Wed 4/24/13 Noon & 7 pm In 2002 there were 37 cases of Lyme disease in Vermont. In 2011 there were over 500. Experts aren’t sure why the numbers are rising so drastically, but they do agree that the disease is serious.
If you know you’ve been bitten by a deer tick, and you develop a rash, you have likely been infected with Lyme disease. A short course of antibiotics, administered quickly after an infection, has proven effective at treating the disease at that stage. After that, though, there is some disagreement as to how the disease should be identified and treated.
Many people claim to be suffering from chronic Lyme disease. Some doctors agree with them. The CDC, the NIH, and many other major medical organizations do not believe there is a long-term form of the Lyme disease at all, though they do agree that symptoms can sometimes last for a while after the bacteria has been killed.
We’ll try to get to the bottom of this disagreement. We’ll talk to Dr. Jodie Dionne-Odom, from the School of Medicine at Dartmouth, and Dr. Jeffrey Wulfman, a family practitioner in Bristol.
Post your questions or stories about Lyme disease here or email them to vermontedition@vpr.net.
Also on the program, two scientist at Dartmouth believe it was a comet – not an asteroid- that ended the reign of the dinosaurs.
Plus, a senior at Burlington High School was one of 12 students to win a national reading award.
