health
RFK Jr. Outlines Plan to Curb Lyme Disease
The Department of Health and Human Services announced a sweeping set of new initiatives to improve prevention and treatment of tick-borne diseases, including the chronic effects of Lyme disease.
TL;DR
- HHS is launching new initiatives for prevention and treatment of tick-borne diseases, including chronic Lyme disease.
- New research funding from NIH and CDC will improve diagnostics and disease prevention.
- An estimated 10%-20% of early-treated Lyme patients remain symptomatic, with roughly 2 million suffering from post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome.
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that addressing chronic Lyme symptoms is a top priority.
- New public-private partnerships will target tick elimination on wildlife.
- The administration is working on developing better testing and treatment for chronic Lyme.
- A new HHS website, hhs.gov/lyme, is launched as a resource for patients and families.
- There is ongoing investigation into whether Lyme disease may have been developed as a bioweapon by the U.S. military.