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There are few Canadian health issues as emotionally charged as Lyme disease, with growing numbers of patients feeling abandoned by a health system playing catch up to a disease that was unheard of in decades past.
But there is one thing everyone agrees on: Lyme, the fastest growing infectious disease in Canada, is underreported and cases are set to explode. As many as 10,000 a year are predicted by 2020.
“It’s worrisome,” said Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Gregory Taylor, on the eve of a national conference aimed at getting a handle on the scope of the problem and looking at ways to tackle it.
The Ottawa conference, which begins Sunday night at the Shaw Centre with patients telling their stories, was borne out of a private members bill introduced by Green Party leader Elizabeth May, which became law in December 2014. The law calls for a federal framework on Lyme disease, focusing on better surveillance, best practices, education and awareness, and research.
May said she knew Lyme disease would be the subject of her private members’ bill as soon as she was elected because of the number of constituents and friends she was hearing from struggling with it, including many in wheelchairs. Parliamentarians, she said, are being besieged with people needing help because they can’t get medical treatment. Partly because of that, the Bill quickly passed into law.
“It is very dreadful,” she said.
But there has been little of that kind of harmony between Lyme patient groups and the health system in the past.
Jim Wilson, who heads the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, said thousands of patients feel abandoned by the health system because they have had to travel to the United States for diagnosis and treatment.
Wilson said approved Lyme disease tests in Canada only look for one strain, which means many patients go elsewhere. There is also disagreement over whether long-term antibiotic therapy can treat post-Lyme exposure. Wilson says his own case, among others, supports the use of long-term antibiotic therapy to treat the after-effects of undiagnosed Lyme disease — sometimes referred to as either post-Lyme syndrome or chronic Lyme disease. Many Canadian physicians do not support such therapy.
Canada’s chief health officer, Taylor, acknowledged there are big knowledge gaps around Lyme disease and that Canada needs to do a better job of surveillance and diagnosis.
In 2015, there were 700 reported cases in Canada, compared to 144 in 2009. Not only is the sharp increase worrisome, but Taylor said he believes the real numbers are actually greater.
“We are sure it is underreported,” he said. “We think the numbers are much higher.”
Among the issues being explored at the conference will be so-called chronic Lyme disease, a neurological disorder many patients believe resulted from untreated Lyme disease. If caught early, Lyme can be successfully treated with a short course of antibiotics.
Taylor said the federal government will look at the research around diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.
May said it is clear Canada’s health system has not responded adequately to the rapid growth of Lyme disease. Not only is it difficult to diagnose, but many physicians were trained at a time when Lyme disease wasn’t an issue in Canada.
Now is the time to catch up with changing circumstances, she said, before Lyme disease becomes even more prevalent in Canada.
“It is much more severe and debilitating than I would have expected,” she said. “It is spreading and we need to be aware of it.”
Wilson, meanwhile, said patient groups are optimistic that their concerns are finally being taken seriously.
“It has been a long time. Patients have been seeking attention and input into this for many years.”
epayne@postmedia.com
Lyme disease
What it is: Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by bites from the blacklegged tick, commonly known as the deer tick.
Symptoms: Tick bites often leave a telltale “bull’s-eye rash” that expands around the bite. Symptoms appear from three days to a month after the infection and include fatigue, chills, fever, joint pain, headaches and swollen lymph nodes.
Prevention: The ticks cannot fly or jump but instead lie in wait on bushes and undergrowth to latch on to a passing animal or person. In areas where the ticks are common, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants with closed cuffs. Avoid sandals or other open footwear. Do regular ‘tick checks’ to search for the tiny, sesame seed-sized adults and poppy seed-sized nymph stage ticks. Light-coloured clothing makes them easier to spot. Watch for ticks that have attached themselves to your skin. Tick can be carefully pried off with tweezers, collected in a pill bottle or zip-lock bag and taken to Ottawa Public Health for testing.
You can find more information at ottawa.ca/en/residents/public-health
查看原文...
