LYME disease is the answer, if you wonder why Questacon and Telstra Tower have turned “lime” green on the night of Saturday, May 11.

“Our goal is to bring awareness to our community and to doctors that Lyme disease is here in Australia and claiming too many lives,” says 22-year-old Alana Brown by email.  “I don’t want anyone to suffer the pain I have felt.”

Ms Brown has had the disease for three and a half years, and says the awareness campaign is important because Lyme disease is often misdiagnosed, especially in the early stages, when its symptoms are similar to the flu.

But as the tick-borne disease progresses, it can cause far more serious symptoms like seizures, paralysis, breathing problems and an elevated heart rate, as well as damaging the heart and brain.

“If I was properly diagnosed and treated in the beginning I would not be where I am today,” she says. “I have had misdiagnosis after misdiagnosis, which only allowed my Lyme disease to grow and get worse.”

The awareness campaign will also be supported by buildings in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.