Lyme Disease: the most common tick-borne illness in the United State
The American Lyme Disease Foundation is committed to providing credible information on this and other tick-borne diseases
Lyme disease is plagued with misinformation. The ALDF wants to combat it.
I took on the role of Executive Director of this non-profit organization a little more than a year ago, following Dr. Phil Baker’s retirement. Sadly, he passed away last summer, but my first action item was to take the work he and the team had done over the last several decades and modernize it so that we can continue to provide credible information about Lyme disease. After a long labor of love and a very patient website team, I am proud to unveil the brand spanking new American Lyme Disease Foundation website!
Also, please make sure to follow on Instagram, Threads, and LinkedIn.
Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the United States
Unfortunately, that means it is also plagued with misinformation. ALDF was founded in 1990 by expert infectious disease clinicians and scientists committed to providing accurate and up-to-date information about Lyme disease at a time when very little was known about this newly characterized tick-borne bacterial infection.
Since then, through the efforts of ‘patient activist’ organizations, misinformation about Lyme disease has become rampant. False claims about how this bacterial infection is transmitted,
Misinformation about the likelihood of infection following a tick bite,
The tick species that can actually transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme, Borrelia burgdorferi
And the biggest realm of misinformation, the topic of chronic Lyme disease.
Questions also are common related to non-standard Lyme tests that are not approved for use or not validated for clinical diagnosis (and as such, are often not covered by insurance):
As well as evidence-based treatments for Lyme disease, an acute bacterial infection:
Generic symptoms of other medical conditions are often mistaken for Lyme disease
Unfortunately, media and celebrity attention on Lyme disease has led many to believe it is the cause of a myriad of symptoms, even if the individual does not live in an area where Lyme is common. However, there are many other illnesses that share symptom similarity.
In a world where Lyme pseudoscience spreads prolifically online and is accelerated through celebrity attention, ALDF is focused on providing accurate information to help drown out the noise.
Please, take a look around the site, provide feedback, let me know what else you want to see! ALDF does not take funding from Lyme pseudoscience activist organizations or does fundraising through gala events as many of those groups do, so we are able to keep this going solely through our volunteer efforts and donations. If you are inclined, ALDF is most appreciative! Please share the new and improved website with your friends and family, especially those who may have been misled by Lyme misinformation.
Thanks for joining in the fight for science!
Thank you for supporting evidence-based science communication. With outbreaks of preventable diseases, refusal of evidence-based medical interventions, propagation of pseudoscience by prominent public “personalities”, it’s needed now more than ever.
Your local immunologist,
Andrea