Archive for the ‘Ticks’ Category

Reducing the Burden of Lyme Disease

https://lymediseaseassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/MFP-Spring-Lyme-Disease-Article.pdf  (Full article here)

Elizabeth L. Maloney, MD Publishes on Reducing the Burden of Lyme Disease

Elizabeth L. Maloney, MD, President, Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education Family Medicine Physician, Wyoming, MN
Elizabeth L. Maloney, MD, President, Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education Family Medicine Physician, Wyoming, MN

Elizabeth L. Maloney, MD, President of the Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education and Family Medicine Physician in Wyoming, MN published a paper titled “Reducing the Burden of Lyme Disease” in Minnesota Family Physician. It includes discussion of tick bite management, early treatment, and shared decision-making.

In the article, Dr. Maloney highlights the expensive cost of Lyme disease, stating that, “Nationwide, the annual direct medical costs could reach 1.3 billion dollars” and calls attention to the disadvantages in research the illness has suffered, as well as clinical trial evidence that is “generally scant and/or of low quality”.

The author advises that, “Blacklegged tick bites acquired in Minnesota carry a significant risk of Lyme disease,” and offers guidance for making decisions regarding antibiotic prophylaxis of asymptomatic bites.

Maloney stresses the importance of early treatment and writes,

“Early Lyme disease, when promptly diagnosed and appropriately treated with antibiotics, is curable.” Above all, she states, “the risks and benefits of all options should be discussed with patients in the setting of shared decision-making in order to arrive at a therapeutic plan that fits both the clinical circumstances and the patient’s goals and values.”

(See top link for full article)

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**Comment**

Early treatment is imperative; however, doctors still take a “wait and see” approach after patients get bitten by a tick. This approach is maiming thousands of people and needs to change. ILADS recommends 20 days of doxycycline for an acute tick bite, but it’s important to keep track of any symptoms as many coinfections will not be covered under that particular mono-therapy.  Also, remember that testing is wrong half the time.

For a great resource:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/04/21/help-i-got-bit-by-a-tick-what-do-i-do/  (Put this somewhere safe so you can access it if you need to)

This is what appropriate Lyme disease treatment looks like:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/02/13/lyme-disease-treatment/

Category:

Lyme, Testing, Ticks, Treatment

Tick Bite Leads to Langley Toddler’s Temporary Paralysis in British Columbia

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/langley-toddler-tick-bite-1.5584391

British Columbia

Tick bite leads to Langley toddler’s temporary paralysis

Malia Radmore’s mother believes she picked up the tick at a local park and showed symptoms days later
Rafferty Baker · CBC News ·

Malia Radmore, 2, was entirely paralyzed, according to her mother Melissa Radmore, after she was bitten by a tick in Langley. (Melissa Radmore)

Malia Radmore is usually an energetic toddler, running around, so when she began crawling on Wednesday, her mother Melissa Radmore just thought she was playing.

But when it was time to stand her up for a snack, Radmore was surprised to see her daughter collapse.

“I tried to get her to stand again, and she collapsed again,” said Radmore, who lives in Langley, B.C.

Soon, paramedics arrived, and the 2½-year-old was taken to Langley Memorial Hospital, before being transferred to B.C. Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. (See link for article)_____________________**Comment**

The mother found a Rocky Mountain wood tick, although they are typically found east of the Coast Mountains, in her hair. Another example of a tick being where it shouldn’t be.

Interesting quote:

Paralysis from a tick bite is quite rare. The B.C. Centre for Disease Control doesn’t officially track cases, but its public health lab typically consults on zero to two cases each year.

Again, how can something be called “rare” when no one is counting?  This same issue is a problem with congenital Lyme.  The CDC states it’s “rare,” but again, nobody’s counting:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/02/19/how-can-mother-to-fetus-transmission-of-lyme-disease-be-rare-when-no-one-is-counting/

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/11/20/is-tick-paralysis-a-symptom-of-lyme-disease/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/11/07/tick-paralysis-in-bc-a-retrospective-cohort-study/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/05/20/child-paralyzed-after-tick-bite/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/28/it-was-a-terrifying-12-hour-7-year-old-temporarily-paralyzed-by-toxins-from-a-tick-bite/

 

Category:

Ticks

Wisconsin Tick-Borne Illness Center Readies for 2020 Tick Season

https://wiseye.org/2020/05/26/newsmakers-tick-borne-illness-center-readies-for-2020-tick-season/  Video Here (Approx. 30 Min)

Newsmakers: Tick-Borne Illness Center Readies for 2020 Tick Season

On May 26, 2020, WisconsinEye senior producer Steve Walters sat down with Erin Biertzer, president of the Howard Young Foundation, and Dr. Andreas Kogelnik, director of the Tick-Borne Illness Center of Excellence, to discuss the 2020 tick season in honor of Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

According to Russel Labs, there are predominantly FOUR ticks to be concerned about in Wisconsin:  https://wisconsin-ticks.russell.wisc.edu/wisconsin-ticks/ (Click on the drop-down menu)

The black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis)

The Lone Star Tick (amblyomma americanum)

The Wood Tick/American Dog Tick (dermacentor variables) 

The Brown Dog Tick (rhipicephalus sangineus) rare in Wisconsin and usually found on dogs.  It is able to complete its life cycle indoors in homes or kennels.

Please keep in mind that ticks are constantly being found in places they’ve never been found before – mainly due to migrating birds:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/

Treat each and every tick bite as seriously as a heart attack.

