Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara has introduced a bill in the New York State Assembly that will dedicate state funding for the study and development of a Lyme disease vaccine.

Lyme disease is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the country and one of the most difficult to diagnose. At this point experts in the medical and scientific community consider Lyme disease to be an epidemic, a public health crisis and a growing threat to the health of our communities. With new tick borne diseases and the tick population growing each year, more and more are being infected.

Annually, there are estimated to be 300,000 cases of Lyme disease nationally which means about 25,000 new cases each month. In 2015, New York was one of the 14 states which contained 95% of the confirmed cases of Lyme disease. If left untreated, the illness can develop into chronic Lyme disease, which can severely affect the nervous system, heart, muscles and joints, as well as several other vital functions.

“The goal of this bill is to help protect children and families from this horrible disease,” said Assemblyman Santabarbara. “Our area of upstate New York is known for the many unique outdoor recreational activities that we offer. We must immediate take action to reduce and eliminate the risk of Lyme disease,” Assemblyman Santabarbara said. “This bill will create a study to identify the issues of widespread Lyme disease and the development of a vaccine to protect our communities from this rapidly growing illness.”

The bill is endorsed by Dr. Govind Rao from the City of Amsterdam and worked with Assemblyman Santabarbara on the bill. Dr. Rao graduated from the M S University of Baroda. Rao specializes in Pediatrics and is affiliated with Saint Mary's Healthcare and St Mary's Memorial Campus.

“With summer upon us and more people spending more time outside enjoying the nice weather, we must continue to be vigilant about the risks of ticks,” Santabarbara added.

Proposal is backed by Amsterdam physician. “I started my practice in 1972. At that time we saw children suffering from various infectious diseases due to deadly bacterial organisms like Pneumococcus, Haemophilus Influenza, Meningococcus etc. causing respiratory and central nervous system infections. These infections caused quite a bit of mortality & morbidity in children & adults,” said Dr. Govind Rao. “We had 20 pediatric beds in both St. Mary's & Amsterdam Memorial Hospitals occupied most of the times 100%. Since then, due to invention of vaccines against these deadly bacteria only half of the pediatric floor at St Mary's Hospital is occupied by pediatric patients.” Dr. Rao said, “In 1972, we gave about 7 immunizations before entering kindergarten. Now we give more than 20 immunizations before kindergarten.” “I strongly believe developing vaccines against diseases will definitely decrease the incidence of mortality and morbidity. Incidence of Lyme disease is rising and if untreated causes severe complications and suffering in later stages of the disease. Developing a vaccine against Lyme disease will definitely help the population,” Dr. Rao added.

For more information, visit www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/lyme