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Lyme Disease Cases Severely Underestimated

According to Holly Ahern, an associate professor of microbiology at the State University of New York (SUNY) Adirondack - Lyme disease, now the fastest growing infectious disease, has finally exceeded the number of cases of gonorrhea each year (350,062 in 2014) and is second only to chlamydia's figures (1,441,789 in 2014).

"But even that estimate could be far too low, according to Holly Ahern, who has studied the Lyme bacterium since 2010, figures new cases of Lyme disease are more likely double, closer to 700,000 per year.

She says that's because the blood tests for Lyme, upon which the CDC's statistics are based, have a sensitivity rate of less than 50 percent. "This means that for every two people who have Lyme disease, only one person will be diagnosed as having it. This leaves the other 50 percent without a diagnosis, and therefore without effective treatment," Ahern says. "It is not just the fastest growing vector-borne disease, it is already the second most common infectious disease, right after chlamydia, and ahead of gonorrhea."

- Outside Magazine, Apr 3, 2017