See the Wisconsin governor's proclamation of Lyme Disease Awareness Month at end of page.
Welcome to the Northern Illinois Lyme Resources Webpage. Major portions, but not all, of this site were updated 3/1/04. This site is intended to provide some Illinois specific information for people interested in Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. Links are also provided to some of the larger, more general Lyme Disease information sites. All of the words in colored letters are either clickable links to that topic at another website or to email addresses for contacts.
TICKS--Click this link, then select "Ticks" for pictures of ticks, how to prevent tick bites and how to remove a tick. This is important. The method of removing a tick may make the difference between transmitting the infection and not transmitting the infection. Save the tick! Put it in a small bottle or baggie with a bit of something to keep it moist. (A dampened cotton ball, some blades of grass or the like.)
Where to send a tick for testing--Contact Dr. Maria Pickens or Dr. Roger Pickens at (708) 327-2607 at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL for information about how to send ticks to them. They have been researching Lyme Disease in Illinois ticks for many years and are attempting to gather data on the prevalence of Lyme bacteria in ticks within Illinois borders.
Symptoms and Treatment of Lyme Disease-- This will take you to Dr. Joseph Burrascano's Diagnostic Hints and Treatment Guidelines for Lyme and Other Tick-borne Illnesses. This document is located on the ILADS.org website. If the above link does not work, go to ILADS.org and click on the "articles and presentations" link. There are many other references available by searching the websites listed below, but this will give you one very reliable source of information quickly.
Support Groups and finding a Physician--If you need to talk to someone knowledgeable about Lyme Disease or you need to find a physician who is knowledgeable about Lyme Disease contact one of these people.
Northern Illinois Lyme Resources Jeanette Wheat, 608-798-4421, Virginia
Southern Illinois Lyme Disease Support Group Carbondale, IL Katherine Godell (618) 549-1775
Illowa (Iowa/Illinois) Lyme Disease Network, PO Box 10, Reynolds,IL 61279 Marilyn McBride (309) 372-4472
Mississippi Valley Lyme Disease Network, PO Box 568, Roseville, IL 61473 Lou Ellen Gooding (309) 426-2339
Chicagoland Lyme Support Group, meets in Harwood Heights, IL Lisa Winkates
East Central Illinois Lyme Disease Support Group Susanna Rose Warner 217-398-0028
Communicate with others about Lyme Disease on-line through a
variety of bulletin boards, chat rooms, email lists and newsletters.
NILR has a free email tick-borne disease information list. Contact NILR@aol.com to request being added
to the list.
YahooGroups
has many listings for informational resources for Lyme and other
tick-borne diseases.
Lyme
newsgroup/
bulletin board.
There are also several live on-line chats held weekly. Email to
HOSTAHTHElisa@aol.com
and
HOSTAHTHTick@aol.com to get
on their mailing lists for reminders and clickable links to live chats.
PSPatches@aol.com to request
to be put on their newsletter mailing list.
Lyme Disease Foundation Task force Coordinator for Illinois.
Renee
Thaler
Renee is the information conduit between the Lyme Disease Foundation
and the people of Illinois. She can be contacted about Lyme education
and
public awareness, questions or articles from the press/media and for
research.
Illinois Department of Health
Mark Schmidt, Assistant Director
535 Jefferson St.
Springfield, IL 62761
(217)782-4977
http://www.idph.state.il.us
Insurance Problems--Many people find that their insurers are more than a bit reluctant to pay for treatment for Lyme Disease. This site offers some information about convincing your insurer to pay. Click here then select "Resources".
In Illinois you can contact:
Stories of others dealing with lyme disease can be accessed at Faces of Lyme at the Lyme Disease Foundation site (select "Faces of LD" once you are at their homepage)
Lyme Statistics for Illinois--
Links to more general Lyme websites