Archive for the ‘Testing’ Category

Tick App: WI Tick Chats & Testing

ABOUT THE STUDY

The Tick App is a free app for your smartphone conceived to allow the participation of people living in high-risk areas for Lyme disease in our tick exposure behavioral study.

Who are we?

This study is conducted by researchers from Columbia University and the University of Wisconsin – Madison, members of the CDC Regional Centers for Excellence in Vector-Borne diseases. Funding for this study is provided by the Centers for Disease Control.

What is the study about?

In two words, Lyme disease. Lyme disease can be transmitted to humans after a tick bite. This study is designed to help us understand more about how people’s practices and activities impact their exposure to ticks. This research is being done because Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease (infections transmitted by the bite of infected arthropod species, such as mosquitoes, ticks, sandflies, etc) in the United States. The information provided will help us design integrated control strategies to prevent diseases transmitted by ticks.

Why is my participation important and how is the app useful to me?

If you live in a high-risk area, sharing your experience and perspective with us will help us learn about the risk factors for tick borne disease and design better methods that prevent tick bites and tick-borne disease. We really appreciate your input!

We are also including information that will help you identify the different tick species, ways to prevent tick exposure and other information that will help you understand more about ticks and the diseases they transmit.

How can you help us?

Once you download the app and register for an account, you will be asked to take one enrollment survey that will help us capture your baseline risk of exposure to ticks.

You will then receive a weekly to monthly message to start your tick diary during the high risk months (May to September). The tick diary, or activity report, should take less than a minute to complete. It asks if you or a household member encountered a tick and what you did that day. When you start the tick diary, you will receive a daily reminder until you complete 15 reports.

Also, you can help us by reporting any tick through a quick form built in the app.

If I don’t want to use the app, how can I participate?

You can sign-up in our website and the surveys will be sent to your email. The informational material can also be found in this website

WISCONSIN

Anybody over 18 years old is welcome to join the Tick App project! This year the in-person part of the study is also available in Wisconsin. We will be focused on Eau Claire, Madison, Baraboo and Minoqua areas.

Tick Chat: We like to learn about your thoughts about ticks, tick-borne disease and what our research can do about it. We will be hosting conversations about ticks and the Tick App project in:

Eau Claire – May 22nd, interested? Register here.
Madison – May TBD
Mirror Lake – May 25th or 30th, interested? Register here.
Near Minoqua – End of June

The conversations are about one hour and limited to 10-15 people. Therefore we request you to sign up and we will confirm with you.

Backyard tick collections: Residential sampling, i.e. collecting ticks in back yards, will be done in:

Eau Claire – June 3rd until June 10th
- In and near Putnam Park
- In and near Centennial Park
- In and near Lowe’s Creek County Park

If you live near these parks and would like to enroll in the Tick App and have your backyard sampled for ticks, please contact us via email (tickapp @ wisc.edu) or flag us down during our visit to your neighborhood.

TICK TESTING SERVICES

Several universities, public health agencies, commercial companies and other entities offer tick identification and pathogen testing of your tick.

Different tick species transmit different pathogens, so it helps to know which species bit you. You can send the image of your tick or tick to us, but we are not testing them. Even if a tick is tested for pathogens and none were detected, that does not mean that there is zero chance of you developing a disease. There is the chance that other ticks might have been attached to you and gone unnoticed (they are very small!).

Submit a picture:

In the Tick App you can submit your Tick report and picture through a pop up website. We hope to have this option integrated in the app in 2019 (or sooner)!
From Wisconsin? Click here to submit the story and pictures to the Wisconsin Medical Entomology Laboratory at the University of Wisconsin – Madison part of the Midwest Center of Excellence for Vector-borne Disease.
From anywhere? www.tickspotters.org
From anywhere? Try your extension contact of insect diagnostician.

The actual tick for identification and testing:

Submission not restricted
- https://www.tickreport.com/, $50 to 200 per tick
- General public submission to Cornell University ($100 for one and up to 6 ticks from one location)
- Ticknology, $25 per tick
Submission restricted
- Connecticut residents only: Free, http://www.ct.gov/caes/cwp/view.asp?a=2837&q=378220
- Department of Defense personell and dependents: Free, https://phc.amedd.army.mil/topics/envirohealth/epm/Pages/HumanTickTestKitProgram.aspx

Know of any other places where ticks can be submitted for identification or testing, let us know (tickapp@wisc.edu).

