Mt. Equinox, VT – Gear Up For Lyme Bike Climb

Bike Climb Up Equinox Manchester Rotary 2009 Pat Smith, President Lyme Disease Association, Inc.


Bike Climb Up Equinox Manchester Rotary 2009 Pat Smith, President Lyme Disease Association, Inc. !

  • Thanks to the Manchester Rotary !
  • Thanks to you for being here today.
  • Part of the team.
  • Seeking a cure for Lyme disease !
  • Lyme disease has increased in VT
  • 1993 12 cases
  • 2007 (138) 31% over 2006 (105)
  • 2007 1050% over 1993 cases
  • CDC says 10x reported cases 1380 cases/2007/VT !
  • Nationally 2007 saw about 274, 440 new cases develop !
  • Lyme now in 65 countries worldwide !
  • Children 5-9 & 10-14 at greatest risk of acquiring the disease !
  • One bite of the deer tick can cause Lyme & anaplasmosis babesiosis bartonellosis tularemia powassan encephalitis tick paralysis !
  • One bite of the lone star tick can cause STARI ehrlichiosis RMSF tularemia tick paralysis !
  • One bite of the American dog tick can cause RMSF ehrlichiosis tularemia tick paralysis !
  • The tests for Lyme are unreliable, about 40-60% accuracy o You can test negative and still have Lyme disease. o Lyme is meant to be a clinical diagnosis made by a physician, with testing as an adjunct. ! Some tick-borne diseases can be transmitted through the blood supply, o Like babesiosis, a malaria like illness you can get from the deer tick o Lyme disease has not been shown to be transmitted through the blood supply, however, it can survive blood banking processing and o A recent CDC study showed it can be transmitted thru transfusion in mouse model o There is no screening for Lyme disease in the blood supply ! Tick-borne diseases are serious o Lyme can get into the brain less than 24 hrs after a tick bite o Lyme bacteria can cross the placenta and cause death of the fetus o Lyme can progress and cause severe arthritic, neurologic and psychiatric problems o Several TBDs have high fatality rates, especially if untreated !

The government is spending only 27.4M on Lyme disease 9that’s CDC/NIH combined ! Bill HR 1179/S1352 100M/5 years o 76 House, 6 Senate Not one VT congressman or senator has signed o Pls go to LymeDiseaseAssociation.org get info, call your legislator today