I do worry about the lack of concern when it comes to Lyme Disease in Ireland. Firstly relying on 8 reported cases as proof of it's rarity is not sufficient for several reasons..
1. the doctor or consultant has to think of Lyme disease in their differentials - doctors & I've heard some consultants are still unfamiliar with the fact that Lyme can be contracted in this country & therefore wouldn't test for it. In fact in our surveys we found that 60% of our patients were infected in Ireland & not abroad, showing that it is a problem here & shouldn't be ignored.
2. the symptoms mimic so many other diseases that misdiagnosis can often occur, even agreed by the HPSC who wrote an article on it. In fact the most common misdiagnosis is ME/CFS & there are approx 12000 patients with CFS in Ireland, so how many of those have an infection & not know it or even be tested for it?
3. the tests don't pick up all strains, for example in Ireland strain VS116 was found in 50% of ticks sampled in a study by Prof Gray & this strain has been found in EM & spinal fluid of patients in studies & warrants more testing. Only 3 strains are regularly tested & yet more strains are being identified across US & Europe.
4. the patient does not always exhibit a strong enough antibody response to testing (it can be affected by early treatment for example, however early treatment is vital). You could even have a scenario where a patient was treated early at stage one phase but still continued to develop further symptoms however their test results may never sero convert & so any ongoing symptoms are put down as of mental origin or a depressive illness. In our surveys we found that patients are being diagnosed more & more with depression & anxiety & their physical symptoms are not addressed.
5. the notifiable cases are far too narrow, stage one & two patients aren't recorded therefore you are only recording the tip of the iceberg.
Patients can also find themselves being treated for too short a period such as 2 weeks which may be insufficient for a disseminated condition. This can lead to complications later on which again may be put down to chronic fatigue syndrome or depression/anxiety.
Therefore, it's easy to see that 8 notified cases maybe extremely under reported..
Jennifer O'Dea
Posted on 3 Oct 2013 12:52 pm
I do worry about the lack of concern when it comes to Lyme Disease in Ireland. Firstly relying on 8 reported cases as proof of it's rarity is not sufficient for several reasons..
1. the doctor or consultant has to think of Lyme disease in their differentials - doctors & I've heard some consultants are still unfamiliar with the fact that Lyme can be contracted in this country & therefore wouldn't test for it. In fact in our surveys we found that 60% of our patients were infected in Ireland & not abroad, showing that it is a problem here & shouldn't be ignored.
2. the symptoms mimic so many other diseases that misdiagnosis can often occur, even agreed by the HPSC who wrote an article on it. In fact the most common misdiagnosis is ME/CFS & there are approx 12000 patients with CFS in Ireland, so how many of those have an infection & not know it or even be tested for it?
3. the tests don't pick up all strains, for example in Ireland strain VS116 was found in 50% of ticks sampled in a study by Prof Gray & this strain has been found in EM & spinal fluid of patients in studies & warrants more testing. Only 3 strains are regularly tested & yet more strains are being identified across US & Europe.
4. the patient does not always exhibit a strong enough antibody response to testing (it can be affected by early treatment for example, however early treatment is vital). You could even have a scenario where a patient was treated early at stage one phase but still continued to develop further symptoms however their test results may never sero convert & so any ongoing symptoms are put down as of mental origin or a depressive illness. In our surveys we found that patients are being diagnosed more & more with depression & anxiety & their physical symptoms are not addressed.
5. the notifiable cases are far too narrow, stage one & two patients aren't recorded therefore you are only recording the tip of the iceberg.
Patients can also find themselves being treated for too short a period such as 2 weeks which may be insufficient for a disseminated condition. This can lead to complications later on which again may be put down to chronic fatigue syndrome or depression/anxiety.
Therefore, it's easy to see that 8 notified cases maybe extremely under reported..