The Ottawa Star

Top Menu

  • Archives
  • Les Actualités
  • Sexy Pages
  • Meet Locals

Main Menu

  • News
  • Arts
  • Travel
  • Business
  • Aliens
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Real Estate
  • Foodie
  • Health
  • Video
  • Archives
  • Contact Us
Sign in / Join

Login

Welcome! Login in to your account
Lost your password?

Lost Password

Back to login
  • Archives
  • Les Actualités
  • Sexy Pages
  • Meet Locals

logo

Header Banner

The Ottawa Star

  • News
  • Arts
  • Travel
  • Business
  • Aliens
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Real Estate
  • Foodie
  • Health
  • Video
  • Archives
  • Contact Us
  • How solitaire supports better decision making

  • What WE Lost – Chopping the tallest poppy, when success is no longer celebrated

  • 18 Reasons I Won’t Be Getting a Covid Vaccine

  • Israel doubles down on booster shots as daily Covid cases set new record

  • COVID-19 Cases in Israel Rise Despite Third Shot for Those Over 60

Health
Home›Health›Federal agency issues call for Lyme disease research

Federal agency issues call for Lyme disease research

By admin
July 22, 2017
2055
0
Share:

A federal funding agency has issued a national call for new Lyme disease research as the country’s population of disease-carrying ticks continues to climb.

The research initiative is the first step in the federal government’s recently announced $4-million, four-year plan to combat Lyme disease, which is now the most common vector-borne illness in Canada.

“There are a lot of ticks now that carry the bacteria that cause Lyme disease so we have to be able to provide some answers on how to better prevent infection and treat the disease,” said Dr. Marc Ouellette, scientific director of the Institute of Infection and Immunity at the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).

In concert with the Public Health Agency of Canada, CIHR intends to build a pan-Canadian network of Lyme disease experts to define a national research agenda.

“There are pockets of excellence in Canada on Lyme disease research but we want to bring them together to have more impact,” Ouellette said.

Many questions remain unanswered: Why do some people bitten by an infected tick not suffer any Lyme symptoms while a tiny minority will develop a painful, hard-to-treat form of the disease? Does the disease leave telltale biomarkers in the bloodstream that would allow doctors to diagnose Lyme in its earliest, most treatable stages? How do previous Lyme infections affect a person’s immune system? Is it possible to develop a vaccine?

Dr. Tara Moriarty, an infectious diseases researcher at the University of Toronto, studies how the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, spreads in the body and makes people sick.

“It’s a complicated disease that is quite difficult to understand — and it’s turning out it be more complex than people originally thought,” said Moriarty.

Her lab has found that obesity and diabetes make mice more susceptible to the bacteria that causes Lyme; it has also discovered that the bacteria can cause bone loss in mice.

Ouellette said the research network will be asked to establish a large national cohort of patients to study and track their experiences with the disease.

The goal, he said, is to better understand how Lyme manifests itself in patients; how best to diagnose and treat it; and the extent to which the disease can persist in people who have been treated.

The first round of research proposals are expected to be reviewed later this year, with the first grants being issued in 2018.

The number of Lyme disease cases in Canada soared to 917 in 2015 from from 144 cases in 2009. Public health researchers now estimate that, by 2020, 80 per cent of eastern Canada’s population will live in areas where blacklegged ticks have become established. The small arachnids carry the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

In 2010, just 18 per cent of eastern Canada’s population lived in places where they were at risk of contracting the disease.

Ouellette said Canadians will have to learn to live with Lyme disease since it’s unlikely that blacklegged ticks will be eradicated any time soon.

Last year, a record 75 people in Ottawa were diagnosed Lyme disease — up from just seven in 2010 — and earlier this year, the city was officially designated an at-risk area.

Ottawa Public Health officials said Thursday that 16 per cent of the 166 local ticks examined this year have tested positive for the Lyme-causing bacteria.

Blacklegged deer ticks can be found anywhere outdoors, but tend to concentrate in forests and tall grasses. Since they can’t fly, the arachnids position themselves on grasses or leaves with their front legs outstretched in order to latch on to a passing mammal. They can populate new areas by travelling on a host bird.

Public health officials recommend using insect repellent with DEET and wearing long pants and sleeved shirts in wooded areas. They also recommend scanning pets and children for ticks after being outdoors.

Ticks should be removed with tweezers as soon as possible since it takes at least 24 hours for ticks to transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

If it’s discovered early, the flu-like illness can usually be treated with antibiotics, but left untreated it can cause arthritis, numbness, paralysis, heart disorders and neurological problems. Some people report symptoms that last years after treatment in a condition now referred to as post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome (PTLDS).

Read more…

(Visited 64 times, 1 visits today)
Previous Article

Major crime unit now investigating Inuk woman’s ...

Next Article

Dining Out: Social on Sussex Drive expands, ...

0
Shares
  • 0
  • +
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

Related articles More from author

  • Health

    Booster shots can create VACCINE-RESISTANT variants of the coronavirus, scientists warn

    May 11, 2021
    By admin
  • Health

    Zombie apocalypse: The coronavirus is now known to alter brain function and make some victims AGGRESSIVE and disoriented (NOT satire)

    April 7, 2020
    By admin
  • Health

    Shingles Vaccine Responsible for Causing a Huge Number of Shingles Cases

    September 4, 2018
    By admin
  • Health

    China altering DNA of military to create genetically engineered “super soldiers,” reveals head of U.S. intelligence

    December 15, 2020
    By admin
  • Health

    Radioactive cesium uptake continues in fish off the coast of Fukushima

    January 25, 2014
    By admin
  • Health

    Irrefutable evidence that physical activity cures depression

    April 20, 2019
    By admin


Advertisements


AirBNB


Popular on The Ottawa Star

  1. The Independent Canadian Commission on Civil and Human Rights
  2. AgoraCosmopolitan
  3. Agora Publishing Consortium
  4. Le Journal Canadien
  5. Dominion: Food News
  6. LeCanadian.com
  7. The Ottawa Star
  8. Capitalistocracy.com
  9. Trudeausociety.com
  10. OttawaRestaurantGoers.com
  11. Toronto Business Journal
  12. Blogpei.ca
  13. Synergeticsgroup.ca
  14. Happyhomeinc.ca
  15. JournaldeGatineau.ca
  16. OttawaBusinessDaily.ca
  17. AgoraBooks.ca
  18. Thenextweb.ca
  19. BBW Singles
  20. Transgender Singles
  21. Montreal Business Journal
  22. Astroglossary.ca
  23. New York and New Jersey Business Journal
  24. Ottawa Book Expo - Salon du Livre d'Ottawa
  25. TorontoBook Expo - Salon du Livre d'Toronto
  26. Vancouver Business Journal

Popular ARTICLES

Sorry. No data so far.

  • News
  • Arts
  • Travel
  • Business
  • Aliens
  • Lifestyle
  • Sports
  • Real Estate
  • Foodie
  • Health
  • Video
  • Archives
  • Contact Us