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(reply to Crowsister)

Crowsister,

The discussion about whether Lyme disease is present in Australia is quite a controversial one. Some people are quite convinced it is, others say no.

Here is an excerpt from a CDC document:

"Over the past 6 years, principally because of local publicity, there has been an increase in serologic testing for Lyme disease in Australia, particularly in southeastern Australia. Testing has often been initiated by patients with undiagnosed health problems. Thus, most Lyme disease patients seen by infectious disease specialists are self selected and are referred for assessment on the basis of tick exposure and reported positive serologic test results for Lyme disease.

"Patients with positive serologic test results frequently have long-standing symptoms for which no other diagnosis has been established. The most common symptoms are musculoskeletal, including myalgias and arthralgias without objective evidence of joint swelling, and syndromes involving fatigue and loss of energy resembling chronic fatigue syndrome. Some patients fulfill diagnostic criteria for fibromyalgia. The next most common symptoms are neurological, and include frequent headaches, inability to concentrate, and memory loss. The most common dermatologic manifestation of chronic Lyme disease, acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans, seen occasionally in Europe and rarely in the United States, has not been reported from Australia."

This is the link to that page:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol1no1/russell.htm

There is now a Lyme Disease Association of Australia, which has a blog (scroll down to read others' comments):

http://lymebook.com/blog/geographic-incidence/lyme-disease-association-of-australia/

And here's a forum where Aussies are talking about this:

http://www.virtualmedicalcentre.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=785

Will you take a look and see if those are of some help?

April 14, 2010 - 10:17am

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