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Transmission

When Physicians Become Lyme Patients -Webinar

Join Dr. Bill Rawls, along with special guest Dr. Neil Spector, for a new live webinar

When Physicians Become Patients

Wednesday, June 6th at 8pm EDT.

Dr. Rawls, author of the best-selling book Unlocking Lyme, and Dr. Spector, author of Gone in A Heartbeat: A Physician’s Search for True Healing, will share how misdiagnosed Lyme disease was devastating to their health and careers, and even led to Dr. Spector requiring a heart transplant.

Plus, they’ll discuss how they were ultimately able to take control of their health — and how you can, too.

Topics covered during the webinar will include:

Why testing for Lyme and other chronic mystery illness is flawed
How to foster a better relationship with your doctor, and when to find a new one
What’s working in the conventional medical system, what’s not, and how to make the system work for you
The future of treatment for chronic illness
How two doctors with Lyme and fibromyalgia took control of their health, and how you can, too

Join us, and bring your questions. Dr. Rawls and Dr. Spector will host a LIVE Q&A immediately after their presentation.

Reserve Your Seat Now: https://rawlsmd.com/webinars/when-physicians-become-patients/?

P.S. If you have questions about the webinar, reply to this email or call us at 800-951-2414.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Testing, Treatment

No Lyme in the South – Guess Again

Approx. 18 Min.

Alabama Lyme
Published on May 15, 2018

Think there is no Lyme Disease in the South? Guess again.

Fantastic video explaining how the Alabama Lyme Disease Association began after Kevin Wolfe sought medical help for his son and was told his symptoms couldn’t be Lyme because Lyme doesn’t exist in Alabama.

The video highlights:

Dr. Kerry Clark, University of North Florida
Dr. Joseph Jemsek, LLMD in Washington DC
Rep. Becky Norgren, Alabama state legislator

______________

For More on Lyme in the South: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/10/25/hope-for-southerners/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/06/remembering-dr-masters-the-rebel-for-lyme-patients-who-took-on-the-cdc-single-handedly/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/09/24/arkansas-kids-denied-lyme-treatment/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/02/14/bb-in-small-kentucky-mammals/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/24/no-lyme-in-oklahoma-yeah-right/

Lyme/MSIDS is everywhere. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. The entomology maps of tick locations have been used for decades keeping patients undiagnosed and untreated. For a great article on how the Spielman maps have been an iron curtain keeping patients from getting tested: https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/the-confounding-debate-over-lyme-disease-in-the-south (scroll to page 6 & 7 for details)

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Testing, Ticks

Study Conforms Permethrin Causes Ticks To Drop Off Clothing

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tick-repellent-permethrin-clothing-really-works-study/?ftag=CNM-00-10aac3a

By AMY NORTON HEALTHDAY May 25, 2018, 11:49 AM

Study confirms this method of repelling ticks really does work

*Tick bites can transmit Lyme disease.*

BERTRAND GUAY / AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Outdoor enthusiasts: Here’s a bit of good tick-fighting news just in time for Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of summer. A new U.S. government study confirms that insecticide-treated clothes marketed for preventing tick-borne ills do, in fact, thwart the pests.

In lab tests of clothes bought from one manufacturer, researchers found that the garments either quickly caused ticks to fall off, or rendered them unable to bite.

The study involved three types of ticks that, in the United States, are major carriers of disease — including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and what’s known as southern tick-associated rash illness, or STARI.

More people developing red meat allergy from tick bites

The clothes were pretreated with permethrin, a synthetic form of an insect-thwarting compound from the chrysanthemum flower. It’s used in insecticide sprays and shampoos and creams that treat lice and scabies.

