HEALTH Minister Simon Harris and the HSE have been urged to provide a dedicated Lyme disease treatment unit at University Hospital Kerry to cater for the rapidly growing number of sufferers in the southern region.
Cllr Michael Cahill said it is needed as a matter of extreme urgency as the “horrible condition” is becoming more prevalent, particularly in Kerry.
“The number of cases has increased tenfold within the past 10 years and it is highly unacceptable to be sending more and more people abroad for treatment and diagnosis,” he stated.
Lime disease is most common in Kerry and Cork and it is now in every parish in Kerry, the councillor claimed.
“There has been far too many cases of misdiagnosis and it’s high time that a consultant in infectious diseases be appointed to UHK to help end the practice of Irish citizens having to travel abroad for diagnosis and treatment,” he said.
Cllr Cahill also called on the minister and the HSE to introduce an educational and awareness programme for primary care providers including GPs, public health nurses and the general public as a matter of priority.
Lyme disease is associated with tick bites and there are growing concerns that it is now rampant in popular walking routes, particularly in areas frequented by deer which are known to be carriers of ticks.
There have been repeated calls for the erection of signage in Killarney National Park warning the public of the threat of tick bites that can lead to the debilitating illness.
Several concerns have been expressed about the enormous prevalence of ticks in the park with parents complaining that they have had to remove hundreds of blood-sucking ticks from their children after a visit. Several others have told of the trauma and serious illness they have endured when contracting Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick.
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