14 DAY TRIAL // According to a report released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this past Monday, August 19, nationwide cases of Lyme disease are roughly 10 times more common than previously estimated.
The CDC argues that, according to recent investigations, said medical condition affects about 300,000 Americans on a yearly basis. However, merely 30,000 of these cases are reported to the CDC.
The organization argues that, given its frequency, Lyme disease should be viewed as a major threat to public health, and treated accordingly.
“The new estimate suggests that the total number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease is roughly 10 times higher than the yearly reported number,” the CDC argued.
“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,” specialist Paul Mead stresses.
The CDC explains that Lyme disease is caused by bacteria carried by ticks. This means that people become infected with it after getting bitten by the latter.
Symptoms such as fever, headaches, fatigue, depression and skin rashes have thus far been linked to this disease.
Besides, it can sometimes happen that the bacteria affect a person's central nervous system, their heart and their joints.
Such severe symptoms occur when the disease is left untreated for a considerable period.
In the aftermath of these findings, the CDC urges that health officials and ordinary folks work together and try to reduce the yearly number of infections.
“We need to move to a broader approach to tick reduction, involving entire communities, to combat this public health problem,” Paul Mead maintains.
“This community approach would involve homeowners trying to kill ticks in their own yards, and communities addressing a variety of issues. These issues include rodents that carry the Lyme disease bacteria, deer that play a key role in the ticks’ life cycle, suburban planning, and the interaction between deer, rodents, ticks, and humans,” the CDC adds.
Presently, Lyme disease is most common in the country's Northwest and Midwest. Thus, 96% of all yearly cases are reported in 13 different states in said parts of the US.