Manitoba, CBC Radio: Lyme disease season is here, province warns to be on alert

[CanLyme note: In the CBC article it says that according to Manitoba Health, “It’s estimated that 70 to 80 per cent of people develop an expanding rash within three to 30 days of being bitten by an infected tick”.  That is Manitoba Health continuing to mislead the public and medical community. Current research indicates that only a small subset of the Lyme causing bacteria will cause a rash of any kind… and Manitoba Health is aware of this information because we have given them that information. Doctors are still telling patients that without a rash it is likely not Lyme disease… they don’t even order a test. We ask that Manitoba Health provide the evidence to support that 70-80% of people with Lyme disease will get an expanding rash and if they cannot, stop using public tax dollars to misinform and injure the public.  Also, the current test used in Manitoba is incapable of detecting many strains of the Lyme bacteria so their numbers are seriously under-representative of the real situation.]

“In 2014, there were 34 confirmed or probable cases of Lyme disease in Manitoba”

Winnipegger Jan Cmela competed in adventure racing and biking until she contracted Lyme disease two years ago, now she is advocating for better education of Manitobans so others don’t have to suffer the way she has.

Cmela was training for a 28-kilometre obstacle bike race in B.C. when she was hit with symptoms she described as numbness and tingling in her head, dizziness, cognitive issues and exhaustion.

“It is pretty brutal considering I went from this person that really pushed the envelope on everything I did,” Cmela told CBC’s Radio Noon

More than a year later, after seeing five specialists and going to more than 40 medical appointments, Cmela said, adding her doctors were convinced her symptoms were not the result of a head injury as originally thought. By this time, she said symptoms had spread to her bladder and stomach.

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