Tick tock (Raymond, Long Island, Orient: moving to, farm, best)

[dubthang]

I started a course of doxycycline the other day. Swollen bite with a rash, noticeable pressure and skin stiffness at the bite, and a very stiff neck for the last few days. Better safe than sorry.

No idea where the tick came from. It could be from my recent trip to Mass, or from my property in Pownal.

[221B]

Originally Posted by 221B

Anyone use those services where you can send a tick in to be analyzed for Lyme disease? I'm also wondering if there are any places locally in Maine that do the test on the insect?
Just got one embedded behind the knee, and I saved the tick in case we want to send it in to be checked. Thanks.

Just thought I'd follow up on this, in case anyone else is interested.
We sent the tick in for testing via one of the lab services available. (downloaded the form, bagged-up the tick, included the payment)

After about a week, received an email that read:

"The sample was NEGATIVE for the ospA gene, suggesting the absence of the Borrelia burgdorferi, the etiological agent of Lyme Disease. This test is intended for screening purposes only, and results should not be used to definitely rule out or confirm infection with B. burgdorferi."

Definitely a relief. But we are now much more vigilant about preventing ticks getting on us in the first place, as the test was about $65. It was interesting to actually go through the process of the lab test, though.

[looking4home]

I'm from California, so we don't have a big problem with ticks or Lyme disease - yet. It does pop up once in awhile. We are more concerned with West Nile Virus, which affects more people statewide each year. County agencies do aerial spraying for that which seems to keep the mosquito population under control.

My niece used to live on Cape Cod and worked outdoors as a landscaper. She got Lyme disease and did not seek treatment and it crippled her arms/wrists so badly she could not drive a car. After a long course of antibiotics, she improved, but then got cancer a few years later at a very young age (in her 30's). Don't know if the two are related, but it seems to me that untreated Lyme would also affect your immune system, possibly making one more susceptible to other diseases/ailments. My daughter lived on a farm in Vermont for a couple of years and worked outside every day in the garden. She only found a couple of ticks on her, but no bites. It seems to vary from state to state, region to region. What I fail to understand is why there isn't a more concerted effort by doctor's and researchers to eradicate this pest, as it wreaks havoc on animals and wildlife, too.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by looking4home

What I fail to understand is why there isn't a more concerted effort by doctor's and researchers to eradicate this pest, as it wreaks havoc on animals and wildlife, too.

Politics, egos, profits.

[camanchaca]

Originally Posted by looking4home

What I fail to understand is why there isn't a more concerted effort by doctor's and researchers to eradicate this pest, as it wreaks havoc on animals and wildlife, too.

There are only so many researchers out there, only so much money congress and the executive are willing to give the NIH, and lots of diseases to worry about: NIH Categorical Spending -NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) so there's a question of what do you take money away from to fund Lyme research.

[looking4home]

But it's important because of its tie-in with wildlife. And this is happening in many states, not just isolated areas. I've read that it is not an easy fix, and Harvard researchers were going to try and introduce something to disrupt the host cycles or something. Maybe it didn't work.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by camanchaca

There are only so many researchers out there, only so much money congress and the executive are willing to give the NIH, and lots of diseases to worry about: NIH Categorical Spending -NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) so there's a question of what do you take money away from to fund Lyme research.

It now affects more people than HIV/AIDS, yet the latter receives near $500m a year in funds vs. the paltry $1-2m spent on Lyme.

HIV/AIDS might be more deadly; but unlike Lyme Disease, it is very rarely caught by "accident". So priorities...?

[looking4home]

There has to be a celebrity that gets it before it receives the attention and research money it deserves. Now if we can just get Angelina Jolie to a beach in Cape Cod...

[camanchaca]

Originally Posted by massnative71

It now affects more people than HIV/AIDS, yet the latter receives near $500m a year in funds vs. the paltry $1-2m spent on Lyme.

HIV/AIDS might be more deadly; but unlike Lyme Disease, it is very rarely caught by "accident". So priorities...?

Are you sure about that? I'm finding

CDC - Statistics - How Many People Get Lyme Disease - Lyme Disease
Each year, approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to CDC by state health departments and the District of Columbia. However, this number does not reflect every case of Lyme disease that occurs in the United States every year.

CDC ? HIV in the United States ? Statistics Overview ? Statistics Center ? HIV/AIDS
HIV Incidence (new infections): The estimated incidence of HIV has remained stable overall in recent years, at about 50,000 new HIV infections per year2. Within the overall estimates, however, some groups are affected more than others. MSM continue to bear the greatest burden of HIV infection, and among races/ethnicities, African Americans continue to be disproportionately affected.
HIV Diagnoses (new diagnoses, regardless of when infection occurred): In 2011, an estimated 49,273 people were diagnosed with HIV infection in the United States. In that same year, an estimated 32,052 people were diagnosed with AIDS. Overall, an estimated 1,155,792 people in the United States have been diagnosed with AIDS3.

Also if caught soon enough, Lyme disease can be cured through antibiotics, HIV is a death sentence.


And, for that matter, both are highly preventable through avoiding or mitigating high-risk behaviors (wearing condoms, using clean needles, and a systematic and thorough screening of the national blood supply, vs. checking oneself, ones children, and ones pets after all potential exposure to ticks).

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by camanchaca

Are you sure about that? I'm finding




Also if caught soon enough, Lyme disease can be cured through antibiotics, HIV is a death sentence.


And, for that matter, both are highly preventable through avoiding or mitigating high-risk behaviors (wearing condoms, using clean needles, and a systematic and thorough screening of the national blood supply, vs. checking oneself, ones children, and ones pets after all potential exposure to ticks).

Even the CDC (which can not at all be trusted regarding Lyme Disease, among many other things), recently admitted that the amount is likely ten times higher than reported.

There is plenty of recent data suggesting that:

Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment: lessons fr... [Minerva Med. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

And a good documentary:

Cinemapolis.org | Movie Archives

And HIV is no longer a death sentence (thanks to much advances in medicine due to political pressure). The problem with Lyme (like HIV/AIDS 30 years ago), is that it is too often NOT caught early enough, and hugely underdiagnosed.

HIV no longer considered death sentence - CNN.com

While not as deadly a disease, the Lyme controversy of today has scary parallels to the what was going on with AIDS in the 80s.

How Lyme is the new AIDS:

From AIDS to Lyme: Will We Let History Repeat Itself?