A Traveler's Guide to High Incidence of Lyme Disease

[Ed Wetschler]

My wife and I have a house in a much-visited part of Pennsylvania -- visited by both recreational travelers and Lyme disease. But it's not just our neck of the woods where travelers are getting infected, so I'm reposting a press release that might be of help, especially because the majority of Americans vacation within the United States. Here goes:

One of the biggest challenges in gauging the spread of Lyme Disease in the United States has been the under-reporting of cases to health authorities.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that the numbers of Lyme disease cases actually reported from state and local health departments are probably much less than the actual number of cases.  Lack of timeliness and localized reporting are also issues with some Lyme disease data.

The good news is that now, thanks to a simple website and app, users can tap actual diagnostic data from nearly one million doctors’ offices throughout the United States to get a clearer picture, literally, of where Lyme disease is most severe.

The Doctors Report™ Illness Tracker™ announced that its data shows 850,000 cases of Lyme disease were diagnosed across the U.S. in 2017, which is many times more than other available information.  While it’s too early to tell where 2018 will fit in the pattern, the one thing anyone can do is check the Doctors Report ™ Illness Tracker™ to find out where and how severe Lyme disease is in their area right now.

The data is reliable because it’s based on actual diagnostic data, which Doctors Report collects from a national database from nearly one million doctors’ offices consisting of actual doctor-diagnosed and reported cases. Illnesses are ranked according to severity levels on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being most prevalent). 

“If you want to find out how severe Lyme disease is this week among children in your neighborhood, our app can tell you in seconds,” said Dan Shaw, the creator of Doctors Report. “While our algorithms are proprietary, and all personal information is stripped from the data to ensure it’s HIPAA-safe, the beauty of it is its simplicity. If you go to a doctor and are diagnosed with Lyme disease, the diagnosis without personal information, is responsibly and immediately used to tell us just where Lyme disease is spreading and how severe. We are the only people doing this.”

DoctorsReport.com’s national database of doctor-diagnosed Lyme disease represents just one of 15 illness tracked. The website and mobile app tracks illnesses nationally and locally to the zip code. It is current to within a week or so. And the data can be broken down across all age groups.

About the Doctors Report Website and App

Doctors Report is a website and app, powered by data from almost one million doctors’ offices nationwide.  The data from doctors’ offices is cycled automatically so that it is the most current available anywhere.  Doctors Report tracks 15 major disease and condition categories. Additional health risk categories will be added.  The geographic accuracy of the data can be narrowed to zip code and broken down by health condition and age group.  For more information on the website and app, and to download it, visit www.doctorsreport.com.

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