Recommendation 1
2.90 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government Department of Health engage
with stakeholders following the publication of the National Serology Reference
Laboratory review to discuss the findings of the review and any bearing those
may have on testing for Lyme disease in Australia.
Recommendation 2
2.91 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government increase funding for
research into tick-borne pathogens as a matter of urgency. This funding should
include:
- funding for research on
pathogens which may cause infection;
- funding for research on whether
newly-identified pathogens can cause illness in humans; and
- funding for the development of
diagnostic tests which can detect infection by any newly-identified pathogens
endemic to Australia.
Recommendation 3
3.54 The
committee recommends that government medical authorities, in consultation with
stakeholders including the Australian Chronic Infectious and Inflammatory
Diseases Society (ACIIDS) and the Karl McManus Foundation, establish a clinical
trial of treatment guidelines developed by ACIIDS with the aim of determining a
safe treatment protocol for patients with tick-borne illness.
Recommendation 4
3.55 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government allocate funding for research into medically-appropriate treatment
of tick-borne disease, and that medical authorities measure the value of
treatment in terms of patient recovery and return to health. The best treatment
options must then be developed into clinical treatment guidelines.
Recommendation 5
3.56 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government Department of Health facilitate, as a matter of urgency, a summit to
develop a cooperative framework which can accommodate patient and medical needs
with the objective of establishing a multidisciplinary approach to addressing
tick-borne illness across all jurisdictions.
Recommendation 6
3.57 The committee recommends that federal, state and
territory health agencies, through the Council of Australian Governments Health
Council, develop a consistent, national approach to addressing tick-borne
illness.
Recommendation 7
3.58 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government Department of Health
urgently undertake an epidemiological assessment of the prevalence of suspected
tick-borne illness in Australia, the process and findings of which are to be
made publicly available.
Recommendation 8
3.59 The
committee recommends that the Australian Government Department of Health
establish the prevalence and geographical distribution of
overseas-acquired Lyme disease in Australia.
Recommendation 9
3.60 The committee recommends that Australian medical
authorities and practitioners addressing suspected tick-borne illness:
-
consistently adopt a patient-centric approach that focusses on
individual patient symptoms, rather than a disease label; and
-
remove 'chronic Lyme disease', 'Lyme-like illness' and similar
'Lyme' phrases from diagnostic discussions.
Recommendation 10
3.61 The committee recommends that, to help the referral
of patients for guided and comprehensive pathology testing, medical
practitioners work with pathologists, especially microbiologists,
immunologists, chemical pathologists and hæmatologists to optimise diagnostic
testing for each patient.
Recommendation 11
3.62 The committee recommends that the Australian
Government Department of Health work closely with the Australian Medical
Association and Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to ensure
that general practitioners have a better understanding of how to treat patients
who present with complex symptoms.
Recommendation 12
3.63 The committee recommends that treatment guidelines
developed by Australian medical authorities emphasise the importance of a
multidisciplinary, case conference approach to patient care, involving
consultation between general practitioners and specialists with expertise in
neurology, psychiatry, rheumatology, immunology, infectious diseases and
microbiology.
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