Lyme Disease (Hope: insurance, price, dangerous)

[BigCur]

Is it bad all over ME?
I travel a lot and in parts of the upper midwest its gotten so bad folks are afraid to go in the woods.
A MD in western WI told me its a pandemic and that research is showing many folks diagnosed with Alzhiemers and MS actually have Lyme disease.

[broadbill]

Lyme disease is pandemic....in ticks. Up to 50% of Maine adult ticks have been shown to have B. Burgdorferi spirochetes (depending on where in Maine you look), yet there were only 780 confirmed cases in 2008 for Maine. The incidence of Lyme disease in Mainers is 59.2 per 100,000 people. That is significant, but not exactly a cause for alarm.

DVBID: Cases by State | CDC Lyme Disease
MMCRI: Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory (http://www.mmcri.org/lyme/meticks.html - broken link)

The thing with Lyme disease is that a tick needs to be embedded in its host for 48-36 hours in order to transmit Lyme disease. This means that even if you find a deer tick on you, chances are you won't have contacted Lyme disease if you catch it in time. Frequent checks of you and your kids is recommended, as well as using a DEET-based repellant during tick season. If you find a tick and you want additional protection against Lyme disease infection, a physician will usually prescribe a prophylactic dose of antibiotics.

Hope this helps.

[brokemama6]

hi bigcur
i myself was diagnosed with lyme's almost 16 years ago while pregnant with my third son. at that time, not a lot was known about it and a lot of people went undiagnosed unless they or thier dr saw the bullseye rash that accompanies it. in my case, i was doing a lot of wildlife rescue work at the time, and happened to contract it. broadbill has a lot of good info on the subject...and he is right, always check for the ticks, which are very small...and always wear a deet based repellent. also, check your animals for ticks. the worst thing about lyme's disease is that if you already have a medical problem, it will make the problem worse. another downside is that the antibiotic most commonly used to treat it, tetrocyclin, can have undesireable side effects in some people...like me lol. on a positive note, my son never tested positive for it...
take care,

[broadbill]

Originally Posted by BigCur

A MD in western WI told me its a pandemic and that research is showing many folks diagnosed with Alzhiemers and MS actually have Lyme disease.

I think this comes down to misdiagnosis in parts of the US where Lyme disease is not prevalent yet. The Midwest is just starting to see an uptick in Lyme disease cases. The Northeast docs have been on the lookout for Lyme now for 20 years.

[tcrackly]

Originally Posted by broadbill

Lyme disease is pandemic....in ticks. Up to 50% of Maine adult ticks have been shown to have B. Burgdorferi spirochetes (depending on where in Maine you look), yet there were only 780 confirmed cases in 2008 for Maine. The incidence of Lyme disease in Mainers is 59.2 per 100,000 people. That is significant, but not exactly a cause for alarm.

DVBID: Cases by State | CDC Lyme Disease
MMCRI: Vector-Borne Disease Laboratory (http://www.mmcri.org/lyme/meticks.html - broken link)

The thing with Lyme disease is that a tick needs to be embedded in its host for 48-36 hours in order to transmit Lyme disease. This means that even if you find a deer tick on you, chances are you won't have contacted Lyme disease if you catch it in time. Frequent checks of you and your kids is recommended, as well as using a DEET-based repellant during tick season. If you find a tick and you want additional protection against Lyme disease infection, a physician will usually prescribe a prophylactic dose of antibiotics.

Hope this helps.

Sometimes I think some of us have had our own version of a vaccination. My husband and I are in the field every day with our dog, picked MANY a deer tick off of ourselves. Both of us have sensitive skin and get reactions to EVERY insect bite, so rarely do ticks stay on us for long, occasionally we have gotten a imbedded tick overnight. Still haven't tested positive.

[jasoneg77]

what is the season in ME where ticks are more active?

[tcrackly]

I find the ticks very active April thru June, more so if the weather is hot and dry. Their numbers seem to drop off only to spurt again end of July thru Sept. I f we get very warm weather in Oct. sometimes we see a lot them then too, during huntin season. april and Oct. are particularily troublesome for the large number of deer tick nymphs that we see( which are barely visible).

[broadbill]

Originally Posted by tcrackly

Sometimes I think some of us have had our own version of a vaccination. My husband and I are in the field every day with our dog, picked MANY a deer tick off of ourselves. Both of us have sensitive skin and get reactions to EVERY insect bite, so rarely do ticks stay on us for long, occasionally we have gotten a imbedded tick overnight. Still haven't tested positive.

You've actually been tested? I thought the test was really pricey and insurance typically does not cover it since Docs can prophylactically treat with a couple bucks worth of antibiotics.

I've had similar experiences when out in the afield...ticks aren't in that much of a hurry to bite/imbed it seems.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by BigCur

Is it bad all over ME?
I travel a lot and in parts of the upper midwest its gotten so bad folks are afraid to go in the woods.
A MD in western WI told me its a pandemic and that research is showing many folks diagnosed with Alzhiemers and MS actually have Lyme disease.

The residents of one Maine island, Monhegan, exterminated their deer population, which finally ended their problem with the disease.

Until they got rid of the deer, I think more than half the islanders had gotten the disease.

This is a very dangerous--and very stealthy--disease, which is often misdiagnosed.

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of Mainers who were told they have arthritis, really have lyme disease and don't know it.

I believe there is no single 100 percent reliable test for lyme, either.

I think people are too complacent regarding the threat of Lyme.

Because most of the U.S. population is now urban, most people aren't concerned about this disease and so there is little interest in a vaccine, even though people have contracted lyme in Manhattan's central park and the disease is no stranger to New York City.

Lyme is one of the few things that makes me hesitant of moving to Maine . . . when I get to worrying about lyme in Maine, I start to wonder if Alaska might not be a better destination for me, and whether there are any such diseases in Alaska.

If I do move to Maine, I will pretty much stay out of the woods and fields as much as possible, which is a shame because I love those places.

[OutDoorNut]

Originally Posted by broadbill

a tick needs to be embedded in its host for 48-36 hours in order to transmit Lyme disease. This means that even if you find a deer tick on you, chances are you won't have contacted Lyme disease if you catch it in time.

How can you be sure how long the tick's been on you?

Do you do a strip search for something the size of a freckle, that might be somewhere on you where it can't be seen without using two mirrors and a magnifying glass, every time you leave the front door to pick up your mail?

Or after petting your dog?

Or taking in a new load of firewood?