PEOPLE suffering from a disease caused by tick bites that can cause blindness and paralysis say much more needs to be done to help them.

The New Forest is a particular hotspot for Lyme disease due to the number of people living in wooded areas where ticks are abundant.

It has just been announced that a new specialist national Lyme Disease clinic, headed by consultant microbiologist Dr Matthew Dryden, will be established in Winchester’s Royal Hampshire County Hospital from September.

But people who have struggled to get a diagnosis and appropriate treatment say what is needed is the type of testing and treatment offered abroad.

A Hampshire mother, who asked not to be named, told us: “I took my nine-year-old son to see Dr Dryden last week.

“He is showing more interest than most doctors and he is willing to be more open on the subject. He was the first doctor in the UK to say ‘yes, I think your son did have Lyme’s’.

“We need to know just what difference they are actually going to make for sufferers of tick-related disease – as it is not looking good from where we stand.”

Fact File

  •  The first symptom of Lyme’s is a red circular skin rash which may subside after a week or two. A high temperature, muscle and joint pain may then follow.

 

  •  Most infections are not serious but in extreme cases it can cause paralysis, encephalitis and meningitis.

 

  •  It is caused by the bacteria borrelia burgdorferi, found in the digestive system of deer, pheasants and mice.

Another woman, who suffered from extreme fatigue, joint pain and stiffness for years before getting a diagnosis, said: “Patients have lobbied MPs, tried to communicate with Department of Health and tried to encourage the media to look into the controversies over testing, diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.

“After all our combined efforts over many years the Department of Health has decided to provide us with this clinic in Winchester. Are we expected to be overjoyed?

“We are not – many of us feel very badly let down, because we believe the clinic will follow the restricted and narrow view currently held by Public Health England. Many months of antibiotics were needed to restore my health. There is plenty of research to support why this can be difficult to treat in a short course of antibiotics.

“Just a few lucky patients like myself have been fortunate to have an open minded GP prepared to treat us on longer courses of antibiotics. But most doctors will not try and we believe this new clinic won’t offer this.”

Lyme disease, or borrelia, is generally treated with antibiotics but patients say the symptoms can continue after treatment.

The woman added: “It is a complex spirochetal disease on a par in complexity with TB or leprosy, yet experts give antibiotics and then say the infection is gone.”

No one from the clinic was available to comment as the Journal went to press.