Health insurance claims show increasing Lyme prevalence in US

A survey of health insurance claims made in the United States from 2007 through 2018 shows that claim lines with a diagnosis of Lyme disease increased 117%. The information is included in a white paper published today by FAIR Health, an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to healthcare costs and health insurance information.

Lyme disease was the predominate tick-borne disease on health insurance claims, representing 94% of tick-borne claims, and, in 2018, 0.058% of all medical claims.

The most active month for claims was July 2018, and throughout the study period, women were more likely than men to receive a Lyme diagnosis, except if the patient was under the age of 10 years or older than 70.

Adults ages 51 to 60 had the highest rate of claims, and urban areas saw a bigger claim jump than rural areas, 121% compared to 105%.

"Historically, tick-borne diseases have been associated more with rural than urban areas," the report said. "More people from urban areas could be going to the country on vacation and picking up an infection that is only diagnosed when they return home to the city. In addition, Lyme disease may be spreading increasingly to suburban and urban areas."

The geographic spread of claims also changed from 2007 to 2018. In 2007, the top states with Lyme claims were three New England states plus New Jersey and New York; by 2018, North Carolina had joined New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Vermont as the states with the highest rate of Lyme disease claims.
Dec 10 FAIR Health report 

Large cholera vaccine campaign launches in Bangladesh

A 3-week-long cholera vaccine campaign began yesterday in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, which aims to reach more than 635,000 Rohingya refugees and others, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a news release yesterday.

More than 1,450 teams comprising 4,300 volunteers will attempt to reach about 140,000 Rohingya preschoolers in refugee camps with oral cholera vaccine (OCV), as well as 495,000 people older than 1 year in the broader community. The effort is led by the country's health ministry with support from the WHO, UNICEF, and other partners. The campaign is funded by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.

Earlier rounds of cholera vaccination, which have taken place since the beginning of emergency response efforts in 2017, have helped prevent outbreaks, the WHO said. To date, more than 1 million people have been vaccinated against the deadly disease.

"We want to equip these populations with more protection against diarrheal diseases," said Bardan Jung Rana, MD, WHO representative in Bangladesh. "Despite the progresses made to ensure access to quality water and sanitation, such diseases remain an issue of concern: approximately 80% of host community living near the camps have not been targeted in previous OCV campaigns and are still vulnerable."
Dec 9 WHO press release