LymeNet Newsletter Volume 5 Issue 04

Volume: 5
Issue: 04
Date: 10-Apr-97

Table of Contents:

I. LYMENET: State of NJ Authorizes Attack on Tick-Borne Illnesses II. LYMENET: Readers to Newsletter: Present All Sides of Issues III. LYMENET: Update on NIH Chronic Lyme Study Scheduled for April 19 IV. LDF: National LD Awareness Month Kick-Off on May 1 V. LYMENET: Lyme Disease Forum at West Chester University VI. About The LymeNet Newsletter

Newsletter:

*********************************************************************** * The National Lyme Disease Network * * LymeNet Newsletter * ***********************************************************************

IDX# Volume 5 / Number 04 / 10-APR-97 IDX# INDEX IDX# IDX# I. LYMENET: State of NJ Authorizes Attack on Tick-Borne IDX# Illnesses IDX# II. LYMENET: Readers to Newsletter: Present All Sides of Issues IDX# III. LYMENET: Update on NIH Chronic Lyme Study Scheduled for IDX# April 19 IDX# IV. LDF: National LD Awareness Month Kick-Off on May 1 IDX# V. LYMENET: Lyme Disease Forum at West Chester University IDX# VI. About The LymeNet Newsletter IDX#

I. LYMENET: State of NJ Authorizes Attack on Tick-Borne Illnesses -------------------------------------------------------------------- Sender: Marc Gabriel <[email protected]> Date: April 7, 1997

New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman signed last week a bill which leverages existing mosquito control efforts in the battle to control increasing tick infestation across the State. The NJ Lyme Disease and Other Tick Borne Illness Act took effect upon her signature April 1.

The Act, co-sponsored by Senate Majority Leader John O. Bennett (R-12) and Senator James E. McGreevey (D-19), establishes a board charged with overseeing progress made in the areas of Lyme disease education, prevention, detection and diagnosis, as well as vector (tick) management. The bill also explicitly requests the board consider the financial impact of Lyme disease on the residents of New Jersey. It noted that "studies of Lyme disease treatment have shown that the costs associated with long-term treatment of infected persons have often exceeded $100,000 per case and have a significant negative social impact." The Board will also recommend funding levels for tick management.

The bill rests the responsibility of designating specific management activities with the Board of Chosen Freeholders of a given county. The language suggests existing mosquito control agencies can be used to fight disease carrying vectors, but leaves the ultimate decision to local government. Kerry Fordyce, one of the founding members of the Lyme Disease Association of New Jersey, urged residents to "ask your Freeholders to appoint an agency to handle tick management in your area. We need to put this bill to work."

Other Lyme activists were similarly upbeat. Steven Gottschalk, an organizing member of AOLyme on America On-Line, noted the bill was "extremely important, not only in its ability to curtail the Lyme epidemic by cutting off the main source, ticks, but also in its strong language, which makes clear the serious nature of Lyme disease. That the bill was passed unanimously by both houses and signed by the Governor is truly impressive."

The full text of the bill can be found on the LymeNet Web Server at: http://www.lymenet.org/

=====*=====

II. LYMENET: Readers to Newsletter: Present All Sides of Issues ----------------------------------------------------------------- Sender: Archives of Microbiology <Karen.Brune>

I, for one, applaud your making the ECAL URL available to readers of LymeNet [Newsletter vol#5, #03] for a personal reason and mostly for a general one.

My personal reason is that I contracted Lyme disease in Germany, where I live, and was treated in Germany. The treatment was very conservative compared to the treatments advocated on the LymeNet; therefore, I was very interested in learning what the general treatment programs are throughout Europe. (I was a little disappointed that the ECAL had minimal information on the general treatments in the different countries, but that is another point). In any case, ECAL only provided information as things ARE. Any of your readers in Europe (and hopefully those in the US) should be interested in how Lyme Disease is treated throughout the world, regardless of whether they find the treatment correct or incorrect.

