hacked by p@3t_b@y for turks

EID Journal Home > Volume 14, Number 6–June 2008
Volume 14, Number 6–June 2008

Dispatch

Cornelia Silaghi,*Comments to Author Jérémie Gilles,*1 Michael Höhle,*
Volker Fingerle,* Frank Thomas Just,* and Kurt Pfister*
*Ludwig-Maximilians -University, Munich, Germany

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract
Anaplasma phagocytophilum DNA was detected by real-time PCR, which targeted the msp2 gene, in 2.9% of questing Ixodes ricinus ticks (adults and nymphs; n = 2,862), collected systematically from selected locations in Bavaria, Germany, in 2006. Prevalence was significantly higher in urban public parks in Munich than in natural forests.

Anaplasma phagocytophilum, an obligate intracellular bacterium, causes a febrile disease in ruminants and granulocytic anaplasmosis in dogs, horses, and humans (1). A reorganization of the order Anaplasmataceae reclassified Ehrlichia equi, E. phagocytophila, and the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) agent to the single species A.phagocytophilum (2), which in Europe is transmitted by the sheep tick,
Ixodes ricinus (3). The agent is found among the I. ricinus population in Germany; average prevalence rates are 1% to 4.5% (4,5). The English Garden, a large (3.7-km2) public park in Munich (state of Bavaria, Germany), has been suggested in 2 previous studies as a focal point for A. phagocytophilum (5,6). We investigated A. phagocytophilum in questing ticks in urban areas of Munich and focused on seasonal and geographic effects on the prevalence.

Full text here:
http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/14/6/972.htm?s_cid=eid972_e

PR Newswire PRESS RELEASE
24 May 2008
Commentary by T.L. Kittle

LOS ANGELES, May 24 /PRNewswire/ — As some people are already aware, there’s a debate going on regarding Lyme disease (it’s actually more like a war) regarding who should be treated for Lyme disease and how long that treatment should be.

(Lyme disease is a bacterial infection caused by tick bites that can lead to debilitating symptoms, including severe neurological problems.)

Allen Steere, as a member of the IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) and having spent decades studying the disease, is well regarded by many as an “expert” on Lyme disease. Therefore it is of utmost importance that he presents the facts on Lyme disease as they are currently known truthfully to the unknowing public — especially given his stature in the medical community.

The main problem with this speech and his argument about Lyme Disease, is that he’s basing the entire argument on whether or not someone who is ill with Lyme symptoms should be treated with antibiotic therapy and for how long on diagnostic testing — presenting diagnostic testing as if these tests were 100% reliable, which is false information — horrifying by someone who is supposed to be honoring the science.

“Diagnostic tests based on scientific studies fail to show evidence of Lyme disease in most of these patients,” stated Allen Steere.

It’s only true that these patients did indeed ‘for sure’ not have Lyme disease if it’s true that diagnostic tests are 100% accurate-when in fact, Lyme tests have been scientifically proven to produce false negatives.

Therefore, Allen Steere misrepresented the facts about Lyme disease to the Ohio Wesleyan University 2008 graduates. Since diagnostic testing for Lyme disease is not 100% reliable, then this means some of these patients with negative results might have actually had Lyme disease, making antibiotic therapy appropriate.

Since he states he holds scientific facts so valuably, then why is he basing his argument on whether or not someone should be treated with antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease on a falsehood?

It is irresponsible and an insult to scientific evidence to misrepresent the evidence by leaving out the false negative rate for Lyme tests — especially by someone who claims to be standing by the science without informing the audience that the science itself has proven not to be 100% reliable — that it is a scientific proven fact that Lyme tests are not always accurate, making it absolutely necessary to treat some people with Lyme disease who have negative diagnostic testing-people with no laboratory evidence of the disease — people on paper who ’scientifically’ don’t have it.

It seems he’s throwing his weight around, using the power of the IDSA and the medical institutions he’s connected to, to misrepresent the decisions behind when to treat people with antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease and for how long by omitting a discussion of the false negatives in this speech.

