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Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

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Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#71

Post by tapoxi »

jjeaff wrote: post #70
baxtr wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend to have one of these on you at all times while you're hiking https://www.amazon.com/Life-Systems-34020-Lifesystem-Remover...

As someone from the south, tools sold for the removal of ticks just makes me giggle. Just use your fingernail, scratch it off carefully. I can't imagine trying to use this or one of the crazier, "heat a needle" or "spread vasaline on them methods" when trying to remove the sometimes hundreds of ticks and chiggars you might have after working in the wrong field for a day.

Doing it without a tool risks leaving the mouthparts embedded in your skin, leaving you prone to infection even after the tick was removed.

Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#72

Post by nonbel »

maxerickson wrote: post #69
nonbel wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something is wrong here. How did humanity survive living most of their lives outdoors for so long in the presence of these ticks? Did lyme disease really not exist until 1975? I see there is some kind of "blame everything on lyme disease" movement going on as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease_controversy

Tick populations have expanded greatly in recent years. Things like climate change and wildlife management practices are thought to be a factor. (warmer winters->less ticks die, more deer->more deer ticks)

That sucks it is a climate change linked issue...

I already know I will find that more sensitive tests for tick borne diseases have been developed so essentially the definition of these diseases has changed, funding for surveillance has increased, the methods of counting ticks have become more sensitive, etc.

EDIT:

Yep, this looks like a good starting point if anyone is interesting in trying to figure out what is really going on. I'm not sure if I will bother:

"A later surge in interest in ticks and tick-borne pathogens has been inspired by recent claims about the impact of forecasted climate change on the spatial distribution of ticks and associated pathogens (Brownstein et al., 2003; Ostfeld et al., 2005; Diuk-Wasser et al., 2006; Ogden et al., 2008; Jaenson et al., 2009). However, this research has been fraught with difficulty from the outset because of insufficient knowledge about the nature of many tick-pathogen associations (Randolph, 2009; Franke et al., 2013; Medlock et al., 2013). A proper understanding of how abiotic factors shape the transmission cycles of tick-transmitted disease agents awaits a more rigorous analysis that is often limited by the current availability of data and the many indirect mechanisms that bear on them (Kahl et al., 2002; Eisen, 2008).

We assume that the many procedural and analytical errors in current tick and tick-borne zoonotic disease research are often a consequence of a lack of knowledge or of suitable training.

[...]

Typical problems include errors in tick identification (especially of immature instars), premature or erroneous reporting of ticks as new vectors and hosts as reservoirs, superficial data on the abundance and seasonal activity of ticks, inappropriate use of statistical methodology, and uncontrolled laboratory diagnostic procedures. The very ready accessibility of research publications online, at least in abstract form, tends to exacerbate the situation in that, as a result of superficial reading and subsequent citing, an erroneous conclusion can quickly become embedded in the literature. "

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3737478/

Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#73

Post by jjeaff »

49bc wrote: post #58
zaargy wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just remove them? As long as you remove them within 48 hours you'll be fine. Why go outside? You might get hit by a bus.

Removing them requires two very vigilant people. Also getting hit by a bus is arguably better than life-long listleness caused by lyme disease which might be inheritable to your future children.

Two people to remove a tick? And I thought these little removal tools were crazy.

You'll feel it itching after it digs in. Just be vigilant in the shower and use a loofa or other abraisive scrubber. Fingernails work perfectly fine as well.

Of the literally thousands of ticks I have had to remove over the years, probably less than 5 were ever left on for up to 48 hours. Most people will scratch them loose accidentally.

Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#75

Post by jjeaff »

baud147258 wrote: post #57
stevehawk wrote: post #22

Just FYI - when I lived in Northern Virginia I discovered that in my area the main transmission method of Lyme disease was actually mice. So make sure if you find them in your house that you do something about it. Also be careful when you remove via tweezers. If you squeeze their body you're likely to cause them to regurgitate into you which almost guarantees an infection. I use a tick removal tool (actually used it…

A long time ago, I tried to remove a tick with tweezers. I failed horribly and left the head in my upper skin layer, having removed only the body. So I had to use a a rather sharp pen knife to remove the rest. Two year later, while camping, I had to remove a handfull of ticks and a tick removal tool (shaped like a crowbar) was very usefull.

Next time, just use your fingernail. Never fails. Much better than any tool.

Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#77

Post by jjeaff »

mrfusion wrote: post #51
stevehawk wrote: post #22

Just FYI - when I lived in Northern Virginia I discovered that in my area the main transmission method of Lyme disease was actually mice. So make sure if you find them in your house that you do something about it. Also be careful when you remove via tweezers. If you squeeze their body you're likely to cause them to regurgitate into you which almost guarantees an infection. I use a tick removal tool (actually used it…

It’s funny. I researched it and I could never find a good answer why you shouldn’t suffocate them with vasoline to remove them. All the articles just say it’s better to remove them ASAP even if you squeeze them.

Vasoline is not very effective and sometimes just results in the tick dieing while latched on.

Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#78

Post by notadoc »

This article and many others focuses on Lyme in the northeastern US, but Lyme has spread to the interior and the west coast. It's in up to 25% of ticks in many western states and around the west coast.

I find ticks constantly on dogs after taking walks/hikes in California/Oregon/Washington, even if they have tick/flea treatment. I've had one embedded in me that was so small and flush it looked just like a new tiny mole had appeared, it wasn't until it squirmed around after being brushed over a few times that I realized it was a tick. They can be quite a challenge to remove properly even with tweezers.

The tick population has surged dramatically in the western states and east coast, largely from an overpopulation of deer, mice, and other rodents, and an increasing lack of predators to those common tick carriers. Ultimately we to allow predators to return to the natural landscape and in abundance, with birds of prey, foxes, coyote, etc to take out the mice and smaller carriers, and we many more large predators, bear, wolf, mountain lion, human hunters included, to reduce the dramatic deer overpopulation.

And yes, thinning of known tick carriers like mice and deer is demonstrably proven to work.

http://www.ct.gov/caes/lib/caes/documents/publications/fact_...

Re: Lyme Disease Is on the Rise Again

#79

Post by zip1234 »

maxerickson wrote: post #69
nonbel wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something is wrong here. How did humanity survive living most of their lives outdoors for so long in the presence of these ticks? Did lyme disease really not exist until 1975? I see there is some kind of "blame everything on lyme disease" movement going on as well: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyme_disease_controversy

Tick populations have expanded greatly in recent years. Things like climate change and wildlife management practices are thought to be a factor. (warmer winters->less ticks die, more deer->more deer ticks)

Need more Wolves!
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