Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/...-borne-disease-data-underreported/5842290001/
Are Lyme disease cases up or down on Cape? Pandemic undermines tick disease reporting.
Cynthia McCormick
Cape Cod Times
Sept. 27, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a crimp in state and federal surveillance of tick-borne diseases, a health scourge endemic to this area that local officials and patient advocates say is already vastly underreported.
The state Department of Public Health told the Times that in 2020 there were only six confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Barnstable County on Cape Cod — along with 397 “suspect” cases of Lyme disease.
The picture looks even rosier for the Bay State, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A CDC historical data table shows only seven confirmed and probable cases of Lyme disease in Massachusetts in 2019, the last year for which it has figures.
Neighboring Rhode Island, by way of comparison, had 971 cases during that period even though its population is only a fraction of the size of Massachusetts, according to the CDC.
“Absurd does not even begin to categorize it,” Larry Dapsis, Barnstable County entomologist, said about the federal statistics.
“It is laughable in a very painful way,” said Dorothy Leland, spokesperson for LymeDisease.org, a patient advocacy group based in San Ramon, California.
Dapsis, coordinator of the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension’s Tick Project, said he doesn’t want residents or visitors getting the idea that Lyme disease isn’t a problem on Cape Cod.
“Let me tell you, it is,” Dapsis said...
Are Lyme disease cases up or down on Cape? Pandemic undermines tick disease reporting.
Cynthia McCormick
Cape Cod Times
Sept. 27, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a crimp in state and federal surveillance of tick-borne diseases, a health scourge endemic to this area that local officials and patient advocates say is already vastly underreported.
The state Department of Public Health told the Times that in 2020 there were only six confirmed cases of Lyme disease in Barnstable County on Cape Cod — along with 397 “suspect” cases of Lyme disease.
The picture looks even rosier for the Bay State, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A CDC historical data table shows only seven confirmed and probable cases of Lyme disease in Massachusetts in 2019, the last year for which it has figures.
Neighboring Rhode Island, by way of comparison, had 971 cases during that period even though its population is only a fraction of the size of Massachusetts, according to the CDC.
“Absurd does not even begin to categorize it,” Larry Dapsis, Barnstable County entomologist, said about the federal statistics.
“It is laughable in a very painful way,” said Dorothy Leland, spokesperson for LymeDisease.org, a patient advocacy group based in San Ramon, California.
Dapsis, coordinator of the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension’s Tick Project, said he doesn’t want residents or visitors getting the idea that Lyme disease isn’t a problem on Cape Cod.
“Let me tell you, it is,” Dapsis said...