He’s right that antibiotics can cause harm, and he’s right that there’s always going to be patients who get better based on the placebo effect alone — this is *not* specific to Lyme disease –

However, there’s another side to “do no harm”: the harm caused when something is not given to someone who needs it (ie, not feeding one’s children). Therefore, it should be the patient’s decision in collaboration with their physician on how they want to proceed medically when their diagnostic tests have come back negative.

It’s a shame that Steere didn’t use this speech as an opportunity to talk in depth regarding how many unknowns there are in medicine-therefore, in order to care for people adequately, it is essential to listen to patient’s clinical information until science has all the answers–since it is impossible to tell the ‘faker’ from someone who is genuinely recovering, then the medical professional has to make a choice regarding how they want to practice medicine–based on test results that have been scientifically confirmed to be faulty, or to be a physician who practices medicine based on clinical information and human compassion?

Since the tests are not 100% accurate, then test results are obviously not the only way someone should be diagnosed and determined ’scientifically’ to have Lyme disease –

As Steere states in his speech, “If you ignore scientific reality, if you twist it, if you wish for a particular answer, you will miss Mars and drift in space.” The message behind this statement is absolutely correct-it is absolutely vital to honor the science-which includes when the science is saying it doesn’t have a definitive answer, and therefore it is impossible to make definitive conclusions regarding all aspects of the disease.

To hold diagnostic testing up as the only marker for determining whether or not someone has Lyme disease is misrepresentation of the disease.

It’s amazing to think of how many people are suffering unnecessarily based on the omission of this one key scientific fact-especially since he has a ethical (and legal?) responsibility to share the whole truth.

T. L. Kittle suffers with a chronic illness in the Los Angeles area, gratefully under the care of extraordinary physicians. Kittle is in the process of establishing a medical non-profit to address issues regarding lack of access to care as well as lack of physician control over medical care.

Link to the text of Allen Steere’s speech:
http://commencement.owu.edu/pdfs/20080511-steere.pdf

Source: T.L. Kittle

CONTACT: T. L. Kittle, +1-323-843-4200, Fax: +1-323-375-0137,
management@metalunagroup.com

Med Hypotheses. 2007;69(1):117- 9. Epub 2007 Jan 2

Batinac T, Petranovic D, Zamolo G, Petranovic D, Ruzic A.

Received 6 November 2006; accepted 7 November 2006. published online 02 January 2007.

Department of Dermatovenerology, Rijeka University Hospital,
Kresimirova 42, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia.

Summary
 
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease of the central nervous system characterized by chronic inflammation and demyelination. Studies suggested that the viral, especially Epstein-Barr virus infection, and bacterial infections, especially Borrelia burgodorferi infection, play a role in etiology of MS. MS prevalence parallels the distribution of the Lyme disease pathogen B. burgdorferi.

Criteria used for diagnosis of MS can also be fulfilled in other conditions such as Lyme disease, a multisystem disorder resulting from infection by the tick-borne spirochete, B. burgdorferi. In the late period of Lyme disease demyelinating involvement of central nervous system can develop and MS can be erroneously diagnosed. A Lyme borreliosis can mimick central nervous system lymphoma. Also, B. burgdorferi has been implicated not only in etiology of MS, but also in etiology of lymphoma.

Studies suggested that there is an increased risk of non-Hodgkin lymphoma in patients, who had a history of autoimmune diseases such as MS and that both non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas and Hodgkin’s disease were associated with Epstein-Barr virus infection.

A small group of lymphomas called primary effusion lymphomas (PEL) is a recently individualized form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (WHO classification) that exhibit exclusive or dominant involvement of serous cavities, without a detectable solid tumor mass. These lymphomas have also been linked to Epstein-Barr virus and human herpes virus type 8 infections but virus negative cases have been described.

Therefore, we propose that MS and neuroborreliosis are linked to central nervous system primary effusion lymphomas.

As a first step in confirming or refuting our hypotheses, we suggest a thorough study of CSF in the patients suspected for the diagnosis of MS and Lyme borreliosis.

http://www.medical-hypotheses.com/article/S0306-9877(06)00828-0/abstract

Three Turkish ministries have devised an action plan to combat the spread by ticks of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) as the weather warms up and people head outdoors, increasing their vulnerability to sometimes deadly tick bites.
  