But there is one thing everyone agrees on: Lyme, the fastest growing infectious disease in Canada, is underreported and cases are set to explode. As many as 10,000 a year are predicted by 2020.
“It’s worrisome,” said Canada’s chief public health officer Dr. Gregory Taylor, on the eve of a national conference aimed at getting a handle on the scope of the problem and looking at ways to tackle it.
The Ottawa conference, which begins Sunday night at the Shaw Centre with patients telling their stories, was borne out of a private members bill introduced by Green Party leader Elizabeth May, which became law in December 2014. The law calls for a federal framework on Lyme disease, focusing on better surveillance, best practices, education and awareness, and research.
May said she knew Lyme disease would be the subject of her private members’ bill as soon as she was elected because of the number of constituents and friends she was hearing from struggling with it, including many in wheelchairs. Parliamentarians, she said, are being besieged with people needing help because they can’t get medical treatment. Partly because of that, the Bill quickly passed into law.
“It is very dreadful,” she said.
But there has been little of that kind of harmony between Lyme patient groups and the health system in the past.
Jim Wilson, who heads the Canadian Lyme Disease Foundation, said thousands of patients feel abandoned by the health system because they have had to travel to the United States for diagnosis and treatment.
Wilson said approved Lyme disease tests in Canada only look for one strain, which means many patients go elsewhere. There is also disagreement over whether long-term antibiotic therapy can treat post-Lyme exposure. Wilson says his own case, among others, supports the use of long-term antibiotic therapy to treat the after-effects of undiagnosed Lyme disease — sometimes referred to as either post-Lyme syndrome or chronic Lyme disease. Many Canadian physicians do not support such therapy.
Canada’s chief health officer, Taylor, acknowledged there are big knowledge gaps around Lyme disease and that Canada needs to do a better job of surveillance and diagnosis.
In 2015, there were 700 reported cases in Canada, compared to 144 in 2009. Not only is the sharp increase worrisome, but Taylor said he believes the real numbers are actually greater.
“We are sure it is underreported,” he said. “We think the numbers are much higher.”
Among the issues being explored at the conference will be so-called chronic Lyme disease, a neurological disorder many patients believe resulted from untreated Lyme disease. If caught early, Lyme can be successfully treated with a short course of antibiotics.
Taylor said the federal government will look at the research around diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.
May said it is clear Canada’s health system has not responded adequately to the rapid growth of Lyme disease. Not only is it difficult to diagnose, but many physicians were trained at a time when Lyme disease wasn’t an issue in Canada.
Now is the time to catch up with changing circumstances, she said, before Lyme disease becomes even more prevalent in Canada.
“It is much more severe and debilitating than I would have expected,” she said. “It is spreading and we need to be aware of it.”
Wilson, meanwhile, said patient groups are optimistic that their concerns are finally being taken seriously.
“It has been a long time. Patients have been seeking attention and input into this for many years.”
epayne@postmedia.com
Lyme disease
What it is: Lyme disease is a bacterial infection spread by bites from the blacklegged tick, commonly known as the deer tick.
Symptoms: Tick bites often leave a telltale “bull’s-eye rash” that expands around the bite. Symptoms appear from three days to a month after the infection and include fatigue, chills, fever, joint pain, headaches and swollen lymph nodes.
Prevention: The ticks cannot fly or jump but instead lie in wait on bushes and undergrowth to latch on to a passing animal or person. In areas where the ticks are common, wear long-sleeved shirts and pants with closed cuffs. Avoid sandals or other open footwear. Do regular ‘tick checks’ to search for the tiny, sesame seed-sized adults and poppy seed-sized nymph stage ticks. Light-coloured clothing makes them easier to spot. Watch for ticks that have attached themselves to your skin. Tick can be carefully pried off with tweezers, collected in a pill bottle or zip-lock bag and taken to Ottawa Public Health for testing.
You can find more information at ottawa.ca/en/residents/public-health
查看原文...
