I HATE ticks
By
Will Collette
Hospital
emergency rooms are already
reporting a sharp uptick in patients coming in for treatment of tick bites.
We
have to watch out for American Dog ticks,
blacklegged deer ticks, and lone star ticks in Rhode Island because they can
transmit Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever and other tick-borne illnesses.
The
Centers
for Disease Control report a rise in cases of Babesiosis, mainly from deer
ticks (which is practically Rhode Island’s official state noxious bug). Symptoms
of Babesiosis include fever, muscle and joint pain and headache. Illness can
range from mild to severe, and it can be fatal in rare cases. Infections can
also be asymptomatic, so patients may not always know to be tested.
How's the vaccine hunt going?
Efforts
by Pfizer to develop a vaccine for Lyme disease suffered a setback that led
Pfizer to suspend trial sites in numerous locations, such as Block Island.
According
to the Block Island Times, Pfizer said it was discontinuing “a
significant percentage of participants in the United States who had been
enrolled in the Vaccine Against Lyme for Outdoor Recreationists Phase 3
clinical study.” The company stresses that the reason is not due to vaccine
safety or “adverse events,” but because of violations of “Good Clinical Practice”
by a subcontractor conducting the tests at several sites.
The BI Times further reports “the subcontractor is
Boston-based Care Access, which was conducting the vaccine trial on Block
Island, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, and in several other places. The
cancellation affects about half of the people who signed up in the United
States – 3,500 of 7,000 people.”
They noted that “Alison Warfel, Chief Operating Officer of
Block Island Health Services, told The Block Island Times that she believed
that Pfizer was planning to go with a different third-party vendor on Block
Island and that participants would be able to remain in the study.”
Hopefully that will happen because most people in our area
(except maybe the MAGAnuts) would welcome a vaccine to prevent Lyme disease.
New tick-borne disease diagnosed in the US
While so much of the focus of studies
on tick-borne diseases is on Lyme disease, there is another disease of rising
concern in addition to Babesiosis carried by deer ticks.
That’s Borrelia
lonestari bacteria carried by the lone star tick. Despite the
name, they are not confined to Texas (as I would wish them to be). I’ve
actually been bitten by one in Charlestown. It
was the first and only time I’ve had a tick bite that actually hurt, almost
like a hornet sting.
So far, there’s
only been one case in the US, a 75 year old Alabama. It nearly killed him.
He sought treatment after a month of extreme fatigue, recurring
fever and chills, sweating, headache, and dizziness. Then high fever and a stuporous
condition. Antibiotics helped knock down the illness which was eventually
diagnosed as tickborne relapsing fever (TBRF) caused by Borrelia
lonestari bacteria.
TickEncounter Resource Center
Because Rhode Island is right at the epicenter of so much
tick activity, we’ve developed some fine resources. Under the leadership of
renowned tick expert Dr. Thomas Mather at URI, we have a one-stop full-service
tick center at the Center for Vector-Borne Disease and its
TickEncounter Resource Center. CLICK HERE.
On
that website, you can find tons of practical information about how to cope with
ticks. It’s done is clear, plain language with a light touch of humor.
They can also be your first stop in checking out the endless array of opinions on the best way to repel or kill ticks, treat tick bites including how to safely remove ticks, the merits of doxycycline as prophylaxis against Lyme disease and more to help you decide what you should do to protect yourself and your family.