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LYME DISEASE ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES CAPE COD CHAPTER

September 3, 2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR CONTACTS (local) NAME: Terri Reiser
TELEPHONE
EMAIL
(national) NAME: Pat Smith
888-366-6611
[email protected]

LYME DISEASE ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES CAPE COD CHAPTER
Educators to Direct the Chapter

Cape Cod, Massachusetts, September 3, 2003–The national Lyme Disease Association (LDA) announces the formation of the Lyme Disease Association, Cape Cod Chapter (LDACCC). Says LDA President Patricia V. Smith, “I am delighted to announce the creation of this chapter in an area which contains some of the highest Lyme disease occurrences in the country.” The LDA now has three chapters and five affiliates across the country helping to educate and raise funds for Lyme disease research.

The Chapter’s formation was initiated by three women, all with educational backgrounds, sharing a concern for other Lyme sufferers, especially children, who are at some of the highest risk of acquiring Lyme disease. Lyme is the most prevalent vector-borne disease in the country and has been joined by other co-infections prevalent in the Northeast including babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and bartonellosis, transmitted by the bite of the same ticks that carry the Lyme disease bacteria.

Co-directors Terri Reiser, East Dennis, Karen Hallet-LaRoche, Centerville, and Nancy Wood, West Barnstable, will help adults who deal with children with Lyme disease to understand the children’s unique problems both at home and in school. All three women have children or grandchildren with Lyme and recognize the manifestations Lyme can produce, including cardiac, neurologic and psychiatric. “Learning problems can include the lowering of IQ, number/letter reversal, and memory impairment,” says co-director Reiser, “and students often require classroom accommodations while they are ill.”

The LDACCC can provide information, video presentations and support. Contact information: LDACCC PO Box 304, West Barnstable, MA 02668, or email [email protected]