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The Silent Epidemic of Lyme Disease Understanding Risks, Infections and Treatment by Keith Yimoyines
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hink of Lyme disease as a silent pandemic. The CDC reports there are 300,000 new cases every year in the US, while other estimates put the number much higher. More than 80 countries have reported cases of Lyme disease. Testing is unreliable, there is no human vaccine available and while it does not spread through casual human-to-human contact, it can spread from pregnant mother to fetus and may be sexually transmitted. It was the fastest growing infectious disease in the US and Europe prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, is grossly underfunded compared to other diseases and is underappreciated by the “conventional” medical community. Connecticut, the epicenter of Lyme disease since the 1970s when it was first identified, continues to suffer the worst of it.
Connecticut at High Risk
Data in a recent report from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station (CAES), with funding from the Centers 32
New Haven/Middlesex
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicates that 2019 was a particularly bad year for ticks across the state. Over 2,500 ticks, including 2,068 deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) and 467 American dog ticks (Dermacentor variabilis) were collected, and all female deer tick samples were tested for several pathogens that cause disease in humans. The results were alarming, and experts warn that a mild winter can contribute to a larger boom in the tick population, so 2020 potentially could be a more active year. Out of the adult deer tick samples tested, 46% carried Borelia burgdoferi (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease), 13% were positive for Babesia microti (Babesiosis), 9% for Anaplasma phagocytophilum (Anaplasmosis), 2% for Borrelia miyamotoi (tick-borne relapsing fever) and 1% for Powassan virus. Given the prevalence of disease-causing microbes in our tick population, first-line prevention of Lyme disease requires vigilant tick-bite prevention. Avoid wooded,
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shaded or bushy areas and tall grasses. Wear light-colored clothing and tuck your pants into your socks. Use a tick repellent, of which there are many—both chemical and natural—on the market. Check your clothes and body thoroughly for ticks, including your hair and skin-folds. Washing clothes in hot water or putting them in the dryer on high heat for 10 or more minutes will kill ticks. Why Antibiotics Don’t Always Work In the ideal situation, a person bitten by a tick and infected with Borrelia burgdorferi displays the common Lyme disease symptoms, including bull’s eye rash, headache, joint pain, muscle pain, fever and chills. That person would be promptly treated with a proper course of antibiotics and recover with no lingering effects. An integrative approach, incorporating herbs (astragalus is particularly helpful to enhance the immune response) and diet and lifestyle changes (a whole food, antiinflammatory diet, restful sleep and stress
