Lyme Disease near Ottawa Misdiagnosed

CBC Ottawa radio reported July 6 on the case of someone catching Lyme disease within 40 km (south) of Ottawa.  That's the first concern:  that it is getting closer to us all the time.  What's worse is that the first two doctors the patient saw missed the diagnosis, despite the patient's pointing out the classic bullseye symptoms and probable cause.  The result is that the patient has suffered highly debilitating long-term effects, all of which could have been avoided through a simple course of antibiotics had it been diagnosed early. 

The problem is that doctors are not yet expecting to find Lyme disease locally, and so missed the diagnosis.  Furthermore, the Canadian blood tests are known to be unreliable, and the facility that performs the tests is backlogged.

Bottom line, if we believe the news report (and I do), we need to take all the necessary precautions seriously, and be prepared to be very aggressive with our doctors if necessary.

Scott