40% of ticks carry Lyme disease in parts of California

lol…they spelled the bug name wrong in the image. It’s Borrelia burgdorferi…just left out the “d”.

https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html

I live in SE Michigan.  Here’s another CDC map for Lyme Disease incidents (below).

It’s interesting that California has managed to surpass Michigan in terms of reported incidents.  One of my climber friends has Lyme, and maintaining his health is a constant battle for him.  He’s flying to see a specialist in Maine this summer.

There’s also a triple-crown guy who gave a talk at our outdoors club early last year, where he reported that his ex-girlfriend caught Lyme while they were hiking the AT 2 years ago.   As you can see, the whole North East is a hotbed of Lyme disease.

My wife and I used to do this 6-hour long orienteering event in Western Pennsylvania that takes place in April.  Orienteering involves a lot of off trail bush whacking, and I picked up at least 3 ticks on my pants during the last event I attended.  At that same event, another young woman had 2 or 3 ticks on her back, and everyone was inspecting each other after the event.

I don’t attend that orienteering event any longer.  I also use a lot of Permethrin, despite concerns over chemical exposure.

I can’t wait until a viable vaccine is available.

A local dermatologist got lyme and at least one other infection (I think Babesiosis) while hunting (can’t remember state) a few years ago. It put him out of medicine, probably for good, in his mid 50’s due to cognitive issues.

I’m in the Lyme vaccine study.

Thom

Jerry, while exposure is likely part of the long term study I’d expect the study will look for immune response to the vaccine. And whether that response is strong enough in the majority (most?) test subjects to be considered effective. And also what side effects there potentially are. Not a doctor but I learned at least a bit these last few years on how vaccine studies go.

Don’t know if this would have any chance of being fast tracked. History says not likely.

Also, not inferring you don’t know this already. But someone reading this may be pondering this study or decide to further enlighten both of us.

I think I would likely be an willing early adopter on such a vaccine. I hate ticks.

I’ve gotten a number of tick bites in recent years.  It seems like each time I get more of a reaction.  It swells up and itches like crazy.  I’d get a vaccine if it stopped this.

Now, I’m just more careful to treat my clothe with permethrin and check for ticks.

I’m also a participant in the Phase 3 study. The website is here for the child version: https://www.valorlymestudy.com/

not sure if the adult one is still up. This is the main site: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-valneva-initiate-phase-3-study-lyme-disease

It’s a double blind study…I might or might not actually have received the vaccine. They draw blood to get a baseline and then administer a 3 part series and look for immune response afterward with another blood draw. Participants track and report side effects after each dose. Hoping this is shown to be effective, as Lyme Disease is pretty prolific in the NE.

now, if they can only find something to rid me of the Aplha-Gal syndrome I got from a tick…

jscott, when you walk through Tilden park do you brush against plants?  I believe that’s how the ticks get onto you.  If you walk on trails that have been cleared, it’s not such a big risk.

“jscott, when you walk through Tilden park do you brush against plants?”

Mostly not, but it’s inevitable. There’s also a lot of poison oak around, so I’ve trained myself not to brush up against plants in general. I see a lot of folks out there in sleeveless t shirts and shorts.

Permethrin’s nasty to apply, but I did it. The trees and flowers here say it’s spring; the weather says it’s winter. I figure ticks are around, just like cherry blossoms and tulip trees flowers and all the rest. Maybe the coming near freeze next week will kill some? ticks, I mean.

“Hit it again”. I’ve only ever applied one layer. Am I missing something? the instructions are miniscule on the bottle but they don’t seem to mention spraying twice. I’m a bit worried about toxicity levels.

They say once it dries it’s not toxic

I don’t think that even if you get some liquid on your skin it’s that big a deal.  It’s okay for liquid on dogs, cows,…  Toxic for cats.  You don’t want to get high exposure to it though.

https://health.maryland.gov/phpa/IDEHASharedDocuments/permethrin.pdf