Last week, county commissioner Chris Reilly announced that he's because he's being treated for Lyme disease. In doing so, he may have already unwittingly involved himself in a very controversial issue.
I think, and hope, that Reilly's going to be OK. He believes he sustained the tick bite that transmits Lyme disease while he was fishing in Codorus Creek. He got very sick soon afterward, and had a diagnosis within days. He is now being treated with antibiotics, and has every reason to expect a full and rapid recovery.
In that respect, thousands of people throughout the country would call him lucky. Those are the people who say they suffer from chronic Lyme disease, a debilitating affliction that they claim affects those who don't get an immediate diagnosis or treatment.
They've formed an increasingly vocal grassroots movement, pitting themselves against a medical establishment that claims chronic Lyme disease doesn't exist.
I don't want to get into the whole controversy here because:
1) It's a very involved issue, and it's after 10 p.m.
2) I was already working on a project about the medical controversy surrounding Lyme disease when Reilly made his announcement. It should be in print before long.
In the course of working on that project, I've discussed Reilly's announcement with several Lyme disease activists. They acknowledge that Reilly's unlikely to contract chronic Lyme disease, under the conditions that they claim create it.
Still, they hope that Reilly will be sympathetic to their cause, and that his status as a public official will carry some weight.
Reilly has already expressed his desire to help educate people about Lyme disease, although I don't know if he's yet come down on one side or the other in the medical debate. Frankly, I'd advise him to get better first, then worry about that.
As for his status as a county commissioner carrying much weight, that might be wishful thinking. The chronic Lyme disease camp already has the ear of some state representatives, and that hasn't made much of a difference so far.
Of course, "so far" may be the operative words here.
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