As Lyme disease rapidly spreads in Canada, there is no immediate test to detect it
Experts say precaution is crucially important
May 17th, 2019 by Anam Khan, GUELPHTODAY.com
As the warmer weather finally sets in, the tick season brings on a serious cause for concern as Lyme disease cases in Canada rapidly rise.
The problem? There is no perfect laboratory test that can tell you whether or not you have Lyme disease, especially in the early stages,” says director at G.Magnotta Lyme disease Research Lab Dr. Melanie Wills.
With ticks as small as a poppy seed, it is difficult to detect that you have even been bitten by a one. When symptoms of the flu, illness, or fever appear, there’s no way of knowing immediately whether or not these are actually symptoms of Lyme disease.
“The current test is based on your body’s immune response and that can take four weeks so its not a fast and responsive test and so our lab is looking at the interactions between the pathogen and different biomarkers that could come out in early disease that could actually be used as a more effective diagnostic,” says Wills …
If Lyme disease is so rampant and the cause of so many health issues .. why is so difficult to get a diagnosis, not to mention treatment ? Why do other labs elsewhere test positive for Lyme while labs here in Canada test negative. Why is Canada so far behind in research, diagnosis and treatment? It is well known that our health care system is monumentally flawed in this area .. why is that allowed to happen? What does a person do in a case where they’ve been tested elsewhere, and got a positive result for Lyme and numerous Co infections, but can’t get the same result here in Canada so they can be treated ? So, the big question is .. Where do we go from here?