Seriousness of these infections is downplayed
Infectious diseases expert professor Jack Lambert warns that just as mosquitos can spread more than one type of malaria, ticks spread more than one bacteria or virus.
He said: “They can spread a whole bunch of bacteria to humans. Doctors are not aware of these infections, but veterinarians are.
“It is a bacteria which likes to set up shop in body tissue and then the immune system begins attacking in response to the underlying infection. A year down the road, and people can feel very unwell. “Present guidelines say three weeks of doxycycline – an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections – will cure most people, but that is only the minority of patients who have been diagnosed early.
“Even then, many will respond to doxycycline but get worse when the antibiotics are stopped.
“Doctors will say they have treated the infection, but what about Post Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome and what about a second infection besides Lyme?”
The professor says that despite many hundreds of medical literature articles showing the persistence of Lyme, guidelines on treatment seem to ignore this fact.
And he believes the true figures of infection are very much higher.
He said: “The US are now saying they may have around 400,000 cases rather than the 30,000 previously indicated. GP practices in the UK recently estimated 8,000 cases rather than the government figures, which state 2,000.
“The challenge we face is that many symptoms overlap with those of other syndromes doctors are more comfortable with such as fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.
“The seriousness of tick borne infections and their complications are seriously downplayed.
“The reality is that we are missing many cases, the current testing is imperfect and we need more funding for research and awareness.”