The Lyme disease (also called “Lyme borreliosis”) is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium: borrelia burgdorferi. It is transmitted mainly via a bite of tickespecially when the mite remains attached to the patient for more than 24 hours.
The disease progresses in phases: first, the area becomes red and swollen (known as erythema migrans), then, as the bacteria spreads throughout the body, the nervous system, joints, heart and the eyes are affected, which causes joint painneuralgia, headaches, paralysis… In the most serious cases, dermatological, cardiac and/or ophthalmic disorders can be observed.
In France, each year, approximately 26,000 new cases are recorded – 65,000 in Europe. However, there are significant regional disparities: if the Mediterranean rim is generally spared, the eastern regions are the most affected (more than 100 cases per 100,000 for Alsace and Meuse, 50-100 per 100,000 for Champagne-Ardenne, Auvergne, Franche-Comté, Limousin and the Rhône-Alpes region).
An “ineffective” blood test?
This Friday, October 14, 2016, 130 patients suffering from Lyme disease sued 2 medical laboratories. The French laboratory BioMérieux and the Italian biotechnology company DiaSorin are accused of marketing an ineffective screening test. This one, called “Elisa”, is the only one currently authorized in France to detect Lyme borreliosis: it works on the principle of a blood sample.
The 130 patients, grouped within the “Lymaction” committee (which brings together around 500 patients), “intend to denounce the lack of reliability of the diagnostic tests marketed for too many years” underlined Me Julien Fouray, their lawyer. “Beyond the laboratories, it is the health authorities, the State and the Minister of Health in a personal capacity, who will also have to face up to their responsibilities”.
On Thursday, September 29, 2016, the Ministry of Health launched its ” national lyme disease plan and other tick-borne vector-borne diseases”. The objective: an improvement in knowledge about ticks, an improvement in the care of patients and an improvement in diagnostic tests. A case to follow…
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Know more about Lyme disease
Infographic: the transmission of Lyme disease
