Kudos: Educating the public about LD
Dr. David Goodfriend provides excellent advice on protecting yourself from LD. It’s a fair and viable strategy for protecting oneself against LD that should be followed by all. Some of the bullets can be elaborated upon but if you have been following this blog, you are probably already familiar with my positions.
Excerpted from Leesburg Today ( Posted: 05/04/2010 )
As Loudoun enters into Lyme Disease Awareness Month in May, Dr. David Goodfriend, director of the county’s Department of Health, said “awareness is key” in helping to prevent the spread of Lyme disease.
Lyme Disease FactsThe tick is the second most important vehicle for disease in the world behind the mosquito. It is number one in the U.S.
- A single bite from a tick can transmit multiple diseases.
- Ticks react to motion and carbon dioxide, which humans produce just by breathing. There are 15 species of ticks in Virginia, but the black-legged tick, which causes Lyme disease, is the least common.
- A female black-legged tick can lay up to 3,000 eggs at one time.
- Lyme disease is caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi.
- Ticks are infected with the Lyme bacterium during the larvae stage of their development by feeding on infected white-footed mice.
- Deer are the vehicle to carry the tick to different environments. Deer with infected deer ticks are not infected with Lyme disease. Their blood carries a factor that breaks down the Lyme bacterium.
- A bulls-eye rash that is indicative of Lyme disease will show up anywhere from three to 30 days after getting bitten by a tick carrying Lyme.
- The bulls-eye rash does not have any sensation, including itching or burning, so checking is the only way to discover it.
- The Lyme bacterium is a “first cousin” to syphilis.
- The largest number of cases of Lyme are in children between the ages of six and 10 and adults between the ages of 46 and 50.
For the full article: http://www.leesburg2day.com/articles/2010/05/10/news/9748mlyme050410.txt
Lyme Handbook 