CHRONIC INFECTIONS AND THE THREE CONDITIONS

Many people with complex, chronic, environmentally linked illnesses also have pernicious infections that may be bacterial, viral, fungal and/or parasitic in nature. Because these are frequently missed due to poor physician awareness about these infections and about state-of-the-art diagnostic measures, their persistence makes it very difficult to achieve improvement in other symptoms such as pain, chemical sensitivity or debilitating fatigue.
Therefore having the capability to recognize symptoms of various types of chronic infections, having access to accurate diagnostic technologies and being up-to-date in the most successful treatment protocols are all important goals for the clinical program at the OCEEH.

LYME DISEASE – ON ITS OWN AND AS PART OF THE 3 CONDITIONS

From the Canadian Lyme Foundation (CanLyme) website:

Lyme disease is a borreliosis, an improperly tested for disabling disease that has for decades been an under-reported, poorly recognized serious threat to the health of Canadians, tourists, and our businesses who employ outdoor workers . . . Lyme Disease is an inflammatory infection that spreads to humans through tick bites. . . .[It} is a borreliosis caused by borrelia bacteria, which commonly infects woodland animals like mice or deer. Ticks pick up the bacteria by biting infected animals, and then pass it on to their human hosts. The are many strains or genospecies of borrelia that cause Lyme disease (borreliosis) in humans just as there are many strains of the flu virus that cause flu symptoms in humans, with some strains more virulent than others. Lyme disease has been spreading in Ontario, as elsewhere in North America. Anyone exposed to a Lyme-carrying tick can get Lyme disease. Depending on the strain and the (in) adequacy of response, the infection can become very debilitating for previously healthy individuals and persist for years. Lyme has also been found in many patients diagnosed with the three ‘canary’ conditions by specialists in the conditions or by specialists in Lyme disease, as such. Until now, the health care system in Canada has been extremely slow in addressing the burgeoning incidence of Lyme and incorporating the diagnostic and treatment methods of specialists in the United States. This has left many people without help for serious health challenges.

We hope this situation will change soon. With the adoption of Bill C-442, the Federal Framework on Lyme Disease Act, introduced by the Green Party and voted into law in 2014, the federal Minister of Health will be required to convene a conference with the provincial and territorial ministers responsible for health and with representatives of the medical community and patients’ groups for the purpose of developing a comprehensive federal framework to address the challenges of the recognition and timely diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.

This decision sets the stage for timely, pro-active policies by provincial health ministries, including in Ontario. Mandating the OCEEH specifically to include Lyme diagnosis and treatment in its clinical program would be an important step in ensuring successful treatment for those for whom Lyme is part of chronic ill-health, including those with ES/MCS, ME/CFS and FM.

Learn more about Lyme disease at the  Canadian Lyme Foundation