Calls for Lyme disease inquiry to resume with new Parliament

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lymegreen

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This is becoming pretty big news in Australia - Lyme isn't recognized there, and there are further pushes for a Senate government enquiry.

A woman claiming to suffer from Lyme disease is calling for a Senate inquiry into tick-borne diseases in Australia to continue when Parliament resumes, after it was halted because of the federal election.

Christine Linigen said she suffered from Lyme disease, but the condition's presence in Australia is still being debated.

Ms Linigen said a lot of time and effort has gone into the Senate probe.

"I did put my submission in, as did a lot of other people. But unfortunately because of the election, that's all been put on hold," she said.

"We're hoping that after the election the Senate inquiry will happen again, helping people with Lyme disease, because we really need it."

Lyme disease, also known as Lyme borreliosis, is a bacterial infection recognised in America and other parts of Europe and Asia.

But the existence of diseases caused by the borreliosis bacteria in Australia has long been debated.

Ms Linigen said she had been fighting the disease for three years.

"I got a tick bite up on the north coast of New South Wales," she said.

"We've spent a lot of our hard-earned funds and our retirement money fighting this disease because there's just very little help, and it's a difficult disease to treat."

If you want to read about it more, simply search the thread title in your preferred search engine - links don't seem to work for me here!
 
I think that the only way that this disease is going to be officially recognised is if more and more governments throughout the world do start to be more open about Lyme disease and the effects it has on people.

No good is going to come out of sticking their head in the sand, that's for sure, and it's a problem that's not just going to go away either.
 
@pwarbi I think you're right - ultimately what we need is awareness and an understanding that this is a real issue - we live in such a well traveled world that even if ticks carrying the bacteria aren't necessarily in a person's local area, it's not to say that they haven't traveled to somewhere that they picked up Lyme from.
 
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