Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

outsideonline.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–360 of 428 posts

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#351

Post by _huayra_ »

wildmanx wrote: post #334
_huayra_ wrote: post #318

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Don't worry pal I gotcha here: 1. Form The High Church of Vaccination 2. Claim vaccination as a sacrament 3. Watch the craven fascist majority of the US supreme court (i.e. all of the ones that fashion themselves as lil Scalias, but have terrible writing that reeks of double standards, if any at all, and dog whistles to their base) try to somehow toss the case for not having standing while trying to not undo any of t…

No, thank you. I've learned what science is. It's pretty cool, you should look it up.

Do you think I'm anti-science? Hopefully the sarcasm of the parent comment was not lost on you.

I wish Lymerix was available because I no longer want to have to hike or bike in the great outdoors head to toe in clothing design to avoid tick intrusion, much less worry that I was bitten on an exposed part of my skin. Now I'll just have to do it because my skin is designed to be a solar panel for vitamin D production in the dreariest parts of the Irish winter...

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#352

Post by resalisbury »

The new treatment entered Phase 1 trials in January 2020 with 60 participants and the earliest it would be in market is 2024.

You have to scroll through 20+ paragraphs before you get to the lede...

"Enter Mark Klempner. A physician and infectious-disease scientist at the University of Massachusetts, he’s embarked on an experiment that could upend the field of Lyme treatment. Klempner is the lead creator of a first-of-its-kind antibody shot for preventing Lyme infection."

And the most relevant update comes after around 50 paragraphs in the 3rd from last.

"In February, Klempner's phase-one trial kicked off with 60 participants. The goal of the trial is to determine the right dosage so that a person is protected for six to eight months. Lyme PREP will have to be administered annually, but it's a small price to pay in the minds of infectious- disease experts. If my forehead looks flat, it's because I have been banging my head on the wall for 35 years," says Telford. “We need as many tools as possible to prevent Lyme disease."

In just a few years, Lyme PREP could be available for commercial use. Klempner is eyeballing 2024, and maybe even sooner, depending on how the drug performs in clinical trials."

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#353

Post by vimy »

tcoff91 wrote: post #335
vimy wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tests look for antibodies which only are measurable after weeks so a test immediately after a tick bite is useless.

If you collect the tick itself, is there a way to check the tick instead of checking the person that's bit?

Yeah, you can send it to a lab. This should be the default move after every tick bite.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#354

Post by tdeck »

abakker wrote: post #342
tdeck wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had Lyme twice as a kid too (in suburban Pennsylvania). It's not fun and it's a bit crazy that you can get it more than once. People are usually shocked when I tell them. I knew someone who was temporarily paralyzed on one side because of Lyme that they diagnosed late - it's scary.

I grew up in CT. Had it 4 times, only got the bullseye once. It is no joke, and as you get older it seems to suck more and more. Last time I had numbness in my face as the only symptom, but...thrice bitten, fully paranoid, and I was treated pretty fast. One thing which is important with a vaccine is that when I was a kid (early 90s) the rate of ticks carrying lyme was in the 10% range or less, while now it is >50%. A…

I didn't have the bullseye the second time either I was just extremely tired and had a mild fever. That's how it often goes, and if my mom hadn't recognized the nonspecific symptoms it could have been a lot worse.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#355

Post by sonicggg »

abakker wrote: post #342
tdeck wrote: post #315

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had Lyme twice as a kid too (in suburban Pennsylvania). It's not fun and it's a bit crazy that you can get it more than once. People are usually shocked when I tell them. I knew someone who was temporarily paralyzed on one side because of Lyme that they diagnosed late - it's scary.

I grew up in CT. Had it 4 times, only got the bullseye once. It is no joke, and as you get older it seems to suck more and more. Last time I had numbness in my face as the only symptom, but...thrice bitten, fully paranoid, and I was treated pretty fast. One thing which is important with a vaccine is that when I was a kid (early 90s) the rate of ticks carrying lyme was in the 10% range or less, while now it is >50%. A…

How do you manage to get it so often? I live in an area that is endemic to Lyme, but it's something that can easily be avoided (much easier than Covid). But I do see reckless behaviour all the time as well, so maybe it is not that surprising.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#356

Post by Talanes »

im3w1l wrote: post #290
only_as_i_fall wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't this mean that if I were to get bitten by an infected tick the odds of contracting limes disease would be at least 4x lower? Seems like a big difference to me even at the low end of the range. Maybe I'm misapplying the efficacy stat though?