Several companies already market permethrin-treated shirts, pants, socks and other clothing, as a way to ward off disease-transmitting pests. The new study adds to evidence that the garments are indeed toxic to ticks, according to senior researcher Lars Eisen, of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“All tested tick species and life stages experienced the ‘hot-foot’ effect after coming into contact with permethrin-treated clothing,” Eisen said.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/embed/video/?v=d4e4a4f57f075b1307e6934846008d5f35c4c637#vVdrb9vGEv0rC35ov2glvkRSAgLDtZ2mSZqodl73RoWw5A7FjUgus7u0pBj%2B750lKSt2k5vitg1gg9Q%2BzsycefLGuRYcpDO%2FcXirmBGyduazYORUze4S8l%2B4M3cuvOfl6UfYvKqjD%2F4bFdbvzqrLp9Gz84%2F%2F2X98eZY6I8cUbZXWTJR4vDCm0fPlZDnJUl3DVvtjfBHaIHo2zmS1nBRtupyI5UQtJ77rJcuJG%2BIb%2Frs8DuMozakXujENvSmjSZhllLsRhDnkPPHd5eRO2nIShe4uiHDNj5PEzwFglscxn8ZZksQhTHkUxTxxg9TK8ENaACtNQVGTjaau2%2F3NqD%2Bj2oiydF2PetNpMHMTOiCPPzRra6BsRFazCtDAJx3GYXHBFNTmqmzX1vbDFjRCS46nvZGjgWlLq%2BM59se6wvP9hsos8UWp7SMVBh1gr7iuO3IaYbl%2FCefF%2Ft314nlw%2Bc5K3DdWA3tj5LTqQHfHtmgYRzMUsErU6%2FFAfk94BVwwfDS7h4x7vpf4Uzdw48TzepJWvRWrjqRVz8ds5f7PzXEVtIlzO7Kqra6ZEqw2q6aQNXzVtN3zT9tQ%2Fvfy8vStd8%2B0B%2Fe%2Ft6Gd1C%2FaY1hagvmqQW9mL39eXLLsQu0uvmzQAPC9LerF3pmkTNXcMyLGWD%2Ba8Vqt3n68arOE12%2BOZnSXDorfVKwWOWgzr5GrW7vXJ3wzS4IoGANfQ57pcQ1mOZE1BzzPl5MT1priEVr3AxN58%2Bga0%2B0HXWJleHTTPRYKcrG7vUmRiM1tv%2FZYlLBgprgdePi%2FKIhX8SwaV034APNoRx5Wt3fuGPin18WYbVjFRMF7Uz4tJz3CfG5UC%2FOclRpux5mubC06gI0R7IiMrP8FZPENZG1AdQ68A761rtyKXNx3pfXknSvjy9Pf3sW%2FXC52LzdHV3aX%2FhSDXG7rUjL%2BD0cfUh%2B6lvqHySTN1zNppz49O3%2BWPo1%2B%2Bu3sy5lkb3%2FvNEKZdzkUrO8p79%2BjfRFd1OfiyZ4pXx7VD9bfkXT%2FQDrqqttUZ0qkwM9kbbrmc4NtH7a2LDhdvH12SDl98I0coSMXicwVq7NCaLi3cbFD0%2B%2BthAnmr4UdVjvJTaNAY3ur27Ic9bOGEcaKdS4wqMmpRneSTneSKvQa6c0hSugNMZK8Hl%2BN7%2FHWjxbb7fY%2BZx30coKt1lBmQYce34Ee2r4FpUbSlurlxDbjvmv%2F5UtWkbZzcT4Nwzj2Ehom3pSGPGZ0BtGUxrPExYHFDb1g6gwGc9jgjVOCyhLdQCZAE5l3RpOCod0ANW5geAEnoiYv8NxTUBr2JJeKmAJILhSSZUQFI4KllMCuAWU0wdmDZLLOQNV41xTMEGFwpS05yZhSe8IIZ%2FUalGw1uRaq1WPy9uynK%2FrqzY%2BaXGDFAfJYoH%2BJgkYi5PigdaNkJQvoBsAdOi37ppfQ4Vjg5aJke2eOyYABkm3wsA03oS9qG278EG9MIVwJp9gRpLJj5nvHj1kIM9%2BlEUtS6nng0xn3fJzRvCSHhLlu6jq%2FP7j6opvJ3jsnJydk3WJd%2FOxEN72yMJxFQchpmGcRDdPYpwzRaJDkLvNw4PTATrDDlUWbnncZ7djEo%2B6U%2BlPiTefhbB5Oj8deDTGsTcv31gPooEqjA4QmFaBe3HoYKYWytHT11GFhKss94RIDYCvV5jO8vkRkfX6uhlXc55hR2WGbg97gzOnYfDuHa6skvjdsfThg02ElDFQ2tvH5RNh0fn8YS3%2FvV68g6%2Bf847hqlwcMzNdG1lpcA9l2zHRTbkdlkoRRErmMxtOEf81Bw4XeL0cJrQY1SGA4NOBKurlCqRY4CAIMl1JUAktTeEfKlWxVdgThGFZ4C6sRxxAzmBpVp9VQBlbWhtWRIvtzUGI40dFZybViTSGyZ7DXlpsPMn3c1j0jI%2FvrDP2%2FlsoKEzVvsZ%2FYVywyTYtNeKFkLjCF6%2Bywyur9lfhknbUGHHWU9eoafsaMa7oTbW0RkHuDZoi2sunQWJTyM92stvazobZexV1us6nLw9f%2FSuXLrBNExspvwts3%2FORCSNrHMwYoxepjwxwl0KyUGPYoqY9uagNb0y4xOkk2PP9dISe5YetHZy9%2BtV9znstYFrBB8BAAf98KoZ9gDb3rd12HXkj0GobNENZQYYfFhvsH

