The Lyme Disease Vaccine-A Public Health Perspective

Many infectious diseases that once quickly spread and easily killed have been controlled or eradicated due to vaccinations. The efficacy of vaccines in reducing morbidity and mortality, particularly in children, is undeniable. Per the World Health Organization, childhood vaccinations prevent approximately 2-3 million deaths per year worldwide (WHO, 2016). In the United States, the value of immunizations is clearly displayed by comparing pre-vaccine era morbidity/mortality rates to post-vaccine era in regards to vaccine-preventable diseases. For example, prior to the diphtheria vaccine in the 1920’s, 206,000 people annually contracted the disease resulting in 15,520 deaths (History of Vaccines, 2009). However, between 2004 and 2014, only

Chronic Lyme disease specialists’ asserts that for some the Borrelia bacteria has become more prevalent. “If untreated, infection can spread to the joints, heart and nervous system, causing a large variety of symptoms which may persist over months or years” (Melisa) Additionally, when the bacteria is able to spread like this, according to medical officials that agree with Chronic Lyme diseases existence, if left untreated bacterial persistence can occur. When this happens treating the bacteria becomes a much harder and longer process. This viewpoint however is so divisive because the body that decides medical treatment of diseases of this class, the Infectious Disease Society of America, claims that Chronic Lyme doesn’t exist. Today many doctors shy away from the topic as those who support the existence of Chronic Lyme and try to treat patients risk losing the medical license. While this argument is riddled with claims of conflict of interest and fear mongering I believe taking care of the patient’s well being is paramount and that more care should be allotted to Chronic Lyme by American medicine as evidence points to the existence of Chronic Lyme.

In Canada, there are too many “false- negative” results, according to Jim Wilson, President of the Canadian Lyme disease Foundation and this standpoint is also recognized by Health Canada. (Magnotta, 2015). The human body takes several weeks for humans to create antibodies at detectable levels. This limits the detection of the various genotypes of the borrelia bacteria, from the procedures used, which in effect, is allowing late stage serology to occur. According to Dr. Ralph Hawkins, who is a General internal site lead at Calgary’s South Health Campus Hospital and a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Calgary, states that “serology is failing us; showing only 50 percent positive results in early Lyme disease

One of the greatest achievements of public health is that of vaccinations (Dubé et al., 2013).

Lyme disease is vector borne disease that is caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. It is transmitted to humans by the nymphal stage of scapularis ticks (Levi et al, 2012). It is widespread in North America, and is often times discussed about in relation to deer population. While ticks use deer often as a reproductive host, this article discusses that deer are not the only factor that affect the prevalence of Lyme disease. Small mammals and predation play a major role in the emergence of this Lyme disease.

If you were to question any public health professional as to what the greatest biomedical achievement of the last century was, they would likely struggle to find a more influential achievement than the development of vaccines. The struggling breaths of whooping cough, the horrendous birth defects caused by rubella, and the clunky braces used by children paralyzed by polio, all are only thought of as occurrences of the past by many Americans. Many find it hard to believe that less than a century ago; the infant mortality rate was a massive 20 percent (Alexandra, Markel, 2005). Fortunately, many of these devastating diseases have been eradicated because of the development and widespread use of vaccines. The history of vaccines is, however, very complex. The growth widespread use of vaccines requires a balance of scientific ingenuity and social acceptance. Vaccines historically have, and continue to, cause strong scientific, social, and cultural reactions.

Most people already know of Lyme’s Disease as the famous disease that is spread through ticks to most hikers. They speak of the terrible symptoms that come with it. With all of this information, it seems like you may already know everything about it - however, it couldn’t hurt to know just a little bit more about it. The question that shall be answered must be “How does one protect against Lyme’s Disease?” Said question shall be answered through several probing questions and paragraphs, all relating to said question.

This controversy revolves around the idea of infection verses autoimmunity because one school of thought hold to the belief that short terms antibiotic are not effective in treating the disease while the other espouses the view that the disease is hard to contract but easy to cure. Lacey Miller and her daughters have greatly suffered from chronic Lyme disease. In an emotional video posted on YouTube video, when Lacey and her daughters were diagnosed with Lyme disease, they spent over 100,000 over a period of 8-years the right diagnosis for the whole

Vaccines are considered the number one health achievement of the twentieth century ("Achievements in Public Health”). Mass vaccinations and the herd immunity they provide are believed to have saved countless lives since their introduction. On average it takes the body a week or longer to detect, identify, and build up antibodies to unknown microbes. For some diseases a week is long enough to inflict lasting

Perhaps nowhere is science more important than in the anti-vaccination (anti-VAX) movement. Throughout the last 10 years many “dead” diseases such as the measles, mumps, and whooping cough have begun to come back in meager outbreaks. Pockets of unvaccinated children or under-vaccinated children have led to these outbreaks. More importantly, there are growing pockets of vaccine refusal throughout the nation. With these growing pockets comes disruption in the local herd immunity resulting in vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks. Local herd

Vaccinations hold the keystone in the health society today. The vaccinations cure many diseases, which in turn saves many lives. Immunizations date back to the late 1700’s to the vaccine’s creation by Edward Jenner. (B) Ever since then immunizations stop infectious diseases and save lives. Vaccines serve as an important purpose in society and have many advantages; however, because they are so easily avoidable, something needs to change.

regarding the extent in which Lyme Disease is permitted to be addressed. Some agencies have

According to the Pennsylvania department of health, there were 5900 cases of Lyme disease in 2013 and 7400 cases in 2014 [3]. Especially in western Pennsylvania, the five year Lyme disease average incidence has been more 100 cases per 100,000 population. It is found that over $1 billion in annual medical expenses in US have been attributed to Lyme disease as well as up to $10,000 per patient annually in loss productivity. In PA alone, the annual economic burden of Lyme disease is found to exceed $ 74 million

Throughout history, it has been shown that vaccines make a significant impact on the health of our communities and “administration of these vaccines led to dramatic reduction in the number of cases of, as well as deaths from smallpox, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, measles, mumps and preventable diseases” (Jacobson, 2012, p.36). Generally, those involved in campaigns for and research in these preventable diseases attribute vaccines for children as the main contributing factor to the overall decline in diseases such as measles, mumps, smallpox and pertussis (Jacobson, 2012). In the public health setting, there are many issues that threaten the health and safety of the public, not just in the local community but the nation and world-wide. One such issue, surfacing in public health, is the issue of vaccinations; those who choose to vaccinate, those who choose not to vaccinate and those who do not

In these days of modern medicine, most children are vaccinated early in life for diseases such as rubella, measles, and tetanus. Vaccines have been perfected to shield and protect our body from seriously life threatening diseases that could have the potential to wipe out large populations. Most of America and a lot of western countries see vaccines as beneficial and a common necessity for their children and themselves. However, this view has not always been accepted. In fact, vaccines were only first widely considered to be helpful for diseases when a man named Louis Pasteur began experimenting with rabies. We will start our journey of microbiological history with the discovery of anthrax and move forward through the creation of Pasteur’s rabies vaccine.