Lyme disease: interesting latest stats from Public Health England

Covering the first quarter of 2016 the number of new cases of Lyme Borreliosis has increased compared to the same period last year.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/523442/hpr1716_zoos2.pdf

Not many people remember a tick bite and more women than men were infected.

Discussion on Caudwell Lyme charity (open) Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Veronicahugheslymeco/#

Thanks, c_g.

Yes, thanks cg. And seeing your post reminded me I’d asked about a rack and then forgot. Sorry. Looking back it wasn’t the one I need.

Still very little acknowledgement in the outdoor/farming industry that Lyme is a problem. Trouble is there seems no appetite (or mechanism?) to reduce the risk short of reducing sheep and deer numbers.

Trouble is there seems no appetite (or mechanism?) to reduce the risk short of reducing sheep and deer numbers

Eh?

The way to reduce risk in this case revolves around people taking responsibility for their own protection. I’ve been walking a lot recently, and the first response of a good number of people when it gets sunny is to go out in shorts and wander through the countryside…

I wonder if the sex differences in the figures are related to the amount of exposure caused by style of dress?

Thanks. Obviously the pragmatic solution when the doctor asks “do you remember being bitten by a tick” is just to say “Yes. Can I have my test now”. As I have posted before back in 1990 our neighbours in New Jersey USA where well aware of Lyme and told us to take care with our daughters and ourselves. There needs to be mode education and publicity

Yes crikey, but there’s also a responsibility on those who can control the disease vector (farmers) and the outdoor industry who promote the benefits but not the risks of being there.

Given the knee jerk reactions of late, I suspect if they were to do more promotion it’d be posters claiming Going Outside can kill you!

Yes crikey, but there’s also a responsibility on those who can control the disease vector (farmers) and the outdoor industry who promote the benefits but not the risks of being there.

So how exactly do you propose farmers control something that’s everywhere in the countryside, and can be carried by the huge number of wild deer?
There are people who’ve caught it in their garden, how are they supposed to control that?
A friend of mine’s father caught it in France about fifteen years ago while working in his garden, is that his fault?
It took months for it even to be diagnosed back then.

Thanks, c_g.

You’re welcome sog.

Yes, thanks cg. And seeing your post reminded me I’d asked about a rack and then forgot. Sorry. Looking back it wasn’t the one I need.

No problem csb.

I wonder if the sex differences in the figures are related to the amount of exposure caused by style of dress?

Good point crikey but, seriously, wimminz in the countryside? It’ll never catch on! I would say for the last 7 years possibly I wore full body cover when cycling as the RoW were always overgrown through lack of maintenance.

Take a look at this NHS info, scroll through to ‘Who’s at risk and where are ticks found?’

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx

Feeling that the wording used is inadequate and not convinced that highlighting those areas is actually helpful.

It took months for it even to be diagnosed back then.

CZ if you don’t have an obvious rash then there’s really no way of knowing how long. I was tested near the beginning of the year but now suspect that it’s been in my system for many years.

The test is also pretty ‘meh’, with something like a 30% detection rate in the first 8 weeks.

I got diagnosed with all the symptoms following a bite in belgium, got put on the standard doxycycline regime for 2 weeks…..and all the symptoms left, even though the test said ‘negative’.

Countzero, no one said I was solely farmers responsibility, but they have to take some of it. Didn’t farmers reduce their dipping and that’s part of the problem with its spread?

The ‘wear trousers’ thing is rubbish. I’m an absolute magnet for ticks and I get them whatever clothing I’ve worn, sometimes the little buggers embed themselves a day later having travelled with me. Wearing shorts lets you see them easier on your skin before they embed as well.

Men v women – I wonder what the bias is re actually going to the doctor, we men are terrible for MTFU, ie its nothing

Some years ago one of the observations about LD by interest groups was that more women seemed to be affected, and had worse symptoms. This still seems true on support groups. I’ve seen the suggestion that women have a more tolerant immune systems.

Additionally, for those with an interest, it seems that the plaques of Alzheimer’s are associated with bacteria…

http://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad160451

c_g – Do you know there’s a private support group on FB?

Plus, re the comment on deer, it used to be believed that deer had resistance, so kind-of absorbed the infection. Shooting the deer would make it worse. Though they probably help the ticks to move around.

Self professed tick magnet who walks in shorts wants the entire UK sheep industry to do something about this issue?

Hmmm.

ISTR reading that the whatever in sheep dip was making farm people horrendously ill. It may have been organo-phosphate, or something like that. It would have to be long-lasting stuff as the ticks only feed for a few days.

Apologies for being evangelical, but:
CHECK FOR TICKS!!

I’m at the start of issues after a known tick bite. You are on your own.

Most GP’s don’t see a lot of tick bites and therefore don’t know what to do.
The NHS tests give 40% to 50% FALSE negative results, and if you don’t get a positive test result, you don’t get treatment. You will be on your own, and after 3 months it’s classed as chronic and much more difficult to treat.

The symptoms I have are life changing and I dread to think that I will have these the rest of my life.

I was given ‘inadequate’ antibiotics early after the bite, which ‘abrogates’ the antibody reaction, meaning I will probably never test positive and therefore I’m on my own with no help from NHS. I will be thrown into the fybromyalgia wastebasket.
So it’s Dr google for me, and private treatment that I can’t afford.

