www.providencejournal.com/opinion/20170501/erica-mayer-be-wary-of-lyme-treatments-that-stray-from-standards_______________________________________________________________________________________
In response to Bernadette Andrews’ May 1 letter (“More answers needed on preventing/treating Lyme”):
Ms. Andrews is looking for suggestions that would help doctors to diagnose and treat Lyme disease. Surely any primary care provider in New England can diagnose and treat a typical case of Lyme, which usually requires an oral antibiotic for no more than a few weeks.
If someone is looking for further care due to ongoing symptoms, I would caution against practices that treat “chronic Lyme” (she mentions one in her letter) and instead steer them toward a board certified infectious disease physician who would have no potential gain in treating their symptoms.
The question of treating Lyme as a chronic disease has been exhaustively studied, and a nine-member independent panel of physicians and scientists that examined the issue agreed that the 2006 guidelines from the Infectious Disease Society of America are appropriate. People should be wary of any practice that claims to be any sort of Lyme treatment center that does not follow these guidelines.
Treating Lyme should not be a profit-making endeavor, and patients should be aware that the “treatments” being offered at these centers are not based in scientific evidence. Often, patients at these centers end up on intravenous antibiotics for extended periods of time. This can be very dangerous.
If the providers at a Lyme center say they are more knowledgeable than the experts at the IDSA and Centers for Disease Control, think twice.
Erica Mayer
Sarasota, Fla.
The writer is an infectious diseases physician assistant.
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I'm looking to write an editorial countering some of her points but mostly making others aware of peer-reviewed evidence regarding persistence of Lyme (Chronic Lyme), the ILADS guidelines and if they are accepted by the medical community and of which one, all while keeping it simple and short.