Cases of Lyme disease could be ten times higher than records show, CDC finds

New data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates that cases of tick-borne Lyme disease can be as much as ten times higher than official records.

The CDC last week published a report suggesting that 476,000 Americans contract the disease annually, not the 35,000 or 40,000 annually reported previously.

Maine has the highest incidence of Lyme disease in the country, mainly because branch lice are particularly active here. Cases gradually increased in Maine and reached a record 2079 in 2019, although the number could be as high as 20,000 cases, as recent data suggests.

Pathologists have always known that the actual cases are much higher than reported by the health departments. The latest estimate from the CDC was achieved by reviewing the billing codes on claims for medical insurance from 2010 to 2018. Researchers first counted cases officially coded as Lyme disease, for which the patient received antibiotics, and then used statistical tools to estimate cases among all people, including the uninsured, those 65 years and older who are not in commercial insurance claims would not be included and those never dealt with. The CDC also said that previous research suggests that Lyme is not always correctly coded, in part because it is difficult to diagnose. There is no definitive test to detect the disease; it should be diagnosed by a clinician based on symptoms.

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who co-authored the Kay Hagan Tick Act in 2019, said the new estimate “highlights the fact that tick-borne diseases are a serious and growing threat to public health.”

“Now that we have a clearer picture of the challenge we are facing, we are better able to protect the health of Americans,” the Republican said in a statement.

As part of the 2019 legislation, which funded more than $ 100 million over five years to combat the disease, the CDC unveiled a new dashboard to help researchers collect real-time data from visits to emergencies and clinics . It will be updated weekly to better indicate when people in different parts of the country are at greatest risk.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial infection that is transmitted by the bite of a deer tick. If caught early, the infection can be treated with antibiotics. Symptoms include a bull-eye rash – which occurs in about 50 percent of patients – fever, chills, headache, muscle and joint pain, and neurological problems, such as Bell’s paralysis. Lyme is the most common disease transmitted by ticks, but the CDC also follows others, including anaplasmosis and babesiosis, which are also increasingly seen in Maine.

Last year, the University of Maine Cooperative Extension Tick Lab conducted a first survey on tick-borne and tick-borne diseases. Researchers have found that about 40 percent of nearly 2,000 volunteers submitted by volunteers and tested last year are infected with Lyme disease. Eight percent of ticks have anaplasmosis and 6 percent babesiosis. The report contains samples submitted by residents of each of the 16 provinces and 358 municipalities, and was collected between 1 April and 30 December 2019.

Adult deer are most active from early spring to late autumn, with peaks in April or May and late October or early November, the report said. Nymph numbers usually peak in June and early July. Deer ticks can remain active as long as the temperature is above freezing, and recent research suggests that they may survive under leaves and snowpacks, even if the surface temperature remains cold.

Experts call on people who go into ticks such as bushes and fields to put on pants and long-sleeved shirts, apply bug repellents and do a regular tick check to see if they picked up any ticks while they were outside. Around the house, it is wise to reduce the number of garden leaves and be wary of piles of wood or dead wood, where ticks can occur.

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