I can’t blame anyone; I didn’t check for ticks, but I was ignorant of the life changing consequences of a tick bite. Checking for ticks should be drummed into everyone until it is second nature for everyone.
CHECK FOR TICKS ON YOU AND YOUR FAMILY

A couple of weeks ago a MP went public about a tick bite and the treatment and tests she was having, even she was being given the tests incorrectly. What chance have you got?
CHECK FOR TICKS!!

There is a lot of politics with tick borne infections – the NICE guidelines are under review – The NHS doesn’t know how effective the current treatment guidelines are – they have never checked!! They don’t record the number of ‘Lyme’ cases treated without testing either, i.e. those presenting with an obvious rash.

The US recommendations [which most of the rest of the world sort of follow] are also under review due to accusations of vested interests and bias on the panel producing the guidelines.

I thought there was a growing theory now that it can be spread without a tick bite? Do those figures seem to support that?

Crikey – you don’t read other people’s posts properly do you. I explained that I got ticks embedded regardless of clothing worn.

Evidently it can be passed from mother to baby during pregnancy, it is found in semen and vaginal fluid, it survives the storage temperatures and durations of blood stored for transfusions.

I’m wondering what proportion of tick bites even get noticed. My wife and I just spotted our first ticks a couple of weeks ago in our late 40s after many years of outdoors pursuits. Bloody small they were, just early stage. Used to spend days walking and climbing in the highlands, never a sign of them.

I would think a large reason for an increase is the detection rate improving, or rather more GPs being aware of it in the first place. From what I’ve often read GPs still tend to dismiss it, especially down south, as they just say there is no Lyme disease here or no ticks about. Then the patient is left with an undiagnosed condition for ages, years even which may or may not get treated properly.

Then individuals before may not realise what it is either. Get a bite and the tick has brushed or dropped off without noticing, might not get the classic bullseye rash or dismiss it and then end up suffering long term with symptoms that they might not associate with it. Better awareness now might be sending more to the GP.

Signs up telling people about the risks at countryside car parks wouldn’t be a bad start, but not much use if doctors are dismissive of the syptoms.

I wonder what the comparable figures for Scotland might be. Plus how much awareness and testing is there of co-infections?

A 4yo female relative had a tick embedded we removed it. NHS direct said if there were flu symptoms within a month or so go to GP, otherwise forget it.

Is there anything she needs to do?

Outofbreath – not worry unduly would be the best advice, chances of infection are still slim, albeit if unlucky it’s bad news.

Ahhh, it’s all here: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Lyme-disease/Pages/Introduction.aspx#diagnosis

Ta CSB.

A lot of info here, for individuals and for GPs

Home

OoB: The odds are overwhelming in her favour; ~95% of ticks don’t carry Lyme.

The Public Health England document on Lyme, says about children:
“Facial palsy, headache and fever in tick season (April to October) has been shown to predict Lyme disease in children”

So just keep an eye out for anything like that rather than the vague “flu-like symptoms” guideline.
[…and the bulls-eye rash, which I believe can crop up weeks/months later – and not necessarily at the original bite site].

Thanks Whimbrel.

I had a moving rash two weeks after a tick bite. Really itchy.

Had a test but my mum made me go back and demand antibiotics rather than waiting for the result because I’d picked up the tick in a Lymes area, whilst visiting Germany. Dr was fine about this on NHS. I gather that earlier treatment is more effective and the test isn’t particularly conclusive.

whimbrel – Member
it is found in semen and vaginal fluid

Thats bollox BTW, not found in breast milk either.

whimbrel – Member
it is found in semen and vaginal fluid
Thats bollox BTW, not found in breast milk either.

Source:
Lyme in semen and vaginal secretions[/url]

Obviously, I don’t know one way or the other.

one study that detected the DNA of the bug in the fluids, not the actual bacteria. You can detect the DNA of the meat you eat in blood. The method to detect DNA is stupidly sensitive so only a tiny amount of DNA is needed.

Viable spirochetes found in genital cultures

[/quote]“Conclusions: The culture of viable Borrelia spirochetes in genital secretions suggests that Lyme disease could be transmitted by intimate contact from person to person. Further studies are needed to evaluate this hypothesis.”

“Genital cultures from the four controls were incubated for four weeks. None of the control cultures contained visible spirochetes, and the cultures were sent for PCR testing. Genital cultures from the 11 patients were incubated for four weeks and checked weekly. Motile spirochetes were observed in the culture fluid from all 11 patients after four weeks (Figure 1A).”

“Most genital cultures grew very well and contained abundant spirochetes….”

Either way, my message is still:
BE CAREFUL OUT THERE: CHECK FOR TICKS!!!!!

Yet another reason to keep your pants on…

Additionally, for those with an interest, it seems that the plaques of Alzheimer’s are associated with bacteria…

http://content.iospress.com/articles/journal-of-alzheimers-disease/jad160451

c_g – Do you know there’s a private support group on FB?

Thanks for that link sog, will attempt to read. Yes do know there’s a group but I don’t do Facebook.

whimbrel – very sorry to hear that, are you under a private doctor? Don’t accept a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, that just means the NHS will ignore you. Read as much as you can, there’s some very knowledgeable American doctors.

Read as much as you can, there’s some very knowledgeable American doctors.

This. Its been a known issue in the US for decades. NHS / GPs are in denial

This. Its been a known issue in the US for decades. NHS / GPs are in denial

It’s why I have a private American doctor. The NHS left me suicidal when multiple doctors failed to diagnose hypothyroidism, there’s no way I’d trust them with Lyme. In fact they don’t know and it’s going to stay that way.