Abstract

It has been reported that starving ticks do not transmit spotted fever group Rickettsia immediately upon attachment because pathogenic bacteria exist in a dormant, uninfectious state and require time for ‘reactivation’ before transmission to a susceptible host. To clarify the length of reactivation period, we exposed guinea pigs to bites of Rickettsia rickettsii-infected Dermacentor variabilis (Say) and allowed ticks to remain attached for predetermined time periods from 0 to 48 h. Following removal of attached ticks, salivary glands were immediately tested by PCR, while guinea pigs were observed for 10–12 d post-exposure. Guinea pigs in a control group were subcutaneously inoculated with salivary glands from unfed D. variabilis from the same cohort. In a parallel experiment, skin at the location of tick bite was also excised at the time of tick removal to ascertain dissemination of pathogen from the inoculation site. Animals in every exposure group developed clinical and pathological signs of infection. The severity of rickettsial infection in animals increased with the length of tick attachment, but even attachments for less than 8 h resulted in clinically identifiable infection in some guinea pigs. Guinea pigs inoculated with salivary glands from unfed ticks also became severely ill.Results of our study indicate that R. rickettsii residing in salivary glands of unfed questing ticks does not necessarily require a period of reactivation to precede the salivary transmission and ticks can transmit infectious Rickettsia virtually as soon as they attach to the host.

________________

**Comment**

For far too long authorities have told us that there’s something called a “grace period,” in which ticks supposedly delay transmitting pathogens to us and that a period of 24-48 hours is required before we can become infected.

There is only one study which they base that information upon, and there’s never been a study on the minimum time for transmission.

This study blows the “grace period” theory out of the water and proves what we all know to happen in reality. People can become infected in mere hours upon attachment. It also proves another point as well: that some ticks have the pathogens already in their salivary glands making transmission times even shorter.

How many have been sent home with a false sense of security after a doctor, going by information authorities have proliferated, told them they can’t be infected because the tick wasn’t attached for a long enough period of time?  Thousands?
Please spread the word. There shouldn’t be any more patients falling through the cracks.

For more on transmission times:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/04/14/transmission-time-for-lymemsids-infection/

Microbiologist Holly Ahern on what’s currently wrong with diagnostics and treatment:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/12/06/ahern-flawed-lyme-policies-diagnostics-and-treatment/