Ticks

[peregrinebio]

As someone who's had Lymes, tick bites are not a laughing matter.

Therefore, be aware that not all tick bites show signs of Lymes and if you are bitten and feel sick, get tested immediately.

Bierhaus is right, it isn't a laughing matter. If you don't catch it early it can be a lifetime chronic disease. A coworker just went through a year of chemo-like therapy because he didn't catch it early. I've been lucky and never had it, but working as a medic with the National Guard in Lyme, CT (where it was discovered), and then as a wildlife biologist I have a lot of experience with it and ticks.

The rash doesn't always happen. If you get even the sniffles in the next couple of months, go to your doctor, tell them you were bit by a tick, get a blood test, and get antibiotics before the blood test results come back. If the doctor won't give you antibiotics without testing positive go to a different doctor. The blood test only has a 50% detection rate. But IMO, I would save your money and not go to the doctor if you don't feel sick. That's my approach.

Plus, this time of year, the chance of the tick being infected is low. They probably haven't fed yet, which means they haven't been infected from a reservoir host for Lyme disease, typically white-footed mice. As we move into summer, the likelihood of a tick being infected increases, because they've already fed a couple of times.

 

[Rugrad02]

As an avid bow hunter, I run into ticks quite often. Bow season is the first deer season to start here in NC, around late August/early September when the ticks are still a problem. I hunt primarily in swampy areas which doesn't help. I shot a deer back in late October that had quite a number of ticks on him; in his ears and underside of his legs. Our fall and winter was a bit warmer than usual, which may have also contributed. Regardless, they are nasty buggers.

 

[WhineinAlbany]

Another thing I learned while talking to the nurseline nurse is that it's important to be up to date on tetanus shots. She said that ticks can also carry the bacteria that causes tetanus. If you've had the shot within the past 5 or 6 years, you should be okay. Anything longer, you'll need a booster. I had mine 4 years ago, so I'm good. She mentioned it might be a good idea to get the shot more often if you live near a woods or do outdoor activities a lot.

I have to say, these insurance 1-800 help lines are great. I feel like I'm talking to a salesperson every time I call my doctor's office. They even robo call me for flu shots (my employer pays for mine with an onsite nurse). My doctor is great, but the office really needs to back off.

 

[broadbill]

From the Lyme Disease wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

However, transmission is quite rare, with only about 1% of recognized tick bites resulting in Lyme disease; this may be because an infected tick must be attached for at least a day for transmission to occur.

Being in a high lyme disease area, the whole family has had to go to Urgent Care at some point over the past few years to get the prophylactic dose of antibiotics. Once we realized that the tick has to be attached for quite some time to transmit LD, we don't bother (unless we miss one, which is what happened to the dog earlier in the year).

 

[dbhokie]

From the Lyme Disease wikipedia article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease

However, transmission is quite rare, with only about 1% of recognized tick bites resulting in Lyme disease; this may be because an infected tick must be attached for at least a day for transmission to occur.

Being in a high lyme disease area, the whole family has had to go to Urgent Care at some point over the past few years to get the prophylactic dose of antibiotics. Once we realized that the tick has to be attached for quite some time to transmit LD, we don't bother (unless we miss one, which is what happened to the dog earlier in the year).

Prolly why I don't see it as much with my friends who get tick bit a lot. We live in a rare area, and it is habit to daily check for ticks.