This will prove costlier in the long run in terms of then having to deal with more complicated and perhaps irreversible illness, loss of individual economic productivity as well the incalculable toll of human suffering. In view of early dissemination of Bb to the central nervous system, the inadequacy of commonly prescribed regimens for Erythema Migrans to treat the CNS, and the reality of chronic persisting infection, it is to be expected that of patients treated for early disease, increasing numbers developing late CNS sequelae will accumulate over time. Insecticide use is a highly controversial and emotionally-charged issue and will result in predictable politician opposition by some environmental activists yet such an extreme position is not based on rational evaluation of facts. Avoidance of tick-infested areas if possible. Prophylactic treatment of bites by ticks known to be capable of transmitting Lyme disease becomes more defensible.
Great dedication is necessary to adhere to a tick- check protocol.
Denial of chronic persisting infection obviates the need to try to find a cure. Funding for such research and for the researchers who are interested in studying the problem and finding solutions to it must be encouraged. This research is already emerging, but there will be a lag time of at least several years and possibly a decade or more before enough published data will be amassed to convince all skeptics of the reality and extent of the problem. Lyme disease will continue to be trivialized and ridiculed for some time. Ill patients and their families, and the physicians responsible for the health of patients with Lyme disease can not afford to wait until the preponderance of scientific data overwhelming proves that chronic persistent infection is real and prevalent.