So many new Lyme cases ... a million in Germany?

A million people reported with Lyme Disease in Germany in 2012? Out of a population of 82 million, that means more than 1 in every 100 people! I was totally in shock reading those figures, and will give more below. This blog post might not make much step-by-step sense, but I wanted to share the information with more links for those who want to research more.

Dr. MacDonald (picture from ILADS)

Dr. Alan MacDonald, one of the speakers at the Boston conference of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society (ILADS) earlier this month, quoted this astounding figure. He writes - and I quote with his bold, etc. unchanged, but I fixed one typo:

"The German Borreliosis Society and Dr Armin Schwartzbach have told me that One Million New cases of Lyme borreliosis were recorded for residents of Germany, based on public data released from Payments by German Health insurance companies for calendar year 2012.
ESTIMATES for China are between 20,000 to 30,000 new cases of Lyme Borreliosiis annually [ with statements that the true numbers of Chinese cases is ,like in the USA a ten to 20 fold multiple of the ESTIMATED NUMBERS.]"

Dr. MacDonald also stated that "there is not country with a greater knowledge of the pathobiology of Lyme borreliosis than Germany. "

Dr. MacDonald works with dr. Eva Sapi, the doctor I met in 2011 at the ILADS conference in Toronto. She is the one who is working on the breakthrough research regarding biofilms. In a peer-reviewed paper published about Lyme Disease, it is stated that:

The bacteria responsible for Lyme disease is capable of forming a biofilm which might allow it to hide and resist harsh environmental conditions such as antibiotic treatments, according to a paper published today* in an online science journal.
The paper notes that Borrelia burgdorferi, the causative agent of Lyme disease, is continuously rearranging its structure.  It can transform itself from motile spirochetes into cystic, granular or cell wall deficient forms even when it is in an unfavorable environment.
[LINKS: *From a news release by the University of New Haven. The published paper is online HERE. ]

==>To register to view free streaming videos of the 2012 ILADS conference, go to the ILADS (ilads.org) website or click on this link REGISTER.

Image from this website 

German was my second language before English was, but I'm quite rusty after years of not using it all the time. However, I went traipsing a bit and found a site with a map of Germany, documenting cases in 2008. According to that, the total from all the areas in the country came to 743.000

Another German site I found, mentioned that Mitt Romney used Lyme Disease as part of his campaign speeches, saying that the cases in his home state of Virginia are rising. The write-up continues to say that in Germany, one in 14 children now become infected! The map to the right is from the site above, and the link is in the caption under the picture or HERE.

The translated site with the information just above, is here, if the link works to give you the English translation.

Is it little wonder that within days, some 17 countries have signed up to join a Worldwide awareness planned for May 2013?

Yet, there are the people who still don't believe!

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"NO LYME AROUND HAMILTON, ONTARIO"
This year, when I sent requests to various towns around us to proclaim May as Lyme Disease Awareness month, four said yes (Caledon, Brampton, Orangeville and Brantford). However, Hamilton just marked the correspondence as "received". The particular Council meeting's video is still online if you want to listen for yourself. LINK
Move the time slider to about 14 minutes to hear the discussion.

Notes from that: Councillor Maria Pearson said that Lyme is out there, and if she can advise the public, she'll do so. Councillor Clark had something to say about a report from two years ago, that the deer ticks are different from dog ticks and the dog ticks don't carry Lyme disease .... Councillor McHattie "didn't want to panic anyone" --- and wood ticks are the ones carrying Lyme, but they are different than deer ticks. He said they're only at Long Point and the Lake Erie shore Line.

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CANADA AND THE WORLDWIDE AWARENESS ABOUT LYME DISEASE
The graphic with the Canadian flag and the tick on the LymeProtestCanada page was designed by my friend Fi, a graphic artist in South Africa. When I made myself T-shirts (picture) with that graphic, several people wanted to buy it off me. I'm thinking of having some printed if there is interest, and then selling them just to cover the printing costs. I think they should work out between $12 and $15 each, depending on how many I order at first. Anyone interested? Drop me an email, please, to see how many would want one to wear for various events or just for awareness around town, etc.

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NEW MEDS
A small footnote about my new meds, as posted on Friday: Very sleepy, as always when I start a new protocol. Slept ten hours and found the cats very happy to share the bed when I finally woke up! Within a few hours I was tired enough to sleep again, but forced myself to do several hours of housework, vacuuming, steam-cleaning, washing floors and doing laundry. As all Lymies know, we have to keep moving!

In the scope of all the above happenings, this is small potatoes, but I promised to post, so there it is. Thanks for all the emails and comments and my apologies if I don't always reply. Please know that I read everything and love hearing from you - even if it is another heart-breaking story like today's, of a woman with Lyme who is sure she passed it on to her two children.

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Things will change. Soon.

NB: I have no medical training, only my own journey, research and conversations about Lyme Disease. Please do not take anything in this blog as medical advice.