Lyme Disease clinic set for end of month

PROVIDENCE — A seminar on Lyme Disease, geared for clinical professionals, will be held Oct. 27 and 29 at the Providence Marriott Downtown.

“Turning the Corner through Research” – the 19th annual Lyme & Other Tick-Borne Diseases conference – is sponsored by the Lyme Disease Association and Columbia University, which is offering credits for CME (continuing medical education) credits for CME-registered physician attendees.

Lectures will cover many aspects of Lyme disease such as new treatments for Lyme persister cells, post mortem brain study of Lyme bacteria, biomarkers, B cell responses, applying cancer research to Lyme, and prevention. The latest news included will be on the longhorned tick that has invaded the U.S. from Asia and is rapidly spreading; the lone star tick, now found in Rhode Island, which can cause ehrlichiosis and STARI and is causing victims worldwide to develop a red meat allergy after its tick bite; and engineering mice against ticks. Physicians from Brown will discuss a local Powassan virus case, and other tick-borne diseases will be discussed by the 22 expert faculty.

“Reports about Lyme disease are coming in from across the U.S., especially here in the Northeast and Rhode Island, which ranked number ten in the U.S. in 2016 for case numbers – over 9,000 cases when underreporting is included,” the LDA says. “Doctors and the public need to be aware of the increasing numbers of all tick-borne diseases in the region including anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and Lyme disease, the most frequently reported, and Powassan virus, with a high fatality rate.” Check out www.LymeDiseaseAssociation.org for details and registration.