Ticks, Lyme and Other Diseases
Yes, it is tick season again. How do I know? I plucked one of the ugly critters off me three days ago. Since it was an adult female deer tick and I had no idea how long it was stuck on me, I took prophylactic doxycycline, 200 Mg. Single dose to prevent Lyme Disease. The ring around the bite was a bit different and larger than a “normal” bite as well.
Photos of “the tick” and “the bite”. Tick noted and removed on or about April 22, 2015. Bite photo late on the day of removal.
CDC Website link on Lyme Disease is below
http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/index.html
Lyme Disease Prophylaxis after the tick bite
“For prevention of Lyme disease after a recognized tick bite,
routine use of antimicrobial prophylaxis or serologic testing is
not recommended (E-III). A single dose of doxycycline may
be offered to adult patients (200 mg dose) and to children
8 years of age (4 mg/kg up to a maximum dose of 200 mg) (B-
I) when all of the following circumstances exist: (a) the attached
tick can be reliably identified as an adult or nymphal
I. scapularis tick that is estimated to have been attached for 36 h
on the basis of the degree of engorgement of the tick with
blood or of certainty about the time of exposure to the tick;
(b) prophylaxis can be started within 72 h of the time that the
tick was removed; (c) ecologic information indicates that the
local rate of infection of these ticks withB. burgdorferi is 20%; and
(d) doxycycline treatment is not contraindicated.
The timelimit of 72 h is suggested because of the absence of data on
the efficacy of chemoprophylaxis for tick bites following tick
removal after longer time intervals. Infection of 20% of ticks
with B. burgdorferi generally occurs in parts of New England,
in parts of the mid-Atlantic States, and in parts of Minnesota
and Wisconsin, but not in most other locations in the United
States.”
I was unable to find any literature on antibiotic prophylaxis of Lyme Disease after a bite for children below 8 years of age. Please send the link, if you know of any evidence in this regard.
This is the link to the complete article is below
http://www.idsociety.org/uploadedfiles/idsa/guidelines-patient_care/pdf_library/lyme%20disease.pdf
This is the link to the Tick Blog posted last year
https://veritashc.org/take-the-best-care-of-yourself/health-volume-2-15-tick-season/
New: Useful Web Site Recommendation for Guidance on Tick Management and Control
http://www.tickencounter.org/
On Ticks and Tick Transmitted Diseases
http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/diseases/index.html
http://www.cdc.gov/ticks/symptoms.html
On Tick Associated Red Meat Allergy
http://uvamagazine.org/articles/ticked_off_carnivores/
Please contact me mfmascia@VeritasHC.org, or comment on this blog, with criticism, corrections, recommendations, or any other feedback.
Thanks for your help.
Dr. Mike