The first step of the action plan — developed in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry — involves the spraying of animal feeding grounds and areas where they seek shelter with pesticides. The second step involves combating environmental conditions conducive to ticks.

Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Mehdi Eker said that tons of spraying equipment and pesticide had been sent to the regions at highest risk for tick overpopulation. He also said they had imported a liquid repellent, marketed under the name “Ken-Kov” in Turkey.

Eker said the repellent can be applied topically to the skin and is not harmful to humans, recommending that agricultural workers in particular make use of the product. He added that the repellent has been used in Europe and the United States, and also by soldiers in the field. The ministry has started a pesticide spraying campaign at all tick breeding grounds.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said the most important factor increasing the tick population in Turkey was an overpopulation of wild pigs, which are the biggest carriers of ticks, and has asked the Ministry of Environment to bring the situation under control.

Environment and Forestry Ministry officials say wolves will be used to balance out the population of wild pigs — which has reached 300,000 — while birds will be used in efforts to control the tick population. To that end, the ministry has begun to release wolves into areas where an abundance of wild pigs have been seen.

Officials noted a decrease in the bird population following several cases of bird flu, and have been trying to breed birds that feed on ticks. To direct these birds to tick feeding grounds, officials have already installed 375 artificial forest lakes where animals graze.

The provinces posing the highest risk of CCHF infection are Tokat, Çorum, Yozgat, Samsun, Amasya and Sivas. Tick-bite cases are mostly seen in May and June but are still a serious risk until the end of October, officials said.

In Yozgat, health officials have been distributing a tick repellent spray to the public, targeting three high-risk areas in particular. Provincial Health Director Mustafa Uyanık said they had distributed spray to 841 homes and explained its use to families: The repellent should be sprayed on clothing and left to dry for two hours before wearing. The protection lasts up to three weeks.

Numerous wild and domesticated animals, such as cattle, goats, sheep and hares, can serve as hosts for the virus. Transmission to humans occurs through contact with infected animal blood or ticks.

Last week, a woman from the Central Anatolian province of Yozgat died at an Ankara hospital, where she was being treated for CCHF. The woman contracted the disease from a tick bite she received while grazing her cattle.

The woman’s death is the sixth fatal case of CCCHF in the country this year.

Also last weekend, more than 500 İstanbulites who picnicked in rural areas over the holiday weekend filled hospitals on Monday with complaints of tick bites. According to the Anatolia news agency, many of those who had picnicked in İstanbul’s Kemerburgaz, Arnavutköy, Sarıyer and Çekmeköy districts noticed upon returning home that ticks were attached to their bodies. Sixty of the individuals were children, Anatolia reported.

Following the increase in the number of tick bite incidents over the weekend, workers from the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality expedited their task of spraying pesticides in popular picnic areas.

A statement released by the municipality on May 19 said 250 municipal workers were conducting pesticide spraying in green areas and parks across the city where people typically relax. The statement also noted that the spraying aimed to prevent the emergence of diseases carried by ticks and could also be carried out in other places as requested by the public.

In early May, another woman, from the Central Anatolian province of Sivas, died at an Ankara hospital where she was being treated for CCHF. A male victim of CCHF from Çorum, also in Central Anatolia, died in early May after being bitten by a tick while tending his livestock.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever cost 94 lives in Turkey

In the past five years 94 people have died of CCHF in Turkey.

In documented outbreaks, the fatality rates for patients hospitalized for CCHF have ranged from 9 percent to as high as 50 percent of those afflicted.

People who have come into contact with a tick should be monitored for 10 days following contact and seek professional medical care if symptoms of fever, headache, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea present themselves. Treatment for CCHF is primarily symptomatic and supportive, as there is no established course of treatment.

The onset of CCHF is sudden, with initial signs and symptoms including headache, high fever, back pain, joint pain, stomach pain and vomiting. Red eyes, a flushed face, a red throat and red spots on the palate are common. Symptoms may also include jaundice and in severe cases, changes in mood and sensory perception. As the illness progresses, large areas of severe bruising, severe nosebleeds and uncontrolled bleeding at injection sites can be seen, beginning on about the fourth day of illness and lasting for about two weeks.

