Date: Tue, 9 Aug 2016 13:54:32 -0400
From: Tom Glendinning
Subject: Lyme Disease
The question, Dr Dykers, is whether or not the doctors are Lyme literate enough to offer proper diagnosis and treatment in the proper timeframe.
When reported and treated incidence is 26-29 in 2015, the experience is not broad enough to build a decent database. Besides, its symptoms do not present in a consistent, predictable manner.
The Enzyme Immuno Assay, EIA, and Enzyme Immunoflourescent Assay tests are sometimes inconclusive and time dependent for point of infection. The doubling of testing with the Western Blot is also time of infection dependent.
This diagnostic problem decreases predictable diagnostic accuracy. It’s hard to nail down.
In Pittsboro area, 10 cases (not entire total, just those known by author) the incidence is not epidemic, but still significant in that diagnosis is difficult and unfamiliar to most MD’s.
Information sources: CDC, VA Medical Center, MD’s, Lyme patients
Tom Glendinning