Good News About Lyme Disease

CHESTER, CT — Environmental tip from the Chester Conservation Commission:

Why has it taken so long to come up with an effective protection against Lyme Disease? There is one for dogs and cats but not for humans. In fact, in 1998 a vaccine, LYMErix, was approved for humans, but in 2002 it was pulled from the market by its maker GlaxoSmithKline citing poor sales. In fact, the main reason was a class-action suit brought by a group of “vaccine victims” who claimed various (unproven) harms from the vaccine. The good news is that a non-profit vaccine manufacturer overseen by the UMass medical school is working on a different strategy to beat the disease. If all goes well, it should be available in a couple of years.

This press release was produced by the Chester Conservation Commission. The views expressed here are the author's own