You would still have to monitor for ticks and if symptoms appear (more rare) you would treat it with antibiotics and be fine. This is a minor benefit.

>You would still have to monitor for ticks

This part is true no matter how effective the vaccine is. Ticks are gross, diseased or not.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#357

Post by mmcdermott »

scotty79 wrote: post #339
wildmanx wrote: post #236

What shocks me most with this story is that there is a vaccine (Lymerix), and it's pretty effective (76-92 percent after three injections) but apparently some anti-vax propaganda and a class-action lawsuit essentially removed it from the market. Based on a very rare side effect. Wtf? How can that be? Just tell people the risks of side effects, and if they are ok with that risk then the manufacturer is off the hook. I…

Not even proven side effect. Just something that might be theorized to be the effect of the vaccine. It's really haunting that exactly the same FUD that tanked safe and efficient Lyme vaccine hinders covid vaccines adoption. And people wonder why companies that make covid vaccine wouldn't budge on being exempt from litigation on the basis of percieved side effects.

The difficulty with that exemption is that either a good or a bad actor would ask for it. A good actor to avoid being the target of frivolous suits and a bad actor to have cover for their actions. Because a good or bad actor would behave the same in this respect, people bring their own conceptions to the table and see what they expect to see (in either direction).

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#358

Post by im3w1l »

evanmoran wrote: post #350
im3w1l wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 76-92 percent after three injections That's not a lot. Like sure if herd immunity was on the table it might have been, but lyme has an animal reservoir. Like if I had 76% immunity I would still panic every time I saw a tick, so then what is the point?

I understand where you are coming from. You will be worried about ticks with or without the vaccine. I will too! But I think the vaccine isn’t for making you stop protecting yourself from ticks (it can’t do that, as you noted). The important part is it’s a small poke for a better chance at staying healthy. If you are worried in both cases, the question becomes is the time/cost to get the shot worth the result. So if…

Your calculus forgets about side effects. If the gain is very minor then it only takes minor side effects to swing the balance.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#359

Post by giantg2 »

quesera wrote: post #309
giantg2 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The mice are the main component to the lyme lifecycle. There is a researcher working to give mice immunity using crispr. Generally, the deer are only overpopulating (at least to the extent you describe) in areas that aren't hunted, which also tend to be highly populated. It seems many people enjoy seeing the deer in their backyards and don't want their almost-pets to be killed, especially if it means it might have to…

Both small mammal and large mammal hosts are required in the deer tick lifecycle. White-footed mice are the most common host for the small mammal portion (but there are many options), and deer are the most common host for the large mammal portion. Deer are easier to count and control than mice/voles/moles/chipmunks/etc. So controlling deer populations is more likely to be successful in breaking the deer tick lifecycl…

Coyotes have been introduced in the east in the past. They generally don't kill healthy adult deer (maybe), but they do kill a decent number of fawns. They aren't enough to fully control the population, especially in the suburbs.

The advantage of going after the mice is that they can use crispr to give them immunity. It could be used on deer, but would probably have more push back. Tick tubes have already been shown to be effective at the small mammal level.

It will likely require a combination to control.

Re: A shot to prevent Lyme disease could be on its way

#360

Post by loceng »

pwenzel wrote: post #254
wildmanx wrote: post #236

What shocks me most with this story is that there is a vaccine (Lymerix), and it's pretty effective (76-92 percent after three injections) but apparently some anti-vax propaganda and a class-action lawsuit essentially removed it from the market. Based on a very rare side effect. Wtf? How can that be? Just tell people the risks of side effects, and if they are ok with that risk then the manufacturer is off the hook. I…

I live in Minnesota and am being treated for Lyme disease for the second time in 15 months. It's no joke. The first time I got Lyme, it came with a painful shingles co-infection on top of the usual symptoms. Now the second time, I am again worried about getting sick with something else while in an immunocompromised state. The fatigue, fever, and back pain that came along this second time was worse than the first. I n…

How was it diagnosed?
Post reply on HN