Most importantly, however, I find it a necessity that people be informed of ALL sides of an issue, regardless of which side the individual person (or news group) stands. To be UNINFORMED of all sides is the return to the Dark Side, or rather, the Dark Ages. Each individual should be able to form their own opinion after receiving all the facts. To supply only information that supports one side is exceedingly dangerous, and can lead to misconceptions and very narrow ways of thinking. In most things, there is no 'absolute truth', and to think that there is only one 'right way' and to refuse to hear the 'wrong way' will only lead us backward in time -- much farther back than 15 years! How can people ever seriously and knowledgeably discuss anything if the two (or more) sides know nothing of the other side(s)?

=====*=====

III. LYMENET: Update on NIH Chronic Lyme Study Scheduled for April 19 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Sender: Marc Gabriel <[email protected]> Date: April 8, 1997

A briefing on the planned protocol for the NIH extramural chronic Lyme study will take place on April 19 at 12:30pm at the Katonah Presbyterian Church in Katonah, NY. The presentation will be made by Carl Brenner, Contributing Editor of the LymeNet Newsletter and a member of NIAID's Advisory Committee for Clinical Studies on Chronic Lyme Disease. The meeting is sponsored by the Lyme Disease Coalition of New York / Connecticut.

The final planned versions of the protocols for the extramural chronic Lyme study have now been completed and abridged versions will soon be posted on the NIAID web page. There is still a possibility that the study plans will be modified slightly at some point down the road; however, any revisions at this stage are likely to be minor.

Brenner anticipates the event will be informal, and will encourage questions and observations. He plans to relay these thoughts to the investigators and to the relevant officials at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

For those who will be unable to attend the meeting, a tape of the proceedings will be made and copies of the transcript available by mail. Directions to the church and the details of the transcript offer will be announced when available on the LymeNet Web Server at: http://www.lymenet.org/

=====*=====

IV. LDF: National LD Awareness Month Kick-Off on May 1 -------------------------------------------------------- Sender: The Lyme Disease Foundation <[email protected]>

A press conference (Senate Swamp, Washington DC, 11:30am) kicks-off May as National Lyme Disease Awareness Month. The subsequent "Wake Up Washington Congressional Educational Meetings" (1pm) will offer you an opportunity to let your representatives know what Lyme disease has done to your family and friends. Contact the Lyme Disease Foundation for transportation information.

=====*=====

V. LYMENET: Lyme Disease Forum at West Chester University ------------------------------------------------------------ Sender: Dave Williams <[email protected]>

The Lions Club 14-P Lyme Disease Committee will hold an afternoon session featuring professionals in the field of treatment and prevention of Lyme Disease on May 5th, 1997 from 4:00 to 8:30 PM in the Sykes Union Building of West Chester University in West Chester, PA. The evening session, beginning at 7 PM, will feature a public forum with professionals responding to frequently asked questions about Lyme Disease.

A dinner is scheduled from 5:30 to 6:45 PM. Cost is $15.00.

Please send all correspondence to: Lions Fight Lyme PO Box 2018 West Chester, PA. 19380

For further information, call Toll-Free: 1-888-596-3147 (LYME14P)

=====*=====

VI. ABOUT THE LYMENET NEWSLETTER ---------------------------------- For the most current information on LymeNet subscriptions, contributions, and other sources of information on Lyme disease, please refer to the LymeNet Home Page at: http://www.lymenet.org ----------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the LymeNet newsletter, send a message to: [email protected] On the first line of the message, write: unsub lymenet-l ----------------------------------------------------------------------- LymeNet - The Internet Lyme Disease Information Source ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor-in-Chief: Marc C. Gabriel <[email protected]> FAX (for contributions ONLY): 908-789-0028 Contributing Editors: Carl Brenner <[email protected]> John Setel O'Donnell <[email protected]> Frank Demarest <[email protected]> Advisors: Carol-Jane Stolow, Director <[email protected]>
William S. Stolow, President <[email protected]> The Lyme Disease Network of New Jersey ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WHEN COMMENTS ARE PRESENTED WITH AN ATTRIBUTION, THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY REPRESENT THE OPINIONS/ANALYSES OF THE EDITORS. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS NEWSLETTER MAY BE REPRODUCED AND/OR POSTED ON BULLETIN BOARDS FREELY AS LONG AS IT IS NOT MODIFIED OR ABRIDGED IN ANY WAY. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- SEND ALL BUG REPORTS TO [email protected] -----------------------------------------------------------------------