Tick and Mosquito Infections Spreading Rapidly, C.D.C. Finds
Source: The New York Times
Global Health
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr. MAY 1, 2018
The number of people who get diseases transmitted by mosquito, tick and flea bites has more than tripled in the United States in recent years, federal health officials reported on Tuesday. Since 2004, at least nine such diseases have been newly discovered or introduced into the United States.
Warmer weather is an important cause of the surge in cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the lead author of a study in the agencys Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. But the author, Dr. Lyle R. Petersen, the agencys director of vector-borne diseases, repeatedly declined to connect the increase to the politically fraught issue of climate change, and the report does not mention either climate change or global warming.
Many other factors are at work, he emphasized, while noting that the numbers on some of these diseases have gone to astronomical levels.
C.D.C. officials called for more support for state and local health departments. Local agencies are our first line of defense, said Dr. Robert Redfield, the C.D.C.s new director. We must enhance our investment in their ability to fight these diseases.
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/health/ticks-mosquitoes-diseases.html
hlthe2b
(102,357 posts)NOT because he doesn't believe so, but because of Trump's political muzzling of science. This I know to a certainty.
DFW
(54,436 posts)Here in Europe, Lyme disease was unknown north of the Alps or Balkans thirty years ago.
Less than twenty years ago, my younger daughter got it from a tick that bit here right here in Düsseldorf.
On Cape Cod, great white sharks are now regularly seen around Chatham, and last year as far north as Truro. Small wonder. With the warmer water, seals are now showing up in ever greater numbers. "Seal" is Sharkese for "lunch."
FakeNoose
(32,748 posts)The dogs wouldn't normally get sick from flea bites, but they can carry the insects into your house. Your pet's flea collar should be replaced every spring and they're only good for one season.
Look out for deer ticks - especially in the suburban areas or if you're hiking in the woods. Deer ticks are small and burrow under clothes, they're hard to see before you get bitten. Deer ticks carry Lyme disease, which can be serious if not treated. Lyme disease must be treated by a physician, but it's usually not the first thing the doctor would suspect. (Lyme disease symptoms can fool doctors into giving an incorrect diagnosis, so be sure to tell them if you've been in the woods recently.)
bucolic_frolic
(43,281 posts)CDC issues bulletins to tell the doctors. The doctors rely on it. Heaven help you if something else is going on. With dozens of Lyme bites in my family, they still try to tell me that ONLY deer ticks carry Lyme disease. Then why do I get sick from the common dog tick? Why do they occasionally try to prescribe antibiotics other than doxycycline? Those others don't work.
The doctors never admit ambiguity or doubt. They have it all under control.
But that's ok, they have it solved this time.
Greybnk48
(10,176 posts)It used to be called Ehrlichiosis. I probably had it for quite a while but the bouts of illness had started getting really bad (I couldn't climb a flight of stairs without stopping/just exhausted). It affected everything including eyesight and memory. Oddly, it was the last thing we tested for, and bam, there it was!
Lucky for me anaplasmosis is curable with doxycycline (14 days). I tested negative for Lyme, which is also carried by the deer tick, and is not curable. I also learned that anaplasmosis is epidemic in Minnesota and Wisconsin where I am, AND that I am not immune.
paleotn
(17,956 posts)Funny thing about reality. It doesn't give one whit what puny humans believe.
Quemado
(1,262 posts)nitpicker
(7,153 posts)In my area, they usually have sales around Memorial Day.
On the repellant, that is. Other ingredients for barbequing...not so much.