One that is marching across the United States is the Asian Long-horned tick.  Previously only considered a livestock pest, it has been found to transmit Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in a lab setting, and is known to transmit Lyme disease (they say rarely), while in Asia transmit SFTS (sever fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome), an emerging hemorrhagic fever, and is associated with spotted fever rickettsioses, Anaplasma, and Ehrlichia:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/05/05/asian-longhorned-tick-able-to-transmit-rmsf-in-lab-setting-also-transmitted-within-ticks-through-ova/

Again, the unique quality of these ticks is their ability to reproduce by cloning:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/09/12/three-surprising-things-i-learned-about-asian-longhorned-ticks-the-tick-guy-tom-mather/

As to it being in Wisconsin:  https://wiscontext.org/why-invasive-longhorned-tick-has-potential-reach-wisconsin

Excerpt:

There’s no question in entomologist Phil Pellitteri’s mind that it will be able to reach, and likely thrive, in Wisconsin.

“I’ve seen the distribution maps … and it will be able to survive quite well in Wisconsin,” Pellitteri said in a Dec. 19, 2018 interview on Wisconsin Public Radio’s The Larry Meiller Show. “Now, how long it takes to get here is another interesting question.”

 

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Ticks

Yes, You Do Need To Worry About Ticks & Lyme Disease In The Pacific NW

https://www.kgw.com/article/entertainment/television/programs/sunrise/yes-you-do-need-to-worry-about-lyme-disease-in-the-pacific-nw/

Yes, you do need to worry about ticks and Lyme Disease in the Pacific NW

Symptoms from a tick bite can mimic other illnesses. What my family wants you to know before you head out into our beautiful backcountry
Credit: Amy Bredes

PORTLAND, Ore. — May is “Lyme Disease Awareness Month.” And the infected ticks that spread Lyme aren’t just back east. They’re here in the Pacific Northwest, too.

So, as Oregon and Washington reopen more outdoor recreation areas, it’s a good time to get up to speed on how to protect yourself.

This story is personal for me. My daughter was diagnosed with Lyme. She did a lot of hiking in college in upstate New York and also spent time in the Mount Hood National Forest. We’re not sure where she contracted Lyme but it went undiagnosed for a year even though she saw every doctor under the sun. (See link for story)

Newstory:

 Approx. 3 Min.

Dr. Melanie Stein discusses many topics including how Lyme paralysis put her in a wheelchair for two years. She now treats patients in the state of Oregon.

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**Comment**

Great interview with Dr. Stein who gives it straight. I’m so thankful for practitioners that take on great risk treating people that mainstream medicine won’t touch with a ten foot pole.  Most of these practitioners have suffered with tick-borne illness themselves, like Dr. Stein.  They truly “get it.”

Category:

Lyme, Ticks

More Ticks, Risk of Lyme Disease in Wisconsin

https://waow.com/2020/04/30/more-ticks-risk-of-lyme-disease-in-wisconsin/ (News Video Here)

More ticks, risk of Lyme disease in Wisconsin

WAUSAU, Wis. (WAOW) — A mild winter combined with a larger population of deer in Wisconsin this year could mean more ticks to look out for.

Experts at the Tick-Borne Illness Center of Excellence in Woodruff treat people from across the country, but they say Northern Wisconsin stands out.

“It is a highly prevalent area for wood tick diseases and deer tick diseases,” said center manager Kathy McCaughan.

This year, experts say they’re seeing the impact of a mild winter.

“The ticks really don’t go away in the winter they just go underneath the leaves and the snow kind of insulates them and the first tick that we had reported here was the beginning of March already,” said Clinic Program Director Connie Campbell.

Combine that with a higher deer population and more people outside, there could be a higher risk of spreading lyme disease.

“Now with COVID, everyone is out and about a little bit trying to get fresh air, just kinda be vigilant,” said Campbell. “You wear light-colored clothing so that you can spot them really easily, deet helps but you don’t spray it on your skin you spray it on your clothes.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says to tuck your pants into your socks when you’re going out and perform a tick check when you get back home.

You can learn more about Lyme disease on the State’s Health Department Website.

You can also download an app from UW-Madison to track ticks and learn about removal/prevention.

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**Comment**

We really have no idea why there are more ticks. Blaming the weather isn’t prudent considering ticks are ecoadaptive and survive about anything but fire. Research shows it’s migrating birds and photoperiod (light required for ticks to molt) that propagates ticks and the diseases they carry: https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2018/11/07/ticks-on-the-move-due-to-migrating-birds-and-photoperiod-not-climate-change/ (research conducted by an independent researcher)

But this doesn’t fit the climate change narrative that keeps being pushed upon us. Right now, climate change is a popular topic so if researchers want grant money they put that moniker in their work so they obtain money.  Even if it’s untrue.

Please see:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/17/ontario-public-health-officials-called-out-on-shoddy-biased-research-utilizing-an-erroneous-climate-change-model-to-program-a-futuristic-tick-problem/

This is just another example of how finances dictate the science being done.  Sad but true.

“For blacklegged ticks, climate change is an apocryphal issue.” -John Scott

Could dropping ticks out of airplanes have something to do with it?  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/07/31/tick-expert-admits-to-working-on-ticks-dropping-them-out-of-airplanes/

Or

Tweaking them in labs?  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/08/04/lyme-disease-amendment-passes-house-tells-dod-ig-to-investigate-the-bioweaponization-of-ticks/

Category:

Lyme, Ticks