. Ticks carry far more than Lym. It is just through the heroic efforts of many sick people that the problem of lyme, a tick bourne disease has come to be publically known. How many people know about lyme... then how many people know about babesia, rmsf, masters disease, tick bourne encephalitis, etc.... New york state seems to think RMSF is a bigger problem than lyme, at least by the warning signs they post at theri parks. The CDC recognizes the problem of tulerimia in ticks as carried by rodents, DHS seems to know about the risk of Q-fever as carried by wild rabits and transmitted to humans via ticks. If a neophite reads his article, a tick bite is not big deal... Well maybe not, but at least provide sufficent information to allow someone to make that decision on their own. Is what this guy says conserdered as professional medical advise under the current liability laws?
Either this fellow does not know about the real risks posed by tick bites or he has some alterior motive in down playing the risk.
You don't even have to get into the controversial area of treatment of or even existance of "post lyme", refractory lyme or chroninc lyme. There are more than enough well known FACTS that this fellow has downplayed to question if what he wrote was the victim of overzelous editors, lacksidasical public health officials, ignorance or intentional spread of disinformation though not providing enough of the REAL story behind tick bourne diseases.
Oddly you get national news coverage for a single case of hunta virus or plague but no or negative coverage about a disease which quite often wrecks the lifes of MANY people. This last fact is a disgrace to the public health community, which through proper transmission of CORRECT and UP TO DATE information to the health care professional could in MOST cases have prevented this travesty.
Thise are my thoughts at this late hour..
Sorry for the spelling....
Posts: 1184 | From north america | Registered: Feb 2003
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