Lyme Disease

What some of you may not be aware of is that their is a vaccine that has been made and tested, and found to be effective against Lyme disease.

The Lyme disease vaccine is called LYMErix and is made by TM SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals.  It is available to residents of the USA aged 15 to 70 years.

Clinical trials have been fruitful and the side effects rather few, and I will describe those side effects in another post to come.

This post is to describe the results and recommendations made in relation to this Lyme disease vaccine, by a document appearing on the CDC web site (originally posted in 1999).

Firstly, the Lyme disease vaccine requires you to have three vaccinations with LYMErix:

With 2 vaccinations you have a 49% chance of being protected against the Lyme disease YOU HAVE ALREADY CAUGHT; with 3 vaccinations that climbs to 76% chance that the Lyme disease YOU HAVE ALREADY CAUGHT will be defeated.

Although no stats are obviously apparent, the value of the Lyme disease vaccine for non-infected persons is determined by the density of  Lyme disease carrying ticks in the environment  and the amount of contact the person is likely to have in the area where those ticks are.   The medical opinion of that document is one of cost analysis to a large degree, but I would argue that the human suffering of those who do become infected, warrants a wider group of people having access to the vaccine than would otherwise be recommended medically speaking.

Specifically these learned people argue that the vaccine is NOT recommended for those in low risk groups, whereas this should be for the person to decide.  As Katelyn, the previous author of LymeAdvocate.com found, the family dog was considered to have negligible risk of catching Lyme disease, because it was a house dog, not an outdoors dog.  Well, the dog went outside, got bitten by a lyme carrying tick, and later died.  Although I am not talking about pets on this page as such, the juxtaposition of pet dog and human is very worthwhile mentioning and pointing out, for the same goes for people in low risk groups – they are still open to becoming infected by Lyme disease infected ticks.

The Maryland lyme disease map, shows the distribution of reported Lyme disease cases throughout Maryland – map courtesy of the CDC

The map regrettably does not give the color coding for incidence of lyme disease, and this is a problem with the actual CDC map of Maryland.  I suspect that the darker the color, the higher the incidence of lyme disease for that Maryland zipcode.

The Lyme disease distribution map for California – again, courtesy of the CDC, and again only refers to the reported number of cases – the unreported/undiagnosed ones obviously are not included in these California Lyme Disease map statistics.

Lyme disease map of the USA shows the incidence level of lyme disease across the United Stated.  It needs to be pointed out that the Lyme Disease map refers to the cases reported by doctors to the CDC – Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Most Lyme disease maps come from the CDC, as do the following Lyme disease maps:

 What is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease – sometimes abbreviated to Lyme disease – is an animal disease which can be transferred to humans by ticks. Lyme disease is actually a bacteria, named Borrelia burgdorferi, and there are four varieties of the Borrelia burgforferi bacteria which were identified in the laboratory. To spell that out a bit more, there are actually four varieties of Lyme disease that humans can get!

How Common is Lyme Disease?

Since being recognised in the mid 1970′s, Lyme disease has become the most commonly identified tick-borne disease to infect humans across the globe.

Where can you catch Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease has been recorded in each continent of the earth (except Antarctica) in spite of the fact that uncertainty remains as to whether Lyme disease occurs south of the equator, such as in Australia.

How is Lyme Disease Spread?

Short and sweet, Lyme disease is transferred to humans, from animals, by ticks. Any tick that feeds on an animal infected with Lyme disease – whether the tick be laraval, nymphal or adult – will then carry the bacteria, and spread the bacteria to any host it decides to feed upon, whether animal or human. The common animal host for the ticks are small and warm blooded creatures, such as a mouse, though deer infected with Lyme disease have also been known to pass the infection on to humans by tick as well.

Can any tick spread Lyme Disease?

Not all ticks are the same when it comes to being responsible for spreading Lyme disease onto humans. In the northern hemisphere, there are only four species of ticks known to pass lyme disease on to humans: Ixodes scapularis and Ixodes pacificus in the United States, Ixodes ricinus in western Europe, and Ixodes persulcatus in eastern Europe and Asia. No Ixode specie lives in Australia, so Australia is free of Lyme disease for the most part.

It seems like everyone says the same thing lately. “You have Lyme Disease? My brother, girl friend, cousin, coworker, and/or neighbor does, too!” I was thinking I was imagining things, but my doctor told me something that made me realize it was unfortunately not my imagination. Lyme Disease in Maryland is on the rise and Cecil County has the second highest rate of ticks infected with Lyme in the nation. That’s right, we’re right behind Lyme, Connecticut. Not a race I want to come in second in. I’d be happy with a distant fiftieth.

So, what do you do? Pay close attention to the CDC guidelines for Lyme prevention and exercise extreme caution when you head out to enjoy the outdoors. I’ve personally put hiking on hold unless I’m vacationing in an area that doesn’t have a high concentration of Lyme infected ticks and am trying to convince myself that walking around and around on asphalt tracks is fun. (Blech!)

I was watching the first episode of the  third season for Ugly Betty last night because it is supposed to be more like the original season, which I loved. I’m not sure about that, but I’m glad I watched The Manhattan Project because Betty confronted a former school enemy (Kimmey, played by Lyndsay Lohan) to patch up a fight that ended up with her dad being fired and Kimmey listed a bunch of stuff that was going on in her life and said she thought she had Lyme.

I’m always happy to see a mention of Lyme disease in prime time television, even if it is in a slightly silly context, because it raises awareness.
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How’s this for cheery news? Lyme Disease rates in Maryland were twice as high in 2007 as they were in 06. Before you flee the state, though, it seems like new funding for some counties and increased awareness are the major reasons for the increase and that many people have been suffering from Lyme all along.

According to the Hartford Courant, the state of Connecticut is going to gather actual data on the number of positive lab results for Lyme and whether doctors use those results to diagnose Lyme disease. I think an organized effort like this is a great idea and I hope it helps health organizations realize that the tests they use aren’t always effective.

Did you know that Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever is said to be worse than Lyme disease? I’m glad I don’t live in the Rockies! And the dog tick is a carrier, which means it probably spreads even worse than Lyme does. According to the Memphis Democrat:

Mention a tick bite and most people are worried about Lyme disease. But one Scotland County family found out there can be worse, after a canine friend was struck by a much rarer disease courtesy of one of the nasty little parasites.

Rocky-Mountain Spotted Fever is not unheard of, but most Missourians are far more familiar with the sister malady, Lyme Disease.