CCHF can be transmitted from one infected human to another by contact with infected blood or body fluids. Documented spread of CCHF has also occurred in hospitals due to improper sterilization of medical equipment, reuse of injection needles and contamination of medical supplies.

An infection with a tick-borne virus (Nairovirus) in the family Bunyaviridae causes CCHF. The disease was first identified in the Crimea in 1944 and given the name Crimean hemorrhagic fever. It was then later recognized in 1969 as the cause of illness in the Congo, thus resulting in the current name of the disease.

The first Turkish case of CCHF was reported in 2002. Officials said the disease reached Turkey from Crimea through wild pigs that fled the conflict region at the time. It is found in Eastern Europe, particularly in the former Soviet Union. It is also distributed throughout the Mediterranean, in northwestern China, central Asia, southern Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.

24 May 2008, Saturday

ERCAN YAVUZ  ANKARA

http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=142822

 Posted with permission

Janete Cabral, Monday, May 19, 2008.

Hi guys!

Just thought I would update some news as some of you have asked why I had not posted as often lately. Rest assured I am still writing plenty! This is my perspective as a doctor and a patient of the failing medical profession’s attitude towards the unknown. The last paragraphs sum it all.

It all started after a visit to a farm in late December 2007, beginning of summer in New Zealand. I was bitten by a tick and not noticed it at first. Within a few days I started with a few random symptoms which I won’t go into too much detail just now. I thought I was very unlucky, succumbing to a few ailments at the same time. I carried on working but felt very tired.

One day my left axillary lymph nodes became very enlarged and painful and that was when I noticed the remainders of an engorged tick…I was horrified as you can imagine. It was a friday evening, too late to go to my health center and I did not want to burden the guys after hours. So I self prescribed penicillin. The symptoms worsened as I experienced the Herxheimer’s reaction ( healing crisis ) which happens in Lyme disease. I was certain then the tick was a carrier of Borrelia burgdefori, responsible for the disease.

I saw a GP the following monday who prescribed me Augmentin for one week given my fever and symptoms, but failed to realize the urgency of early adequate treatment in Lyme Disease, despite all good intentions.

After I voiced my concerns, a colleague mentioned the name of a Microbiologist Specialist with an interest in Infectious Diseases, who kindly saw me in short notice. Unfortunately after the consultation he did not think it was a tick. Even though I saw it with my own eyes and asked a friend to confirm it and then removed it with tweezers. I was told to take painkillers and that I was probably suffering from a viral infection. Oh yes, the old virus excuse…The term some of my colleagues use when they don’t know what is going on…

You can imagine my frustration. I was finding it very difficult to walk and had a lot of bone pain and numbness and at times a very high fever. Lyme disease or not, as a doctor I knew something was wrong. Still I wanted to make the most of my New Zealand experience so I carried on working to afford my caravan holiday in the end. I self prescribed once again and took antibiotics for three weeks.

I actually began to feel better soon after and went on to have the holiday of a lifetime! I loved my ” Jucy ” caravan and saw much of the beautiful South Island as portrayed in the photos I have posted on this site. I was able to do sea kayaking in the Abel Tasman, glance at the Glaciers and gently hike in the Southern Alps. It was an unforgettable experience, so much so I did not want to come back to the UK. I enjoyed the freedom of the road, the pleasurable scenery, the laid back attitude far from the ” rat” race.

When I came back, I worked in Accident and Emergency for two months but slowly symptoms started to come back. I had vowed to find out the truth about what happened anyway, but now with the symptoms again it prompted me once again to ask for help. I quit my job and visited family for two weeks in Portugal. I was referred there to the Institute of Tropical Medicine and tests came back positive for Lyme Borreliosis.

Funnily enough a few days later I actually developed the Bull’s eye rash, which when encountered is pathognomic of Lyme Disease… so much for irony, I did not need any tests then.

I have been taking doxycycline since and I am seeing a specialist at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine tomorrow.

