The frustration of " Lyme Disease " !

For decades, Australians who have never set foot outside this country have been mysteriously contracting the symptoms that fit Lyme disease, and yet the Australian medical profession is dogmatic in declaring that this is a disease that does not exist in this country.

Now this country's chief medical officer has launched a new investigation.  It is known that Lyme disease passes to humans via tick bites and previous investigations have not detected the disease in Australian ticks,    Despite this, the medical profession can provide no answer to why Australians are presenting - initially with flu like symptoms of rashes and headaches that progress to mental impairment, paraplegia, psychosis - and death.

Unfortunately,  there are only a few doctors here who are prepared to recognise that this disease is present in Australia and they attract the ire of their professional body.   There are mutterings of the risk of being " struck off " when one becomes too vocal and as a consequence, those suffering this dreadful disease feel isolated and rejected.

It seems strange that in an age when new medical discoveries are common place and the reversal of known practices happen often, we should be so dogmatic in refusing to consider that something that we can not easily explain - simply does not exist !

You would think that old adage of -  "  If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck - then it probably is a duck " - would apply !

How else would the symptoms and end effect that is particular to Lyme disease be explained away, other than the very reasonable explanation that somehow it has extablished it's presence in this country, despite us so far not being able to identify the particular tick that is responsible ?

Further down the track someone is probably going to have a " Eureka " moment and a breakthrough discovery.   From that point on all the disclaimers are going to mysteriously suffer amnesia about their past rejection of lyme disease as an Australian ailment - and climb aboard the new treatment bandwagon.

Pity about the people who are suffering the disease now - and are being studiously ignored !