Fatigue, rolling fevers, aching joints, and worried sleeplessness — these are a few of the symptoms of that little tick terror known as Lyme Disease.

For many doctors and insurance companies, Lyme is a pain not only in the neck but in the bottom line. Lingering symptoms and hard to diagnose maladies associated with Lyme have caused the medical and insurance industries to often isolate and ignore many people with the disease. Today, once a firm diagnosis is made, Lyme is typically treated with anywhere from a tw0-week to 21 day cycle of antibiotics — widely considered in the medical industry as a “cure.”

One doctor described Lyme as “a political and economic disease as much as it is a bacterial born infection.”

The very active NY Senator David Carlucci, (D) who represent portions of Rockland and Westchester counties, has taken the patients rights fight to the legislature, recently announcing a 3-point legislative package that will make treatment options more affordable; expand research for treatment, detection, and prevention; and require professionals to complete continuing education courses of Lyme disease.

Chairman of the Senate Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Committee, Sen. Carlucci is using his clout to push for expanded coverage of the often debilitating illness.

“Lyme disease has become a national public health problem that we can no longer take lightly,” said Carlucci. “We should take every measure at the state level to aggressively combat this growing problem.” And growing it is, with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently estimating that “the number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease is roughly 10 times higher than the yearly reported number” — or instead of 30,000 cases per year, there may actually be 300,000.

Caused by bacterium transmitted through a tick bite, Lyme is prevalent in the Hudson Valley, with symptoms that may include a skin rash, fever, headache and fatigue, all of which could be delayed and occur months after an initial infection. If untreated, the Lyme can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system, causing debilitating, lifelong ailments.

Many trace the origins of the current Lyme outbreak to possible biological warfare experiments that involved weaponizing insects as viral delivery agents that took place on Plum Island beginning in the 1950s and continued until Richard Nixon purportedly ended the U.S. offensive biological warfare program in 1969. A solitary island in the Long Island Sound, Plum Island is directly east off the coast of Connecticut near Old Lyme, where the first modern day symptoms of the disease began to appear in the early 1970s.

The medical establishment is divided on the treatment of Lyme disease, with most experts, including insurance companies, siding with early stage antibiotic treatment. Many Lyme patients describe persistent symptoms, even after several weeks of antibiotics. Some medical authorities, including renowned Lyme disease physician Dr. Daniel Cameron, who attended Carlucci’s Kennedy Dells Park press conference, believe Lyme can be a chronic infection that may require prolonged antibiotic treatment and other measures.

Sloatsburg resident Alison Harvey met with Sen. Carlucci at his recent New City press conference and discussed her own personal story and ongoing battle with symptoms related to Lyme disease.

“My interest was in the new test for Lyme that allows a new breakdown of the diagnosis so that the treatments can be more exact,” said Harvey, who is exploring starting a Lyme disease support group that would meet at the Sloatsburg Public Library. “If you’re a New York resident, you’re denied that test.”

Harvey said Carlucci’s efforts are “phenomenal.”

“He took me by surprise. I was thinking this was something that would be a long way off, but he’s really put the peddle to the metal,” she said.

Under Our Skin photo from film still. Photo of Kennedy Dells Park press conference courtesy of the office of  Senator David Carlucci. Photo includes, right to left, renowned Lyme disease physician Dr. Daniel Cameron, Sloatsburg resident Alison Harvey and Sen. Carlucci.