The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released data indicating that the number of Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year is around 300,000, and suggests the total number may be 10 times higher than the yearly reported number.
Paul Mead, M.D., M.P.H, chief of epidemiology and surveillance for CDC’s Lyme disease program called Lyme Disease a “tremendous public health problem in the United States.”
This new information underscores the need for prevention of Lyme Disease, and proper diagnosis and treatment of Lyme Disease and Insect-borne Illness.
Here is the CDC article on Lyme Disease:
CDC Provides Estimate of Americans Diagnosed with Lyme Disease Each Year
Preliminary estimates released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate that the number of Americans diagnosed with Lyme disease each year is around 300,000. The preliminary estimates were presented Sunday night in Boston at the 2013 International Conference on Lyme Borreliosis and Other Tick-Borne Diseases.
Each year, more than 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to CDC, making it the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States. The new estimate suggests that the total number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease is roughly 10 times higher than the yearly reported number. This new estimate supports studies published in the 1990s indicating that the true number of cases is between 3- and 12-fold higher than the number of reported cases.
“We know that routine surveillance only gives us part of the picture, and that the true number of illnesses is much greater,” said Paul Mead, M.D., M.P.H, chief of epidemiology and surveillance for CDC’s Lyme disease program. “This new preliminary estimate confirms that Lyme disease is a tremendous public health problem in the United States, and clearly highlights the urgent need for prevention.” Read entire CDC article.
