And, of course, Lyme Disease.<\/p>\n
I’m far from\u00a0alone about this concern, by the way. In an effort to make some progress against this challenging\u00a0infection, a “healthcare hackathon” on Lyme<\/a> will be held\u00a0in Cambridge June 17-20, led by the Dean Center for Tick Borne Illness.<\/a>\u00a0And if you’re wondering what a healthcare hackathon is, one of the Dean Center’s doctors kindly shared this review<\/a>\u00a0— it’s essentially it’s a way of bringing together experts from multiple fields to work together and tackle a problem.<\/p>\n This approach makes abundant sense, as solutions to complex problems rarely come from a single discipline.<\/p>\n And boy, is Lyme the very definition of a complex problem, a keep-you-up-at-night topic\u00a0— allow me to\u00a0list why:<\/p>\n This last item (the controversy) is the reason why, for the last several weeks, a green flyer promoting\u00a0the Lyme Hackathon has been posted in our clinic, and I’ve kept a copy on my desk. Notably absent from the pre-meeting materials are attacks on either side of the debate — a refreshing change from the usual harrangues.<\/p>\n I wish them the best of luck — we are all hoping for some progress!<\/p>\n\n
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<\/a>ID specialist in the early 1990s,\u00a0most of the people we saw with with\u00a0Lyme lived on or near the coast, or had\u00a0visited Cape Cod, Nantucket, or Martha’s Vineyard; now we see Lyme\u00a0acquired\u00a0throughout New England, and even in urban areas. It is\u00a0spreading from the Northeast and Midwest into the South,<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and it no longer disappears completely in the\u00a0winter\u00a0—\u00a0all it takes is a prolonged warm spell, and a few cases pop up. Here are the numbers per CDC<\/a><\/strong> — there are 300,000 cases\/year in the USA, a substantial increase over the last 3 decades, and\u00a0no doubt an underestimate since many cases are not reported.<\/li>\n![\"Screen](\"http:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/hiv-id-observations\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2016\/06\/Screen-Shot-2016-06-12-at-2.24.51-PM.png\")
<\/a>erythema migrans respond promptly to therapy; there are even people\u00a0with positive tests who have never been treated and feel totally fine. That’s the good news, the mild end of the spectrum. But rarely, especially (in my anecdotal opinion) for those who get sick and delay\u00a0diagnosis and treatment, Lyme can be\u00a0very<\/em>\u00a0serious — high fevers, cardiac disease, hepatitis, arthritis, encephalitis, meningitis, neuropathies, radiculitis, myelitis. And these severe cases are those most likely to have residual symptoms after treatment.<\/li>\n