This year is proving to be a tough one. Treatment is working, but energy levels (& computer tolerance levels... eyes, concentration, headaches) are low. A few awareness points for 2018... The CDC actually released these images on social media. How many ticks can you find on the poppy seed muffin?
Clue: there are 5 (yes FIVE) ticks on this muffin. . . . . . Have you found them all? . . . . . Scroll down for the 'reveal'. . . . . .
Look closely - can you see the legs? Would you find them on yourself...? Or on your child, or your pet? Ticks are tiny - they can be as tiny as this full stop ➡ . Know how to remove ticks if you live in an area with ticks. (That's across the UK now - search 'The Big Tick Project' for updated tick maps produced by Bristol University. Remember mapped ticks are only from voluntary reporting by vets.) Most hiking and outdoors stores sell tick removal tools - the easiest way to remove these tiny ticks. Importantly - never squash or smother a tick, always make sure you remove it by its mouthparts, and make sure no part is left in. See your GP if you are bitten and make a note of the new NICE guidelines (for England & Wales) in terms of how any tick bite should be treated. Prevention is better than cure - wear repellent. Also, remember, we don't actually have a cure, so speedy treatment is essential! #LymeDiseaseAwareness
This week is BADA-UK (Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Association)'s Tick Prevention Week 2013. BADA does a lot of great work spreading awareness of ticks and the diseases they carry - including Lyme disease. Ticks carry many other diseases too and I'm going to talk more about them later in the week. I was also recently at a talk about the current reliability and specificity of testing for Lyme disease (it's not good!) so I'd like to get some information from that really interesting talk on here too. For my first post today, which is actually Tuesday - I meant to post on Monday (but I fell asleep this afternoon), here is BADA's video about ticks. In the video, Dr James Logan, an entomologist, explains how ticks can infect you; how you can prevent getting a tick bite when outdoors; and how to remove a tick safely and reduce the risk of disease transmission if you are bitten. Lyme disease is on the increase around the world. Ticks can live on deer, birds, squirrels, chipmunks and these wild animals carry them around the country. They are now found not just in the countryside, but also in urban parks and in your own garden. They get on domestic pets, who can also become infected; and they can quite adeptly attach to a human for a blood meal as well. Knowing about ticks, how to avoid them, and what to do if you do find a tick is becoming more important as Lyme increases. This illness can be treated much more efficiently if it is caught early. In its disseminated stages when it is capable of affecting every organ and tissue in the body, it becomes much more difficult to treat. Increasing awareness will help keep you safe and will hopefully prevent you every becoming severely ill with Lyme. Please watch the video and share and help spread awareness of Tick-borne diseases.
Just to emphasise the point, here are some pretty horrible photos of infestations of ticks on various wild animals - as long as ticks have something to feed on, they can survive:
