LYME DISEASE PREVENTION
- If you’re in a wooded or grassy area, wear long pants and closed shoes. That’s not always possible in hot summer months but try to avoid exposed skin as much as possible.
- Stay on trails, avoid walking through woods or tall grass. Ticks also love leaf piles and stacks of wood.
- Wear light-colored clothes so you can more easily spot bugs on you.
- Use insect repellent.
- Inspect your clothes, hair, and skin regularly.
- Always check your pets for ticks — especially if they sleep with you!
- Consider treating home for other bugs that may be carriers.
ALL ticks can carry infection (not just deer ticks.) Ticks have been found in all 50 states! Plus, it’s not just ticks causing infection!
Initially known as tick-borne disease, it’s now being referred to as vector-borne disease. Vector-borne diseases are illnesses caused by parasites, viruses and bacteria that are transmitted by vectors (fancy word for mosquitoes, fleas, flies, lice, spiders, even a cat scratch or bite can transmit disease.) Studies show infection can even be spread in utero, with children being born with infections.
These infections are some of the most misunderstood in all of medicine.
A single tick could make a person sick with any one—or more—of several diseases at the same time. Many people diagnosed with Lyme (borrelia burgdorferi) also have co-infections. It is also possible to be diagnosed with a co-infection but not Lyme. There are multiple co-infections with the most common being:
- Babesia (over 100 species)
- Bartonella (40+ different species)
- Mycoplasma (one of the main causes of Rheumatoid Arthritis)
- Ehrlichia
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
- Powassan encephalitis
Click here for common symptoms of co-infections and how to get properly diagnosed.
Other helpful websites: