Großbritannien

25.1.1999

Ich fange ganz klein an, mit nur einer Adresse. Die ist dafuer ganz neu und es ist die einer Lyme-Disease-Selbsthilfegruppe.

Aus der Ankündigung im "LymeNet Newsletter":

I.    LYMENET: British Lyme Disease Foundation Established to Inform
      Public and Advance Research
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Sender: Marc C. Gabriel 
Date: January 16, 1999

As Lyme disease and other tick borne illnesses are identified and
described outside the United States, new charities and foundations
are being established to support disease education and research.

The British Lyme Disease Foundation is a new organization which is
currently striving to provide the latest available information
to patients and doctors alike.  Their long term goal is to fund
research into the disease, it's proper diagnosis and ultimately
to finding a cure to chronic Lyme which will be of global benefit.

Lyme disease is officially recognized and reportable to health
authorities in the UK, but little information is available.
"We know Lyme has been active for at least 100 years in the UK
from results of tests on ticks in the natural history museum,"
notes Mark Greenfield, founder of the BLDF.  However, I still hear
reports of doctors saying there is no Lyme disease in Britain, or
there is no Lyme outside the New Forest. "

Greenfield believes the British Lyme situation is similar to where the
US was 10 years ago.  "Although we use the usual tests, there would
seem to be a high probability that if blood tests come back negative
there is little consideration of whether the clinical symptoms fit,"
he observed.  "While it is of course very important to rule out all
other possibilities I suspect we could learn much from studying the
American situation over the last decade."

"We do not have all the facts about the disease and as such it cannot be
stressed enough that accurate clinical diagnosis is vital in cases of
vague blood results," Greenfield adds.

For more information on the British Lyme Disease Foundation, contact:

Mark J Greenfield
PO Box 331
East Grinstead, West Sussex
England, RH19 1YT
spud@wadhurst.demon.co.uk
http://www.wadhurst.demon.co.uk/lyme/index.htm

"All contributions will go towards research and provision of
information, we do not pay salaries or expenses to any staff."


REFERENCES FOR FURTHER RESEARCH:

"Distribution of Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. spirochaete DNA in British ticks
(Argasidae and Ixodidae) since the 19th century, assessed by PCR."
http://www2.LymeNet.org/domino/abstract.nsf/UID/98175131

"European interlaboratory comparison of Lyme borreliosis serology."
http://www2.LymeNet.org/domino/abstract.nsf/UID/98224302

"Natural Lyme disease cycles maintained via sheep by co-feeding ticks."
http://www2.LymeNet.org/domino/abstract.nsf/UID/98150128

"The value of serological testing for Lyme disease in the UK."
http://www2.LymeNet.org/domino/abstract.nsf/UID/95219309