CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Do you enjoy hiking, spending time outdoors, or working in the yard? If so, you’re at risk for Lyme disease.
Case numbers go up during the summer months, so Jen Lewis sat down with a couple of local experts to learn more.
Lisa Engle, an epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health, said Lyme disease is "a bacterial illness transmitted by ticks, by the blacklegged tick.”
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The blacklegged tick is also referred to as the deer tick.
“You’re going to find it in forested areas and leaf debris. Leaf debris is where they like to hide, and they do feed and mate on deer. So, deer are an important part of this, even though they’re not needed for the transmission cycle... that’s where they feed," said Engle.
Transmission happens after being bitten by a tiny, poppyseed-sized blacklegged tick nymph, or baby.
Ms. Engle told Jen the nymphs don’t attach right away; they crawl around looking for the perfect spot for a while. The bacteria aren’t transmitted immediately either.
“You have to have that tick on you for a minimum of 30 hours. So, you’re looking at a day and a half," explained Engle.
A bull's-eye rash can appear anywhere from three to 30 days after tick exposure, but other symptoms aren’t as clear. Dr. Nancy Welch, the Health Director for the Chesapeake Health Department, said the symptoms are very vague.
"The first symptoms are tiredness, you may or may not have joint symptoms. It’s just a wide variety of symptoms," said Dr. Welch.
Because it can mimic many other viruses, bacteria and other diseases, Lyme often goes undiagnosed or is misdiagnosed. That is exactly what happened to Tara Berry from Chesapeake.
"I was pretty much undiagnosed for over a decade. When I was diagnosed with something, I was diagnosed with hormonal imbalances. They thought I had Lupus at one point. They thought I had a brain tumor. I was actually treated for a brain tumor for an entire year," said Tara.
Tara was eventually properly diagnosed and treated. She is now in remission.
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When detected early, Lyme disease can be successfully treated with an antibiotic. A blood test works to confirm a diagnosis, but doing what we can to prevent it in the first place is important.
Engle shared the following preventative tips: "Wearing, long pants, even in the summer. It's hard, I know, but if you’re gonna go out and do yard work, wear long pants, socks and throw your clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes on high heat. It’ll kill the ticks.”
Ms. Engle also advises spraying a repellent like permethrin on your clothes. Deet can be used on the skin for most and she says showering within two hours of an outdoor activity that could expose you to ticks helps too.
If you find a tick, you’ll need to remove it correctly. Dr. Welch described how: “Use tweezers and put the tweezers near the mouth closer to the skin. So, you’re removing it and you’re preventing any kind of regurgitation and large input from that tick... that’s the safest way to remove it.”
The Virginia Department of Health is encouraging people to send in any tick you find on your body or a picture of it. They are working to better understand which ticks are biting humans, more about tick species and where they are located. For additional resources and submission information, click here.
