A handsome man eases past a coffee-hungry crowd at the Starbucks on Union Street. Heads turn. But Andy Abrahams Wilson, 44, pays no attention—he’s on a mission. The Sausalito-based director is busy promoting Under Our Skin: An Infectious New Film About Microbes, Money, and Medicine, his Tribeca award–winning documentary about the scandals surrounding Lyme disease, which is causing a sensation everywhere it screens. Though some believe too many people are being falsely diagnosed, Wilson and his film take the opposite point of view. Anticipating the Bay Area premiere of the movie this month, Wilson talks about how the disease’s stateside victims now outnumber those with HIV/AIDS, the continuing pervasiveness of misdiagnosis, and a certain afflicted president.

What set you off on what has clearly become a crusade for you? Both my twin sister and a friend contracted Lyme disease. My sister was considered cured yet suffered a litany of problems. My friend was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, then ALS [Lou Gehrig’s disease]. Only after a correct diagnosis did she begin to mend. I was shocked—then and now—at how little is known about Lyme disease.

It seems like there might be a perfect storm happening when it comes to Lyme disease, with your film, the new book Cure Unknown, and a rising tide of Lyme-related lawsuits and patient activism. Yes, signs are promising. But the word really needs to get out, because it could literally save lives. Experts say that thousands upon thousands of people have Lyme and don’t know it. The sooner they’re tested, the sooner they can recover.

Many of the problems surrounding Lyme disease are a result of misdiagnosis. Why are doctors still missing this? Because of its multisystem symptomology and the inadequacy of standard tests, Lyme disease often mimics other illnesses, including fibromyalgia and MS. There’s also a lot of pressure from insurance companies and the medical establishment to deny that Lyme exists, because treatment is lengthy.

You have compared this to the AIDS epidemic of the ’80s. In what ways are they similar? Both have mysterious symptoms and no cure, but I think there are better treatments by far for AIDS. One physician in North Carolina has two communit­ies of patients, Lyme and HIV/AIDS, and he now says his Lyme patients are more debilitated.

Why should people in the Bay Area care enough about

Lyme disease to go to the Mill Valley Film Festival to see the film? Because, with the Centers for Disease Control estimating a possible 200,000 new cases a year, pretty soon everyone will know someone who’s sick with it. Because San Franciscans love to go to the country, where ticks live. And because Northern California is a hot spot for Lyme.

Many famous folks have been stricken with Lyme disease—Amy Tan, Alice Walker, Tom Seaver, even president George W. Bush, right? We learned the president had been diagnosed, so we faxed the White House and asked for an interview. We didn’t hear back, but two weeks later, they released a statement that he had tested positive but was “fine.” I think it explains a lot, actually. He hasn’t always been this cognitively impaired!

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Main photo: Filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson in the hills near his office in Sausalito.