Newtown To Participate In Lyme Disease Study

By Jan Howard

The Board of Directors of the Newtown Department of Health has unanimously approved a one-day Lyme Disease prescreening clinic to be conducted in October by Yale University.

 Director of Health Mark Cooper said Yale is looking for volunteers to participate in a National Institutes of Health sponsored study on chronic Lyme Disease.

“They are trying to establish what’s an effective treatment for Lyme,” Mr Cooper said.

The screening clinic would consist of free blood testing for drug research study eligibility. It would be held at the Newtown Health District Office.

Persons who are at least 18 years old, who have been diagnosed and treated for Lyme Disease within the last 12 years, and currently have continuing symptoms may be eligible to enroll. Participation in the drug research study is free.

The screening team will consist of one to two registered nurses and a medical technologist.

The study is being carried out under contract with NIH at New England Medical Center, Yale University School of Medicine, and New York Medical College.

The study is a phase III multi-center, double blind, placebo controlled trial of intensive antibiotic therapy for the treatment of patients with symptoms of chronic Lyme Disease.

Mr Cooper said the incidence of Lyme Disease is of growing concern.

He said deer ticks brought to the Health District by residents are sent to the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. It can take up to four weeks for test results.

Mr Cooper said 207 ticks were sent for testing last year. This year, the number is already at 300, he noted.

“The number being tested has increased,” he said. About 20 percent come back positive.

According to state Lyme Disease ratios, there is an incident rate of 217 per 100,000 population, he said. In 1999, there were 45 cases in Newtown that met the specifications for Lyme Disease. There is a slight increase this year, Mr Cooper noted.

He said towns such as Canaan and Canterbury and some along Long Island Sound have a higher incidence rate than Newtown. Cities, such as Hartford, have a lower incidence rate.

“You can’t just look at the incident rate,” he said. “In Newtown, we’re seeing an increase in incidence and the number of cases.”

Mr Cooper said he would like to have the screening coordinated with the annual Health Fair.

Mr Cooper also reported that no mosquitoes in Newtown have been found to carry the West Nile Virus.

However, one infected crow found in New York proves the virus has survived the winter, he said.

An enhanced surveillance system is coordinated through community health departments, trapping stations, and veterinarians, he said, with reports being received daily from the state Health Department.

Mr Cooper said the town continues to take part in the collecting and testing of dead birds, particularly crows, and multiple dead birds of any kind.

Local veterinarians are evaluating household pets for West Nile, since they are also susceptible to the virus, he said.

The town has received a supply of larvicide from the state, Mr Cooper said. If the West Nile virus was found anywhere in Newtown, the larvicides would be used in water areas where larva infected with the virus were found, to reduce the population of mosquitoes, he added.

“Everything is negative so far,” Mr Cooper said.

Monitoring stations are placed throughout the state, trapping mosquitoes that are then analyzed for the virus. Newtown has one test site and is scheduled to receive another this year.

In other business, the Board of Directors voted to go into executive session to discuss negotiations that have begun with the district’s newly formed Newtown Health District Employees Association.

Director of Environmental Health Donna McCarthy is representing the four-member association, and Mr Cooper and Board of Directors Chairman James Smith represent the district in the negotiations.

“We’re small enough that we can work together with the board without bureaucracy between us,” Ms McCarthy said prior to the executive session.

She said the Health District Employees Association has received recognition from the state Board of Labor. The employees were previously members of the Connecticut State Employees Association Local 760.

The Board of Directors also approved year end transfers as follows: $5,000 from contingency to medical supplies for nursing expenses for TB intervention and for cholesterol screening at the Health Fair; $1,000 from contingency to education training for educational reimbursement for employees; and $1,000 from contingency to salaries for year end adjustments.

Mr Cooper said the Health District staff has established a newsletter that is sent to restaurants in the community. The newsletters, which began in January, contain a message from the director of health and information of interest to restaurants, such as licensing requirements, regulations regarding remodeling and renovations and equipment changes, food-borne illness, hygienic practices, and helpful hints.

The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be on July 18 at 9 am.