Ministry of Health report: 34 people diagnosed with Lyme in Romania

Newsroom 23/05/2012 | 09:14

By May 13th, only 34 people were confirmed to have been diagnosed with Lyme disease in Romania, from a total of 208 suspect cases, shows a report that the Ministry of Health handed in to the prime- minister.

This represents a 50 percent decline compared to last year when there were 62 confirmed cases out of 130 suspicions.

Last week, the government supplemented the budget of the Ministry of Health with RON 88,000 to allow treatment abroad for actor Serban Ionescu, who was diagnosed with Lyme disease.

Infectious tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Europe, since the reproduction of ticks is favored by climate changes, according to the report.

The Ministry of Health recommends that, in order to prevent the infection with Lyme disease, people should wear long- sleeve blouses and trousers, in case they go into certain risk areas. Also, if one is bitten by a tick, one should go to the doctor without delay.

Lyme (or Lyme borreliosis) is a tick-borne disease very hard to diagnose due to the fact that it has a variety of symptoms that can be mistekn for other illnesses.

Otilia Haraga