Tick...tick...tick

Summer's almost here-time for ticks to emerge. David Weld, executive director of the American Lyme Disease Foundation and a former science and bioloy teacher spoke recently with Julia Mitchell of the NEA Health Information Network on Lyme disease and other tick-borne ailments that may soon be on the rise.

What is Lyme disease? Lyme disease is caused by bacterium called Borrelia burgdorferi.

The typical and most striking symptom of Lyme disease is a bull'seve rash that expands to three to eight inches and lasts two to three weeks. Other symptoms include minor fever and body aches and pains. Occasionally. there will be multiple rashes on the body.

Unfortunately, lots of these symptoms might disappear for months or even a year. Then they come back in what's called latestage Lyme disease. That's when you can develop severe arthritic, cardiac, and neurological symptoms.

How,do you contract Lyme disease?

People are infected when they're bitter by an infected tick-a deer tick in the northeast and upper midwest parts of the country, or a western black-legged tick on the West Coast.

But not all ticks are infected. And only 1 percent of people bitten by a tick end up contracting Lyme disease. If you take the tick off within the first 36 to 48 hours, it hasn't been attached long enough to transmit the bacteria.

What's the best way to remove a tick?

Using a pair of sharp-pointed tweezers, grab the tick as close as you can to the skin and pull it out firmly and gently. Don't use a match, petroleum jelly, or nail polish remover, because that may agitate the tick and cause it to inject the bacteria.

Use an antibiotic ointment at the bite site, and look for that bull's-eye rash. If it appears within seven to 30 days, seek medical treatment.

Tell us about the new vaccine for Lyme disease.

The vaccine was approved last December for people between the ages , of 15 and 70. It's currently not available for children under the age of 15.

The vaccine involves three shots. After two shots, a person is about 50 percent protected. After three shots, about 80 percent protected.

That means eight out of 10 people are going to be protected-but only from Lyme disease. There are other tick-borne diseases out there, so we will continue to recommend tick checks and methods for reducing the tick population.

Are there problems with misdiagnosis?

Lyme disease, in all honesty, is still overdiagnosed, underdiagnosed, overtreatea, ana unaertreatea-all ror a number of reasons.

Lyme disease symptoms can mimic symptoms of other problems. There are students with the disease who have had to stay in their rooms 24 hours a day, becoming very withdrawn and depressed. Having been a teacher for 16 years, I know one could question whether this means a drug problem, growing pains, or something else.

In many instances, people would rather have Lyme disease than multiple sclerosis or chronic fatigue syndrome -and they'll go to their doctor and insist that's the problem.

Also, it's a disease that's received a lot of publicity. Every year we get reported cases from, say, New Mexico or Arizona, when the ticks that carry this disease don't exist there.

Whut's the best way to avoid gee tickko diseases?

Educators should check with the nurse to see if there are any ticks in the area and whether students have been bitten. If so: Make play areas for students as much of a safe zone as possible. The deer tick does not like and cannot survive in direct sunlight. Most will be found in grass that isn't mowed enough or in low brush in shaded areas.

Physical education teachers and coaches should know that you're not going to find these ticks in the middle of a playing field. But if students run into hedgerows at the edge of the woods, there's a good chance that ticks could be hiding there.

Kids are safe in the sandboxticks don't like sand. But if there's a tree over the sandbox and grass 10 feet away, ticks could be in the area.

If you know you've been in a tickinfested area, examine yourself every day for ticks. Students who've been in the woods should be examined daily.