So why the long post? I wanted to make a point. Not necessarily about me specifically as I am only one of many who suffer from this silent plague. But the fact that I am a doctor, I was able to recognize and reach for early treatment as this often betters the chances of full recovery. I am thankful for that. However I feel very sorry for all those who were not so lucky. Those who faced the medical establishment illiteracy regarding Lyme Disease and could not ask for help. As doctors we fail to listen to the patient. And when we cannot explain the medical mystery we attempt to give it some sort of name, some sort of virus perhaps. And failing that we accuse the patient of fabrication of symptoms, of somatomization, in summary “all in their head”. As a doctor I will confess I did not know much about Lyme, only enough to think of it as a differential diagnosis. But I also like to think that when I am faced with something I don’t know much about, I ask for help. A second opinion, a referral; I acknowledge my own limitations in the interest of best patient care. But so many doctors don’t…

So to all you lymies out there I wish you the best of luck. Talk to your doctor and if he/she does not listen despite all good intentions ask another and another…

http://writingcraft.blogspot.com/2008/05/lyme-disease.html

My name is Darren and I live in Berkshire, UK. I will shortly turn 36, but for the entirety of my 30’s I have been very sick. I am now so disabled I do not leave my house and need constant care. My life is in tatters and I depend almost entirely on my girlfriend and family for care and financial support.

My life was not always like this. Nor perhaps did it ever need to be. In 2001, shortly before I became ill, I was working full time as a consultant engineer and was happily working towards a business degree.  My partner and I were about to settle down into a new house and we were planning to get married.  However, in late 2001 things started to go wrong with my health. The problems began as a severe pain in my abdomen and strange numbness, tingling and pains in my limbs when I undertook normal activities. The local hospital carried out tests, and based on the findings suggested the symptoms were due to some kind of virus that would probably just go away.

Things did settle down for a month or two. But after Christmas, I came down with a flu-like illness with temperature swings, drenching sweats, sore throat and deep pains in my neck, back, arms and legs. Doctors were puzzled – their tests didn’t pick up anything that could explain it. A little while later, I was referred to a rheumatologist who diagnosed ‘Fibromyalgia Syndrome’ (FMS) and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) or ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome’ (CFS). He told me to exercise back to health, whilst taking a low dose muscle relaxant for any pain. He said that I should expect a full recovery in the next few months, but instead, I got worse and had to stop working.

I decided later that year to stop trying to exercise and ditched the muscle relaxants (which had only made me dopey and didn’t help with the pain at all). Then I gradually got back some of my health, and was able to slowly increase my activities again, such that I returned to work part-time in mid 2003 but I never made a complete recovery. I took a turn for the worse in 2004 and I had to come off work again. The NHS doctors advice did not change – take muscle relaxants and exercise, laughably they told me that I was suffering from ‘unaccustomed pain’ such as a person might experience if they were unfit and went to the gym for the first time. Exasperated, I paid to see a private chiropractor, who examined me and sent me for X-rays which showed some problems at the base of my spine. She recommended an MRI scan but I hit a wall with the NHS who steadfastly held on to their original diagnosis of CFS. In fact, some NHS doctors became openly hostile and visibly frustrated with me at appointments. One told me that we already knew what was wrong with me, before adding that people like me ‘would live until 80’. 

More NHS consultants insisted I exercise and take drugs for pain control – desperate for a cure I tried to do as they said. But this made me so ill I ended up hardly able to walk at all. The muscles in my legs would twitch and ripple and burn intensely from just walking for 10 to 20 minutes at a time. In the following 3 months despite rest, things just continued to worsen. I quickly became unable to leave the house without my symptoms flaring more. Even at rest, I began to experience intermittent jerking of my limbs and numbness in my toes. On standing, my legs would sometimes visibly shake. I was devastated. My girlfriend and I couldn’t understand how the advice given could have such disastrous consequences. In the absence of further help from the NHS, other than more advice to exercise, we decided to look elsewhere to find out what on earth was going on.

We found a private rheumatologist outside of the NHS system.  He said he thought I had had a virus, and that something had caused inflammation in my spine. He didn’t subscribe to the view that exercise or pain control would help me get better. He was the first sympathetic doctor I had seen in the 3 years since becoming ill and his suspicions about my health were later confirmed by tests. These showed that I had suffered from a very bad bout of glandular fever, that I had vitamin deficiencies, and an activated immune system. An MRI scan showed that the nerves in my back were inflamed in the exact area where I said I had been feeling the worst of the pain for almost 2 years! The doctor recommended that I see a spinal surgeon, as he thought the problems with my back could be separate to those caused by the virus and immune abnormalities.  Certainly, he had not come across any disease process before that would tie all my symptoms together. At this point, we agreed he had done as much as he could for me and I was thankful to him for his help.

