Mild winter may lead to upswing in Lyme disease
Boston
Globe
Associated Press
1 May 2006
Wolfeboro,
N H — “The milder than normal winter around New England
could lead to a rise in Lyme disease this year. This disease
is a true epidemic,” Dr. Richard Horowitz told the audience
of about 300 at Friday's conference. Horowitz is president-elect
of the Maryland-based International Lyme and Associated Diseases
Society.
He and
other experts said awareness and prevention are their biggest
priority.
The bacteria
that cause Lyme disease were discovered in the United States when
a number of children in and around Lyme, Conn., developed arthritis-like
symptoms in the mid-1970s. People get it by being bitten by infected
deer ticks, which are about the size of poppy seeds. An estimated
20,000 cases are reported each year in the United States.
Pat Smith,
president of the Lyme Disease Association, said that figure
may represent only 10 percent of total cases.
Early symptoms
include a reddish, bull’s-eye rash where the bite was,
followed by fever, headache, fatigue and muscle or joint pain.
But Smith said the disease can be difficult to diagnose.
Lyme disease
can be treated with antibiotics, but untreated cases can lead
to complications including meningitis and heart abnormalities.
There were
1,348 Lymes Disease cases in Connecticut in 2004, the most recent
figures available from the state Department of Public Health.
New Hampshire had 226 reported cases in 2004, 11th in the nation.
In Maine, there were 237 cases reported in 2005, according to
the state Center for Disease Control and Prevention Lyme. The
state averaged more than 200 cases a year from 2002 to 2004.
Horowitz
said this could be a bad year for the disease because the warm
winter made it easier for the ticks to reproduce.
Horowitz,
who has spent 20 years working on treatments for tick-borne
illnesses, said Lyme disease can change in character over time,
essentially hiding from the body's immune system. Experts urge
people to wear long sleeves and pants in the woods, closing
them at the ends to help keep ticks out. People should check
themselves for ticks after venturing out and should wear insect
repellants containing DEET, Picaridin, or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus.
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