Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.connecticutplus.com/cplu...-Undercounted-and-underfunded1093010930.shtml
The truth about Lyme Disease: Undercounted and underfunded
By Time for Lyme
Lyme disease is on the rise, yet public funding for this epidemic lags behind funding for other illnesses, many of which impact a much smaller proportion of the population. "Lyme disease cases increased 77% over a recent two-year span," says Dr. Harriet Kotsoris, neurologist and medical advisor for Time for Lyme, a research, education, and advocacy group based in Greenwich, CT. "It is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness in the United States and has been documented in 49 states."
Despite being the fastest-growing tick-borne illness in the States, Lyme disease receives less than 10% of government funding for vector-borne diseases. According to research compiled by the California Lyme Disease Association, federal funding for West Nile virus has been 18 times greater than the funding for Lyme disease.
"This inequality in funding is disheartening," says Dr. Kotsoris. "Morbidity associated with chronic Lyme disease is significant. Patients suffer a degree of physical deterioration equal to that of patients with congestive heart failure."
The number of cases of Lyme disease is undercounted. From 1992 to 2006, the number of reported cases more than doubled. Cases spiked 77% from 2006 to 2008; in 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 38,468 probable cases of Lyme disease, an increase of approximately 12% from the prior year.
The CDC admits to the possibility of underreporting by a factor of 10. Thus, there could be more than 200,000 new Lyme cases a year in the United States. Many physicians believe that the real numbers may be even higher. A study published in Journal of Community Health reported on a Georgia Southern University study which showed that for every symptomatic patient, one asymptomatic patient exists, and other research illustrated that the rate of clinical diagnosis was 40 times the surveillance rate...
The truth about Lyme Disease: Undercounted and underfunded
By Time for Lyme
Lyme disease is on the rise, yet public funding for this epidemic lags behind funding for other illnesses, many of which impact a much smaller proportion of the population. "Lyme disease cases increased 77% over a recent two-year span," says Dr. Harriet Kotsoris, neurologist and medical advisor for Time for Lyme, a research, education, and advocacy group based in Greenwich, CT. "It is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness in the United States and has been documented in 49 states."
Despite being the fastest-growing tick-borne illness in the States, Lyme disease receives less than 10% of government funding for vector-borne diseases. According to research compiled by the California Lyme Disease Association, federal funding for West Nile virus has been 18 times greater than the funding for Lyme disease.
"This inequality in funding is disheartening," says Dr. Kotsoris. "Morbidity associated with chronic Lyme disease is significant. Patients suffer a degree of physical deterioration equal to that of patients with congestive heart failure."
The number of cases of Lyme disease is undercounted. From 1992 to 2006, the number of reported cases more than doubled. Cases spiked 77% from 2006 to 2008; in 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed 38,468 probable cases of Lyme disease, an increase of approximately 12% from the prior year.
The CDC admits to the possibility of underreporting by a factor of 10. Thus, there could be more than 200,000 new Lyme cases a year in the United States. Many physicians believe that the real numbers may be even higher. A study published in Journal of Community Health reported on a Georgia Southern University study which showed that for every symptomatic patient, one asymptomatic patient exists, and other research illustrated that the rate of clinical diagnosis was 40 times the surveillance rate...
