There May One Day Be A Lyme Vaccine
Just maybe not anytime soon. While several are currently in development, it typically takes a decade or more for a vaccine to wend its way through clinical trials before satisfying regulators that it's both safe and effective for wide-spread dissemination. And that's if everything goes to plan. Hit a snag anywhere along the way and that can result in delays or even scotch what seemed like a promising candidate. So while there has long been a vaccine available for your dog, don't hold your breath there will be one for you anytime soon. The one closest to approval also requires four doses to reach effective levels, so be prepared to roll up your sleeve over and over again. This article in The National Post gives a good rundown of where things currently stand.
Health Units Don't Have To Accept Your Ticks
They really, really don't. I've been asked many times over the years why some health units don't accept ticks for disease testing while others that have been doing so for years abruptly stop. Apparently the folks at Cottage Life have been fielding those some questions. It's not a mystery. It all comes down to why those ticks are being collected in the first place and at what point collecting them no longer serves a definable purpose.
Lyme Diagnostics: It's Still A Mess Out There
I'm guessing that's not the message I was supposed to come away with after reading this article in Canadian Family Physician designed to update your family doctor on Lyme disease diagnostics and protocols in Canada. Testing protocols, in case you're wondering, vary by province. Clinical diagnosis guidelines still place heavy emphasis on a couple of criteria that could very well rule out legitimate cases and have a "best guess wins" feel about them. And patients persist in having Lyme testing performed at commercial labs in the US or Europe that specialize in tick-borne disease diagnostics despite the red flags. Presumably this is because those patients are dissatisfied with the diagnostic situation in Canada. (Seriously, see above.) This does not strike me as a situation that is any more under control today than it was a decade ago. It seems more like a brokenness that continues to perpetuate.
