In the last week, two different friends have sent me photos of Erythema Migrans (EM) rashes. One called frantically from her child’s pediatrician’s office. Still others are noticing tick-borne illness symptoms in their kids, such as high fevers and malaise, wondering if they should be evaluated for Lyme or other tick-borne illness even if they never saw a tick bite.
Ticks are at all all-time high this year, and children, adults, and pets are in more danger than ever when spending time outdoors. According to data from the CDC, June saw the highest level of emergency room visits for tick bites in New England and nearby states in five years. Factors like climate change are affecting the increase in tick population, as well as this summer’s rainy, humid weather. In the article “New England is seeing one of its worst tick season in years,” the Boston Globe’s lead meteorologist Ken Mahan notes that the rise in ticks is a “direct result of climate change and a warmer atmosphere: warmer temperatures hold more moisture.”
The story has not just been covered in the Boston Globe, which has also run articles on tick safety and on Powassan virus. The New York Times wondered “How Worried Should You Be About Ticks?” (hint: very) and also ran an article on tick protection. The New York Post did an article “Up-tick? Long Island seeing more of the blood-suckers this year.” The ticks, and news about them, are not just in New England; earlier this month, the Washington Post ran “Ticks EVERYWHERE? Sightings and bites in the D.C. region heighten worries”.
The fact that tick populations are increasing in a country that already sees 476,000 reported cases of Lyme disease annually is not good news, but the fact that this story is making the mainstream news is good for spreading Lyme disease awareness.
Perhaps the most exciting article to come out this summer is the Wall Street Journal’s “Chronic Lyme Disease Was Once Dismissed. Now More Doctors Are Coming Around”. “Long contentious, chronic Lyme, as it is called by patient advocates, has gained more acknowledgement and investment by researchers after Covid-19 showcased how an infection can leave people with lingering symptoms that last months or longer,” the article notes. As I discuss in the Introduction to One Tick Stopped the Clock, that news was frustrating to Lyme patients who’d had similar symptoms for years, but it’s also getting long-haul illness the attention it deserves—from doctors, researchers, and news outlets.
The narrative around chronic Lyme disease is changing, not just in the news but in places that have traditionally fallen on the conservative side of the “Lyme wars,” leaving patients battling for validation and treatment.
Take Harvard Medical School. The website Lyme Wellness Initiative, created by Harvard Health Publishing (a division of Harvard Medical School) acknowledges, “Regardless of terminology, persistent symptoms of Lyme disease are real and well documented,” noting that immune system dysregulation, damage to nerve pathways, and lingering infection may all be causes of persistent symptoms. This acknowledgement, particularly of persistent infection, represents a huge shift in thinking. As the Patient Representative and Senior Writer for the website, I saw the transition happen with my own eyes, helped facilitate understanding with my own story, and helped write those lines myself. I can tell you for sure that the needle is moving.
We still have a way to go until the CDC acknowledges chronic Lyme disease, but they have, at least, begun to recognize persistent symptoms and patient suffering. These small steps make a difference. News articles, websites and research from medical schools, and education efforts from Global Lyme Alliance and other advocacy groups are helping. Let’s keep spreading the word and moving in the right direction!
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