Lyme Disease in Fairfield County, Connecticut: The Need to Know

Chen, Jack

Item

Lyme Disease in Fairfield County, Connecticut: The Need to Know

Chen, Jack

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Abstract

There has been a steady rise in number of cases reported of Lyme disease in the past 25 years. In fact, it is the 7th most common reportable infectious disease in US with an estimated over 300,000 people diagnosed and treated each year. The total medical cost attributable to Lyme disease has been estimated to be as much as $1.3 billion a year with the total cost of Lyme disease testing estimated to be $492 million. Moreover, Lyme disease is associated with higher total health care cost and more outpatient visits over a 12-month period. According to the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the most number of cases of Lyme Disease in Connecticut is in Fairfield County. Therefore, education especially awareness and prevention is crucial to decrease the number of cases of Lyme each year, keep the cost down and have a healthier patient population without Lyme Disease.