From Here & Back Again
By Jim Coufal
(Cazenovia, NY – Oct. 2014) IT AIN’T EBOLA, BUT IT’S HERE, IT’S OURS, AND IT’S VERY DANGEROUS.
Imagine a “Cazenovia Disease” or a “Chittenango Disease.” Would that be something you would want your hometown known for? Lyme, Conn., has such an honor because it was the place where Lyme disease (LD) was first identified.
In the early 1970s, like today, it was identified only after many people, especially children went years suffering the crippling, even killing, effects of the disease. The U.S. Department of Health says there are now about 350,000 identified cases of LD, and with so many misdiagnosed and undiagnosed cases, the estimate is at least one million people suffer from LD. It occurs in all states except Hawaii.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention data for 2003-12 shows that 95 percent of identified cases occur in just 13 states. These include New England, New York, the Mid-Atlantic States and Wisconsin. Range of incidence per 100,000 population in these states ranges from 75.9 for New Hampshire to 10.4 for New York, but the incidence is increasing significantly in Central New York.
Green Lakes State Park is a hotbed of tick activity.
LD is tick-borne, especially deer ticks, which can also be carried mice and other such furry critters. Whether related to climate change or not, the population of deer ticks has been rising rapidly in this region. With so many people owning cats and dogs, which can pick up the ticks and pass them to humans, with increasing outdoor recreation and with traditional outdoor activities – such as farming, logging, surveying and others – people are being exposed to ticks more and more.
Tick bites are tiny and painless, so they may go unnoticed. An early symptom is a small rash at the point of tick bite, that gets bigger with time. The circular, bulls-eye target-like rash is a fairly widely known symptom, but in many cases it never occurs. The tick needs to be on one’s body for about at least 36 hours for the bacteria to be passed to humans. Early treatment is critical.
Within a few weeks of the bite, symptoms usually include fever, headache, stiff neck, all similar to common viral infections. If you have had a tick bite, don’t take the chance you only have a common virus. The longer one goes without treatment (generally antibiotics) the more difficult LD is to treat, and the more serious the effects are likely to be, impacting the heart, brain, joints and nervous system.
The symptoms of LD also overlap with those of a variety of other diseases, hence misdiagnoses. For example, brain lesions are symptoms of multiple sclerosis, but also of LD.
The New York Senate recently released a report with recommendations on how to fight the growing problem of LD. Senator Charles Schumer even warned New York City residents about walking in Central Park and how to prevent tick bites. There are problems with testing for LD, with having a vaccine and with insurance coverage of treatments that space doesn’t allow coverage of herein. Another article may cover these items.
Prevention of tick bites is the best treatment for LD. The Center for Disease Control and WebMD recommend avoiding wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter, something that may be difficult for many people to do.
When possible, walk in the center of trails, and be especially vigilant during the summer months. The best repellants are those including DEET at 20 to 30 percent, spread on exposed skin and clothing treated with 0.5 percent Promethrom. Wear long pants and sleeves and tuck them in tightly.
Pets should wear tick collars or receive tick treatments. We love our cuddly friends, but too much cuddling or letting them sleep in bed with you bring real risk.
When you come in from the outdoors, bathe or shower within two hours, after checking your body and those of your pets for ticks. Tick removal should be done with fine tweezers. Clothes should be washed and then tumble dried on high heat. All this for a tiny eight-legged creature, but the threat is very real.
Go to the website of the American Lyme Disease Foundation for in-depth coverage of this emerging and devastating problem.
Jim Coufal of Cazenovia is a part-time philosopher and full-time observer of global trends. He can be reached at madnews@m3pmedia.com.