Results tagged “Chris Reilly” from Fun with Politics

In case any of you missed it, county commissioner Chris Reilly posted a reply where he discussed his experience with Lyme disease. I recently interviewed him at length, and that's going to be part of my upcoming Lyme disease project.

Here's Reilly's posting:

Beware the tick. I say that only slightly in jest. My recent health problems related to Lyme disease have given me a whole new perspective on the issue. Lyme is a significant public health problem that York County residents should take very seriously. I am amazed at how many York Countians have, or know someone who has been, affected by Lyme disease. Since I was diagnosed, I have received dozens calls and e-mails and heard numerous personal recollections from people with a first-hand knowledge of the devastating physical impact a bite from a deer tick can have. What struck me most about these stories was how the young and old seem to have been disproportionately affected by Lyme disease. Thirty or forty years ago Lyme was a much more obscure condition. The older folks recounted how, in many instances, they didn't seek immediate medical attention or felt their symptoms were misdiagnosed. Today many complain of subsequent chronic health problems they directly attribute to the initial infection. Children seem to be hard hit as well, particularly pre-teens, which makes sense given their high level of involvement in outdoor activities. The good news is, that while kids in many cases develop more acute symptoms, they are diagnosed accurately then treated and recover more quickly. I can't help but think this is because doctors by and large have "mainstreamed" the disease and view it as a serious medical condition. I applaud Tom Joyce for more closely analyzing the perception of and politics surrounding Lyme disease. I also hope my experience will make York Countians more aware of this public health specter which lurks as close as our own backyards.

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.