Not long afterwards, I came across some research on a bacterial infection called ‘Lyme disease’ that could cause symptoms and results very similar to mine. It could be transmitted by the bite of a tiny bug called a ‘tick’; sometimes a ‘bulls-eye’ rash appeared at the site of the bite, but not always, in which case the bite might go unnoticed. I remembered having a similar rash when I was in my late teens; doctors thought it might be ringworm. The rash disappeared soon after, I went on to develop permanent tinnitus (ringing) in both ears and knee pain: both being key symptoms of early Lyme disease. Over the years, these symptoms remained and I also suffered periodically from a stiff neck and headaches. But I had never thought that these individual issues could be related to each other or to my current health problems. After reading about Lyme disease, I couldn’t help but think that there might be a connection and so I decided to pursue it further. 

I went to a private hospital in Hemel Hempstead and they arranged to send my blood off for tests at a laboratory in Germany. The results came back clearly positive for Lyme disease. Another test was done to be certain and to check for ‘co-infections’ from a lab in the USA. It also came back with a clear positive result for Lyme disease. Another doctor in the North of England was able to view the Lyme bacteria under a special ‘dark-field’ microscope. The diagnosis of the major European strain of Lyme disease was now ‘unequivocal’ as far as these doctors were concerned.

Other tests showed that my immune system was functioning poorly and further electrical conduction tests on my spinal nerves showed that they had been badly affected – most likely by the infection. The neurologist at Breakspear diagnosed me with chronic radiculopathy (a type of nerve root inflammation) and told me that this was a big part of why I was in so much pain and finding walking difficult. At last, I had a reason for why I had been so sick for 5 years. I could now start to get a treatment that would help. Unfortunately, the consequences of having being left for so long caused delays. From 2003, I had increasingly had stomach problems, and had developed chemical and food sensitivities. As a result, I was unable to tolerate the treatment for any meaningful duration throughout the remainder of 2006 and into 2007. My back and legs were also so painful that it was difficult by this time to move me around in a car, or to sit for long periods in chairs at the hospital.

As I was so ill, we decided to move closer to my family so that they could help to take care of me and so that my girlfriend could swap to a job that did not involve her travelling away from home. By now, I could not leave the house except for essential doctors’ appointments. I spent most of 2007 trying to find treatments just to improve my stomach problems and to reduce the chemical sensitivities. Only now in 2008 am I able to take antibiotics (which I have to pay for privately) to kill the Lyme infection and that might help me to regain some of my health – over 6 years after becoming ill.

While I still have hope, the truth is that I have endured, perhaps needlessly, 6 years of pain, illness and disability and my future is at best, uncertain. I know that this is happening to others, and I want to do as much as possible to inform the public of the risks that infected ticks represent to their health and to urge them to protect themselves from being bitten. Although many may not realise it – Lyme disease and other Tick Borne Illness (TBI) are prevalent in most parts of the world. It is perfectly possible to catch Lyme disease in the UK and the latest available figures from the UK Health Protection Agency (HPA) in Southampton indicate that in 2006, there were 768 cases of Lyme disease in England and Wales alone, up from 340 cases in 2002.  Many feel that the overall prevalence of Lyme/TBI is much higher and the HPA admits that as many as another 2,000 cases per year go unreported. Charities and patient advocates feel that the strict testing regime used at the HPA to diagnose Lyme/TBI misses a large percentage of cases even once they have been reported. Many of these then end up being misdiagnosed as having CFS/ME or Fibromyalgia.

