Written answers
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Department of Health
Infectious Diseases
8:00 pm
Ann Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Labour)
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Question 661: To ask the Minister for Health if he will address the disproportionate distress imposed on the relatively few persons in this country who contract Lyme disease, if he will now consider adding Lyme disease to the national categories list of notifiable diseases. [36289/11]
James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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This disease can present as a mild illness or, in a small percentage of cases, can lead to more serious illness. A fact sheet on the disease, developed by the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), is available on their website (www.hpsc.ie) to provide members of the general public and media with advice on minimising the risk of Lyme disease. The HPSC site also provides international guidelines on treatment. The HPSC has also produced a leaflet "Protecting Yourself Against Tick Bites and Lyme Disease " which may be downloaded from their website.
Jennifer O'Dea
Posted on 28 Nov 2011 1:43 pm (This comment has been reported to moderators)
With increased awareness we are helping to prevent cases of Lyme disease here in Ireland. Sadly many have slipped through the net & still continue with ill health due a slow diagnosis or insufficient treatment. The international guidelines offer too short a course for treatment for many & rely too heavily on the 2 tier testing which sadly misses many patients creating a pool of untreated patients. Hopefully improvement can be made in this arena, but meanwhile I applaud the Department of Health in recently adding Lyme disease to the list of notifiable illnesses as of September 2011.