Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 November 2018
332. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Health the action he plans to take to ensure Ireland implements the recent recommendations of the World Health Organisation regarding Lyme disease (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47699/18]
View answer334. Deputy Marc MacSharry asked the Minister for Health if his attention has been drawn to the fact that denial of treatment options that meet internationally accepted standards for chronic Lyme disease patients is a human rights violation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47701/18]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 332 and 334 together.
On 18 June 2018, the World Health Organisation released its new International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11). The ICD is the foundation for identifying health trends and statistics worldwide, and contains around 55,000 unique codes for injuries, diseases and causes of death. It provides a common language that allows health professionals worldwide to share health information. ICD-11 will be presented at the World Health Assembly in May 2019 for adoption by Member States, and will come into effect on 1 January 2022. According to the WHO's website, the purpose of releasing the guidelines at this point in time is to provide an advance preview of them. Given the current status of the ICD-11 codes, it would be premature to comment upon their future implementation or any human rights implications with regard to their application at this stage of their development and roll-out.
In the interim, Lyme neuroborreliosis was (for the first time) on 28 June 2018, included on the list of diseases under EU epidemiological surveillance, with a uniform EU case definition being formally released at the same time. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC) will shortly move to adopt this case definition for surveillance of Lyme neuroborreliosis in Ireland. The choice of Lyme neuroborreliosis as the notifiable entity for Lyme surveillance in the EU was based on scientific advice provided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) after following wide consultation with experts in all EU Member States. As well as enabling Ireland to have a robust and reliable method to monitor Lyme disease, by adopting the EU case definition, Ireland's data will become directly comparable with data from other EU member states.
Testing and treatment for Lyme borreliosis is widely available in Ireland in all major hospitals. Lyme borelliosis is diagnosed by medical history and a physical examination. The infection is confirmed by blood tests which look for antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi produced by an infected person's body in response to the infection. These normally take several weeks to develop and may not be present in the early stages of the disease. In undertaking Lyme testing, it is essential that the results are interpreted in the light of the clinical condition of the patient. If the result of this initial screen is equivocal, the patient's samples are referred to the U.K.'s Rare and Imported Pathogens Laboratory (RIPL) Service of Public Health England Porton which uses a two-tier system recommended by American and European authorities. This involves a screening serological test followed by a confirmatory serological test. This two tier approach gives a great degree of certainty around the diagnosis of Lyme. All testing in Ireland is confirmed by RIPL.