So my message for others would be to be alert to the dangers of ticks. Those who enjoy outdoor sports such as golf, rambling may be at risk of tick bites as well as farmers and agricultural workers and even people sunbathing or working in their back gardens.  Wear a tick repellent and avoid walking through long grass or underneath overhanging bushes. Cover up bare skin if possible and periodically check for ticks on clothes and skin. If a tick bites you, do not try to brush it off or use petroleum jelly to remove it. Instead, use a tick-remover or a pair of fine tweezers and grab the whole tick underneath its head and body and pull it completely out of your skin. Some doctors advise that the tick cannot transmit bacteria unless they are attached for 24-48 hrs but this is not true – bacteria will start to be transmitted almost immediately, so you need to remove the tick as soon as possible. If you feel unwell or develop a rash, consult a doctor as soon as possible who should prescribe a course of antibiotics. If treated early enough and sufficiently, the chances of developing rheumatologic or neurological complications such as mine are much reduced.

For further information about Lyme disease and other illness that you can catch from ticks, please visit the following web sites and groups:

Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness UK (BADA-UK Charity)
http://www.bada-uk.org/

Tick Prevention Week
http://www.tickpreventionweek.org/

UK Lyme Disease Action Charity
www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk

Eurolyme Yahoo Support Group
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/EuroLyme

09:00 - 08 May 2008

Holidaymakers are being warned about the dangers of contracting diseases through tick bites.

The insects which belong to the spider family, are responsible for infecting some 3,000 people in the UK each year.

The International Scientific Working Group - scientists investigating Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE), a potentially fatal disease, says climate change is producing higher temperatures and more rainfall creating perfect conditions for ticks to thrive in countryside areas.

Cyril Mundy contracted Lyme disease while worker at Sherwood Pines Forest, cutting trees. He contracted it ten years ago and says he has been taking antibiotics for two years, since it was diagnosed. The 67-year-old from Rainworth, Notts, said

“I haven’t been able to work since I got Lyme disease and the taking the antibiotics is a slow process.”

Tick Alert Week runs from until Sunday and is designed to raise awareness of tick-borne diseases in the UK and Europe.

Dr Hugh Porter from the MASTA (Medical Advisory Services for Travellers Abroad) Travel Clinic, based in the Cripps Health Centre at the University of Nottingham said: “All the evidence shows that the prevalence of TBE and other tick-borne diseases is on the increase in some countries.”

A website with advice and information has been set up at www.masta.com/tickalert .
http://tinyurl.com/5l9ceb

For all those that are good with a needle and thread, we were recently contacted with the following offer by Ian Smith, who has come up with a ‘clever little contraption’, as they say.

For free instructions to make an organic personal tick repellent, visit www.nontix.co.uk, or send a SAE to:

Ian M Smith
6 Gallanach
Lochgair
Argyll
PA31 8SD

Thanks Ian.

By HILARY WALDMAN | The Hartford Courant
1:10 PM EDT, May 1, 2008

The controversial treatment guidelines for Lyme Disease will be subjected to an independent review under an agreement announced today between Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and the organization the sets the guidelines.

The treatment standards came under sharp criticism after experts concluded that in most cases Lyme Disease is simple to treat and that a 30-day course of oral antibiotics should be sufficient to cure it. Advocates on the other side of the highly contentious debate argue that the researchers ignored conflicting evidence that Lyme Disease is difficult to diagnose, can persist for years and require treatment with antibiotics, sometimes intravenously, for six months or longer.

Blumenthal launched an anti-trust investigation in 2006 to determine if members of the respected Infectious Diseases Society of America had let financial interests influence its guidelines for treating the disease, which is named for the Connecticut town where it was first identified.

Blumenthal said today he had delved into the personal investment holdings as well as professional business arrangements of scientists who wrote the guidelines and found that there may have been conflicts, though he did not name specific researchers.
“What happened in this process, what made it so flawed, is it excluded information,” Blumenthal said. “The cause of that excluding of evidence was financial concern.”

The treatment guidelines will remain in place while the review, which could take up to a year, is done.

Since Blumenthal began his investigation two prominent medical groups, The American Medical Association and the American Academy of Neurology, have published findings that agree with the infectious disease society’s guidelines — that there is no compelling evidence to support long-term use of antibiotics for long-term symptoms that some believe are connected to Lyme Disease.

Blumenthal has said in the past that he was concerned that the guidelines could prompt insurance companies to deny payment for long-term antibiotic treatment,
http://www.courant.com/news/custom/topnews/hcu-lymedisease-0501,0,2205579.story