How do you know if you have Lyme disease? The answer may depend on where you live and the outlook of the doctor you see.
Lyme disease is among the country’s fastest-growing infectious diseases that are vector-borne, or carried by organisms, typically insects. Cases are concentrated in the Northeast and north-central states, in environments where ticks that transmit Lyme disease thrive.
In Utah, where researchers have not found evidence that ticks carry the disease, there are about 10 laboratory-confirmed diagnoses each year, according to Bree Barbeau, an epidemiologist with the Utah Department of Health.
But some patients and doctors, including West Jordan osteopath Andrew Petersen, believe many Utah cases go undetected — echoing a national and often vitriolic debate over how to diagnose and treat the disease.