RE: A 4-year old boy with ataxia and aphasia
References
Robert L. Myette, Jenna Webber, Hannah Mikhail, et al. A 4-year-old boy with ataxia and aphasia. CMAJ 2020;192:E578-E582.
http://www.canlyme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/healthcare-06-00125.pdf
https://canlyme.com/2018/08/02/far-reaching-dispersal-of-borrelia-burgdorferi-sensu-lato-infected-blacklegged-ticks-by-migratory-songbirds-in-canada/
https://canlyme.com/2015/05/31/infection-prevalence-of-borrelia-burgdorferi-in-ticks-collected-from-songbirds-in-far-western-canada/
https://canlyme.com/2014/10/19/assessing-the-contribution-of-songbirds-to-the-movement-of-ticks-and-borrelia-burgdorferi-in-the-midwestern-united-states-during-fall-migration/
Important points to ponder... Lyme disease is a borreliosis, multiple rashes as opposed to a single 'bull's eye' well defined rash are being dismissed Canada-wide as indicated in our daily calls and emails. In fact most people with Lyme disease get no rash and research has shown that only a small subset of the genotypes within the genus borrelia will cause any rash. We do not test in Canada for all the known borrelial infections. It is foolhardy to include the requirement to have been in a 'known endemic area' for a diagnosis when it has been know for over two decades that the ticks that transmit Lyme disease are transmitted randomly in the millions each season by migratory birds anywhere in Canada. Canadian researcher John Scott has published over 20 papers on this yet no physicians that we can find have been given this data. Rural communities including First Nations communities are greatly affected but not counted because of their low population density as only the higher density areas close to major universities are actively studied for Lyme disease infected ticks, rodents, and maybe birds. Many misdiagnoses are given at great cost to the individuals, their families, and to our health care system nation-wide.