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On Wednesday, a congressional advisory committee sounded the alarm on Lyme and other emerging tick-related diseases, claiming that they had become "a serious and growing threat to public health." and treatment measures to solve the problem.
At least 20 known health problems can result from tick bites; the most common, Lyme disease, affects approximately 300,000 Americans each year. Meanwhile, doctors and researchers continue to discover new diseases related to crawling insects.
The committee, known as the Tick-borne Diseases Working Group, was established under the 21st Century Treatment Act (2016) and is responsible for proposing solutions to control this public health problem.
"As tick populations continue to grow and infected ticks grow geographically, the threat to human health intensifies," the task force wrote. To emphasize the need to act, the report includes stories from patients, including Ruben Lee Sims.
"Untreated patients can lose everything"
Sims, a veteran from Vietnam recognized in 1977 by the US Air Force as "the most prestigious management analyst of the year", lost his life several years later because of the bites ticks.
Unable to diagnose Lyme disease, the army sent Sims back in 1984, calling him a hypochondriac whose pain was caused by psychological factors. A year later, a non-military doctor did not make a diagnosis either. Although the doctor suspected Lyme disease, the Sims had never been to New England, where the disease is widespread. The disease transmitted by ticks has therefore been removed from the realm of possibilities.
"I have been misdiagnosed for more than three decades and have not been treated for Lyme disease," Sims told the report's authors. Today, this is no longer true. Better equipped to diagnose tick-borne disease, the VA confirmed that Sims' pain was a symptom of Lyme disease and that with proper treatment he was no longer symptomatic.
"Untreated patients can lose everything, like me, and become unemployed, underemployed, disabled and homeless," Sims said in his report. These days, he shares his story to help others who may be affected by tick-borne diseases.
Most patients with early Lyme disease can recover completely, but up to 20% have persistent symptoms, some disabling. Immediate symptoms include fever, chills, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes, and ring rash. Episodes of dizziness or shortness of breath, inflammation of the brain and spinal cord, and shooting pains in the hands or feet are some of the long-term symptoms of patients with chronic illness.
The spread of Lyme disease
The cases of Lyme disease have doubled since 2004, according to the report. In the meantime, its geographical prevalence has increased: the number of countries considered to have a high incidence of the disease has increased by more than 300% in the northeastern states and by nearly 250% in the north-central states, indicates the report.
"The geographic reach of Lyme disease cases has expanded since its first appearance in Lyme, Connecticut, in 1975 and has consistently expanded to the north, south, and west." , says the report. The working group suggests that this spread may be due, at least in part, to "ecological changes in North America since the middle of the 20th century, including changes in habitat and climate".
Lyme disease, although less prevalent on the west coast, is a major concern, as are other diseases resulting from tick bites, the report says. Despite hundreds of thousands of estimated cases, only about 35,000 are reported annually to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Lyme disease is transmitted by infected ticks. Infected blacklegged ticks, western blacklegged ticks, and isolated star ticks also frequently transmit diseases to the United States.
Tick-borne diseases can be difficult to diagnose. Testing is not always accurate and health care providers may not know how to use it. In addition, patients may be suffering from not one, but several tick-borne diseases at the same time.
The recommendations of the Task Force on Tick-borne Diseases include: improving early and accurate diagnosis and treatment, strengthening national surveillance, and developing new treatment options for the treatment of acute and persistent diseases.
"For decades, tick-borne diseases have increased at an alarming rate," the committee concluded. "The continued spread of ticks, the discovery of new tick-borne pathogens and the spread of human disease spreading is almost a certainty."
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