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As we increase our outdoor activities every year, it is easy to forget about the need to protect ourselves and our families from a common but serious health threat: Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.
As discussed in the previous article “Lyme Disease Prevention Part 1: How to Avoid Getting Bit”, there are practical and simple ways to reduce the chances of getting bit and subsequently contracting Lyme disease and other co-infections that can have damaging long-term effects.
What can you do to keep you and your family safe this spring without having to worry about quarantining inside the house as well?
Some basic tips start with protecting your yard with sprays such as permethrin, pyrethrum, and cedar oil, as well as landscaping strategies to reduce tick colonies in dark, wet areas. Keeping leaves clear, grass and tree branches trimmed to allow full sun exposure, using cedar mulch, planting chrysanthemums, removing bird feeders, being mindful of stone walls, and using other resources like "tick tubes", bait boxes, and having free-range chickens or guinea hens can all help to reduce the tick population at home. Additionally, for those with pets, using collars, Spectra Shield, and natural sprays such as Wondercide can help keep ticks from adhering to dogs and cats and entering the home.
There are also some basic recommendations to keep all members of your family safe from ticks embedding themselves on the body. First and foremost, it is essential to make "tick checks" a routine practice when a family member enters the home from any outdoor activity, especially when children come in from playing in the yard or on a playground.
Implementing physical barriers is very effective as well to prevent ticks from attaching to the body. Wearing light-colored clothing, tucking pants into socks, shirts into pants, putting gloves over long-sleeved shirts, pulling hair back, and using hats with bug netting are all useful first-line-defense strategies. Spraying products containing non-toxic cedar oil on oneself and clothing can add another layer of safety. Specially treated clothing items with Insect Shield lasts up to 70 washes, and using DEET/permethrin may be helpful, but is recommended to be used on the soles of shoes only due to its level of toxicity.
Viruses, bacteria, bugs, oh my…. pathogens that wreak havoc on our lives seems to be the topic on everyone’s mind these days. While we’re so busy dealing with COVID, it’s easy to forget about a major silent pandemic – tick-borne illnesses – that are having an increasing impact on our health.
Lyme disease, the most recognized and common tick-related infection caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria, is acknowledged in the mainstream health conversation as a pervasive threat with nearly 30,000 reported cases annually and an incidence higher than breast cancer (5). Unfortunately, new findings indicated that not only do we have to worry about Lyme, we have to consider the other multiple co-infections can be transmitted alone or in addition to borrelia, which are also on the rise. Especially as people spend more time outdoors amidst months of quarantine, Lyme and various tick-related diseases have increased as well, also complicating coronavirus pandemic detection issues in some areas such as NY state and Michigan (5).
Lyme disease is a multisystem illness referred to as “the great imitator”, many times with a classic bullseye rash, flu-like symptoms, and myriad symptoms replicating conditions associated with numerous other diseases and health-impaired states, ranging from cardiac to neurological to rheumatic illnesses (5). As if we don’t have enough to worry about with COVID, more less-known tick-associated diseases are not only confusing proper diagnoses related to vector-borne illnesses, they are actually mimicking COVID symptoms in many areas. Residents in various parts of the country (such as Michigan) are seeing a growing number of anaplasmosis infection cases increase, with flu-like symptoms that easily cause COVID concern.