That, he explained, made the ticks drop off of “vertically oriented” clothes — which would simulate a pair of pants when a person is standing.

In addition, Eisen said, when the ticks were in contact with the clothes for up to five minutes, they lost their ability to move normally — and to bite.

There are still questions, he noted, including what types of clothing offer the best protection in the real world.

The CDC already recommends permethrin as one tactic for avoiding tick bites. It says that people can “treat clothing and gear, such as boots, pants, socks and tents, with products containing 0.5 percent permethrin.”

The agency further says that “pretreated clothing is available and may be protective longer.”

Thomas Mather is director of the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease and its TickEncounter Resource Center.

He said the new findings, published May 24 in the Journal of Medical Entomology, offer more support for the tick-fighting garments.

“This can be a pretty effective way to stop ticks,” said Mather, who was not involved in the study.

In his own research, Mather found there are benefits even with permethrin-treated summer clothes that leave some skin uncovered — shorts, T-shirts, socks and sneakers.

His team had a group of brave volunteers watch a movie while allowing lab-raised, disease-free ticks to crawl on their bodies. Some wore regular clothes, some wore clothes with permethrin — either pretreated or with the insecticide added using home kits. Those wearing either kind of treated clothing ended up with far fewer live ticks on their bodies by the end of the movie.

https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/embed/video/?v=d4e4a4f57f075b1307e6934846008d5f35c4c637#zVdtb9u2Fv4rhD7sk2nrzZJsoAiapC9blzRN2mJtfWFQIiWxlkSVpGI7Qf77DinZjrsWu7i72xogkEXyvD3POYdH984tp0w483uHdpJoLhpn7kXByKnbzTXLf6bO3Nm%2B%2BXX2c0mvP5zzF3rzOnjz22V38apOMvfFM3YeR87I0WVXpw3hFRwvtW7VfDFZTLJUNWytgjH84EqD%2BmyciXoxKbt0MeGLiVxMfNdLFhN3Cv%2B%2BectJ6ns%2BTtyM4DD3I5zGXoynMaM5C6Yu8ePFZG9tMYlCdxNE7mIS01kynUW5T3Lfi%2BKIxknsUj8J83jKgllubLg%2BznSNayFF2hWpkA2jXDGi2BeCGyK7imBvOp0lboAHxePPbWHiEy3PGlIziO%2Fs9Aa9LblCF6CAN%2FvtKyJZo2%2BqroBDEDHWcMgYGw6xlitBQYM3coxRA7XjOealqEGy35CZIaOslHmkXAMpIDJ1zd%2FIabkhZEXW6%2Bbu%2Fe0XenpprG9b45eRGTmd3HFgKeAtoVhpyUgNXowHRnoWaoiewKPdfE2D5%2FvBLAingZcESY%2Fc8uztxfLi9fXr0644Ncid98i9ebq8tMgte%2BTiJfj6P4iM66BLnIeRCWN5SyQnjV62pWjYERDeIxiuNy%2FLZf2Lv9TnyyMYvpL%2FEUCxnnwzRk3SiunvBuneUu4tf0mffvzIvx3koOBHiLJ3ZR%2Bm1HV7FFgMVXUIbXtBL1evni8%2FiFAdQrNCu2Dua9LwnCk9bwC%2FB7PXd5Z2lgRRMGa0YHmmxg3Ti4loKIPzdDE5IZ0un0DEPxGet09uXdf7SVXQgp7c28eVZDnfPNynAM7qoV97zit2RXT5MGDzf4PFXcazaFy34Vd2DrHlYf2wp23gCd%2BWY7IiNeEl7cO7W0x6DfO5lh2b56RS7GGcqdo0wp2yMSg7aAYm%2FgvN%2FE80K82kJXWv%2BMHQu%2BY5P6Y3fNylruMPHr27Jpwm8YFeK%2FSHXKVi3VSC0H8gS4GO0DV0mBCC4igA%2FyiAdx837uy9%2F%2F56GweHAILiX3bfP7j%2FuA0I%2Ff0mUiv3bvNM3EZXNPp2EzHSP0IHAT%2BG9gHhqS5VmeQpo2ei0faKvIeBha1Nm3Fsrj46JJ0%2BcUcOV5ELHueSNBncwexo49kGADpaCRPoB0btsGott61kCi7hpquqUT8laa6NWeeUlbyhSJcMqU4WDPEGDXOEQgrkCEXpFtVCfem4FkyNEEw%2BK3jkFRw6wrkflNbr9TG61t5iklpLMEgwbC1h3uCdJdxbwukWHyxhawhbO4uJmS36ceQvKTIOdzaPqOf6Uz8mOJj5UxxmNMMzmuc4j0CBFzCSuSa%2FrPeUrUDiKYKg0Nn5GZKsFVIrlIMjyoLXwBTHJBI5aploK4bWpUAF00iBbZRLUe8x7BFE0NwthgiyHLDmO7ghO5EkkOvVdowuecOs1W9wwhvFMg1M8CarOiv3ka%2BIVQypsuqaomu2ZITWTLLBZQY2hbQe51wqDa7UlnOz8m58M0bncozeEklQn8zoswA7aPGHSXHhIC2MW1mnFCrF2ry2UmjwCW1FJxWr8vEOQNioRckM7lA22I6rj2IyNJoeAFeduKrI1plDuUNqZyszbkKhcPWsMYVCd5VCJIBYsadwNwppJvtPDnAZspnv4ogkKfY85gOhMH7DhZnkLCGum7rOf74SvbRz8Cfn5OQEFR3cBo9O2A8GEoazKAgpDPBZhMM09jEBbThIcpd4Lo09ljp7kasuPbcdyzF9BLtT7E%2BRN52Hs3k4PRx7O1Sf0h3dokw0QEZtEgnwrRn4RU0mAWWsqgyvNoHhnVTVFlFIabQWcvVIX98Es76zLIdV2KfQC7LdNmVqBdO9YzrFObs1TsLvlhS7A6Zml5CNtSk2eL7kphF9ckowrEuDjFm9AYbtt9VuvV8edECnaUWj%2BC2UgEXGfk9YKJMkjJLIJTieJvR7BA0CPS8HC51icrBAYHyClXR1A1aN4iAIIF0qXnNoquEelBtIwuyghEJagRT0UQoppqEMauvV0KuWJoblASLzOjgxnLBw1qKA4ix59optlcHms0ifd02PyMi8nQH%2FhZDGGHSHDq4c8xM6YdvB6HElRc4zzppst0qa7Q2%2FM2QVDIY%2BaVgt2Asputae6BqjAbDXEAbvalMOrdFSPfLNeGs%2ByxrDKuxSU0228t79Y%2B05M8TwjFR%2FatL8gi9fkMd9jkPS4pZJk%2FoS7GaVgFJoCtxnPDbJDk6YYrGWTMr%2BvUZOck2KJ2eXF5Cc2HMJyQIyGB6S4q9HwdVLJsX%2B9rZDyJUAJiGVhlRncKkAlQ%2B%2FAw%3D%3D

While people can use permethrin on their regular clothes, the pretreated garments hold up to many more washings, according to Mather — up to 70.

Some people may be wary of chemically treated clothes. But, Mather said, the amount of permethrin in clothing is very low: A solution containing only 0.5 percent of the pesticide is “dried into” the fabric.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, research indicates that permethrin is “poorly absorbed” through the skin, and there’s no evidence that treated clothing could be harmful to children or pregnant women.

U.S. military members have been using permethrin-treated uniforms since the 1990s, the EPA noted. According to Mather, the garments may also be a good bet for people whose jobs keep them outdoors — or for gardeners or anyone else who spends time in places where tick exposure is a concern.

Eisen pointed to some other CDC-recommended ways to cut the risk of tick-borne ills:

Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and “leaf litter”;
walk in the center of outdoor trails;
use EPA-registered repellents containing ingredients such as DEET, picaridin or oil of lemon eucalyptus;
thoroughly check your body and clothes for ticks after being outdoors; and
shower within two hours of coming back indoors.

____________

More on Tick prevention & removal: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/11/tick-prevention-and-removal-2017/

Category:

Activism, Lyme, research, Testing, Ticks, Treatment

Lyme in California – What You Need to Know

http://bakersfieldnow.com/news/local/lyme-disease-in-california-what-you-need-to-know

Lyme disease in California: What you need to know

by Emma Goss, Eyewitness News

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Bakersfield City Councilman Chris Parlier has been battling Lyme disease for almost 20 years. (KBAK/KBFX)

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KBAK/KBFX) – Lyme disease, widely thought to be an east-coast illness, is widespread across California, and growing rapidly.

The disease often gets misdiagnosed and goes under reported, but researchers say Californians and doctors need to be aware.

Chris Parlier is a Bakersfield City Councilman, and father of two. He has been battling Lyme disease for almost 20 years.

A former cop and special agent for the California Department of Justice, Parlier went investigating a suspected meth lab in the mountains of Tick Canyon between Santa Clarita and Palmdale in the late 1990’s.

“I thought that if I was ever going to get injured in the line of duty, maybe I’d get shot, a car wreck, some sort of exposure at a methamphetamine lab,” Parlier said. “But never in my wildest dreams would I think that a tick would get on me and cause such a horrific illness.”

A few weeks later, he came down with what seemed like the flu. When he noticed a rash on his upper thigh, he visited a Bakersfield doctor.

Observing the Erythema Multiforme rash, often called the “bull’s-eye rash”, and Parlier’s other symptoms of muscle and joint pain, Parlier was diagnosed with Lyme disease.

“It started with losing feeling in parts of my limbs, my left side of my body, especially my left leg, my left arm. I started getting involuntary muscle response, my hand would move by itself sometimes, and my leg would do that too. And it got to the point my speech started being impaired and my walking started to be impaired,” Parlier said.

Parlier sought treatment from a specialist at UCLA, and after a year of aggressive antibiotics and protracted therapy, his strength came back. Parlier considers himself lucky to have caught it.

Fewer than half of Lyme disease cases ever show the bull’s-eye rash, and the symptoms of the disease mimic other diseases that lead to frequent misdiagnosis.

There are over 100 strains of the bacteria that cause Lyme disease, but the standard test doctors give won’t detect all of them, and researchers say as many as half of Lyme cases go undetected.

“The testing that we have is fairly antiquated, it’s an old technology,” Dr. Sunjya Schweig, co-founder and co-director of the California Center for Functional Medicine, said. “No better than flipping a coin.”

Lyme disease infects 300,000 Americans a year, and it’s thought to be most prevalent in the Northeastern United States, according to the Center for Disease Control. But it’s a rapidly growing threat in California, where tick season isn’t just in spring and summer, it’s all year round.

“The real number in our state that has 40 million people, is probably in the thousands,’ Dr. Raphael Stricker, a Lyme disease specialist and medical director of Union Square Medical Associates, said.

Lyme disease cases have been found in 56 out of 58 counties in California. Kern county only has 21 reported cases, but its proximity to Los Angeles, San Diego, and Sonoma, all hot spots for Lyme disease, put Kern residents at a higher risk.

Why the sudden uptick? Experts suggest that people living in closer proximity with nature and building homes in more areas that used to be rural are factors leading to more humans exposed to ticks.

To protect yourself, doctors recommend frequent tick checks after spending time outdoors, using tick repellents, and choosing light-colored clothing that doesn’t expose your skin to ticks.

Anyone worried that they already have Lyme disease but haven’t gotten a confirmed diagnosis should ask for more thorough testing for other bacteria, and ask a doctor to test for other tick-borne infections.

The International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society encourages doctors to begin antibiotic treatment for patients they suspect could have Lyme disease based on a clinical assessment of their symptoms, even if they don’t test positive for the disease.

Parlier still gets an immunoglobulin injection every month to support his immune system, but lives a relatively normal, active life, serving the Bakersfield community.