The Maryland Department of Health
Reported One Year (2009) They Failed To Enter
Into the State Database.
Had they correctly reported these cases,
Maryland would have been
#1 in the country for highest number of
Reported cases of Lyme disease!
Year after year the Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene has repeatedly failed to enter thousands of cases of Lyme disease into their own data base. Those missing cases are, therefore, not reported to, or by, the Center for Disesases Control. Failing to have accurate numbers in our State makes it appear we don't have a Lyme disease problem and research and educational funds that would be available had they been reported are not provided.
The Surgeon General's Healthy People 2000 had a provision to lower the number of cases of Lyme disease nationally by a certain percentage by the year 2010. The CDC and State Health Departments failed to address the growing Lyme disease problems (for decades actually) and realizing the goal could not be met, a few years before the report was due the national reporting criteria was changed, artifically lowering the total number of cases for several years.
When that little trick failed to bring down the numbers to the level necessary to meet the Surgeon General's goals, at the last minute the Maryland Department of Health simply didn't enter the majority of their 2009 reported cases. Coincidence? I think not.
UPDATE
July 2016
From the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene...
"Each year from 2009 to 2012, a median 3598 (range 2462 to 5722) reports
were not entered into the surveillance database and hence not investigated.
These reports represent 43-55% of all reports received for the year."
Maryland
Total Cases of Lyme Disease & Incidence Rates
1990 - 1999 Maryland- County by County
Maryland DHMH
The Maryland Lyme Disease Case Report Form States...
Surveillance case definition: This surveillance case definition was developed for national reporting of Lyme disease; it is not intended to be used in clinical diagnosis. Source
The CDC States
Note: Surveillance case definitions establish uniform criteria for disease reporting and should not be used as the sole criteria for establishing clinical diagnoses, determining the standard of care necessary for a particular patient, setting guidelines for quality assurance, or providing standards for reimbursement. Source
Additional Numbers & Facts
In 2014 a total of ONLY 1,373 cases of Lyme disease were reported by the
Maryland Department of Health & Human Services to the CDC.
In 2009 the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene
admitted they did not enter 5,722 reported cases in the state database.
Had they done so the total number of cases would have been 7,188.
Maryland DHMH received additional State funds to
Pay people to count these cases.
So why are the numbers still so low?
UPDATE
July 2016
From the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene...
"Each year from 2009 to 2012, a median 3598 (range 2462 to 5722) reports
were not entered into the surveillance database and hence not investigated.
These reports represent 43-55% of all reports received for the year."
Maryland
Total Cases of Lyme Disease & Incidence Rates
The Maryland DHMH states the time it takes to complete investigating a report
For a single case of Lyme ranges from 0.5 - 52 hours
MARYLAND DHMH Reported:
In 2009- "seven (29%) LHDs (local health departments) lost LD surveillance staff in the past 2 years; one lost all staff and does not currently investigate LD."
"In 2008, 16 (75%) LHDs investigated each LD report while 5 (21%) investigated only if sufficient laboratory evidence of infection."
"By 2011, 10 (42%) LHDs investigate LD reports only if sufficient evidence."
To review the source and for more information on the above DHMH quotes, click here.