Lyme disease spreading across the country

The Centers for Disease Control reported last week that Lyme disease is not only growing more rampant in its normal hotspots, but it’s also spreading dramatically to new geographic areas like the West Coast.

People from all realms of life, including singers Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates and Avril Lavigne are going public with their diagnosis of Lyme disease and how the multiple debilitating symptoms stopped them in their tracks and put them on a medical fact finding adventure.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borrelia Burgdorferi and is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black legged ticks

Each year, approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to CDC by state health departments. In 2013, 95% of confirmed Lyme disease cases were reported from 14 states, mostly in the northeast and upper midwest. But, there are reportable cases in California and perhaps some cause for concern.

La Quinta mom Kym White was seeing a doctor for a number of symptoms when she was told she should be tested for Lyme Disease.

“I don’t understand why we would test for Lyme. I live in the desert there aren’t cases of Lyme out here, we’re not in a high tick area. I’m not the hiking type, I don’t go out in the woods, I don’t camp, I don’t have that lifestyle that I assumed went along with Lyme.

White says Lyme disease was the last thing on her mind when, in april of 2013, she was struck with a really bad headache, one that lasted days. Next came a bad case of Bells Palsy where the left side of her face fell.

“After that, was joint pain and aches, almost like I had the flu and I was exhausted, says White.” Doctors, at first, diagnosed White with the Epstein Bar Virus saying her symptoms would clear up in 6 to 8 weeks. They didn’t. She got worse. White’s doctor tested for her for MS, Lupus and Auto Immune Diseases.

White was doing IV treatments trying to boost her immune system, her lab work indicated her immune system was shot. White says, “I was immobile I had so much pain, the joint pain, it felt like a constant state of like having the flu, headaches and memory loss.”

After talking with colleagues, White’s doctor recommended she be tested for Lyme disease. And, even though White does not recall a tick bite, her results came back positive.

According to Dr. Shubha Kerkar, M.D., an infectious disease doctor at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, “Lyme disease causes first a tick related rash and then results in symptoms that are specific.”

Dr. Kerkar stresses Lyme disease in it’s primary form is easy to recognize and treat. But, for those who do not have the list of CDC reported symptoms there’s a greater problem.

“The post Lyme disease syndromes are most people’s concern and then those are the one that are very difficult to characterize and diagnose and treat,” says Kerkar.

She says that’s because the immune response from the infection continues. So, it may not be responsive to the antibiotics because the bacteria itself is not causing the problem.

According to Kerkar, “There is research going on about the diagnostic tools that would be appropriate or helpful, there are a lot of false positives and a lot of false negatives and that would be obviously the level of confusion to find out who has Lyme disease and who doesn’t.”

For Kym White, the positive lab report set her on a path to find the correct medical help she needs to reduce her symptoms. But, fast forward 2 /12 years later, she still has bad days.

“I’m kind of a suck it up butter cup kind of person, get up do what you need to, it’s not that hard, but I have a whole new respect for people who are in that place,” says White.

Many people with Lyme disease recover. But, if you have symptoms of Chronic Lyme, is there a cure? Dr. Kerkar says yes.

“Lyme disease is an infection that if diagnosed early you can cure it. But, it is a progressive disease and if not recognized in that window, yes it can progress, but it is still manageable, treatable.

Important to note, the California incidents of Lyme, according to the CDC from 2011 to 2014, were twenty-two reportable cases in Riverside County.

Dr. Kerkar says most likely those in the state with Lyme got it from traveling to areas where Lyme is prevalent. The doctor says there is virtually no risk of contracting Lyme here in the desert.

That said, if you see a tick on your dog, your child, or on you, remove it, keep it, take it and yourself to a doctor immediately. With Lyme, early detection is the key to getting well.