- Mid-Hudson Valley children are at the heart of a 40 percent
increase in Lyme disease cases from 2001 to 2002, according to the latest
national numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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- Columbia County had the highest incidence of Lyme disease
in the nation in 2001 and 2002. Dutchess ranked second in 2002, moving
up from fourth a year earlier. Greene ranked seventh.
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- Nationwide, 23,763 cases were reported in 2002, up from
17,029 in 2001.
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- Patients were most likely to have illness through the
warm months, with illness peaking in June and July.
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- Children ages 5-14 and adults ages 50-59 were most likely
to get Lyme. In the 12 states where most illness occurred, including New
York, 6-year-olds were more likely than any other age to get Lyme.
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- Concentration affected
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- Kristin Chiparri, 12, has had Lyme disease for eight
years. The sixth-grader has started receiving intravenous antibiotic treatments
that are working, and she and her mother, Carol, are hopeful the ordeal
will soon be over.
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- Because of concentration problems her doctor attributed
to Lyme, Kristin is tutored at her home in Poughkeepsie part of the day.
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- ''My classmates, they always ask why I go into school
late, and leave early. They say, 'You're lucky, you're lucky,' '' she said.
But she'd take a full day of school over Lyme disease in a heartbeat.
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- Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium carried by black-legged
ticks, a tiny, blood-sucking arachnid. The disease can cause joint pain,
fever and fatigue, leading to more serious complications if not treated
properly. Antibiotics often are effective, though the necessary length
of treatment has been controversial.
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- Some of the increase in cases may be due to better surveillance
and reporting, the CDC said. And serious medical complications from Lyme
disease have dropped locally, according to statistics from the Dutchess
County Department of Health.
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- In 1997, 22 percent of Dutchess Lyme patients reported
serious heart complications. By 2002, it was fewer than 1 percent. The
story is the same for central nervous system complications, which had affected
10 percent of patients in 1997, but fewer than 1 percent since.
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- Doctors are diagnosing Lyme disease better, and treating
it early. Officials credit a public education program spearheaded by the
Health Department, the American Lyme Disease Foundation and the Institute
of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook. That coalition also is studying ways
to reduce ticks in the environment.
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- Arthritis still affects roughly 20 percent of Dutchess
patients, and patients experiencing other muscle symptoms appear to have
gone up, from about 14 percent in 1997 to 21 percent in 2002.
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- The CDC urged people to take precautions like removing
ticks promptly, using insecticides wisely, landscaping yards to remove
tick habitat and using insect repellent.
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- ''People really can prevent Lyme disease,'' said Dr.
Erin Staples, a CDC epidemiologist.
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- On the Web
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- For tips on avoiding tick-borne diseases, visit www.stopticks.org
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