Tiny ticks are big trouble
An expert's advice on taking precautions against these disease-carrying bugs
If tick season didn't bug you before, this summer could be different. Just as we're venturing out after seemingly endless restrictions, the tick population is exploding. Cases of Lyme disease, the most common tickborne disease, have soared over the past decade, from 144 in 2009 to 2,636 preliminary cases in 2019, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says.
Author and chronic Lyme disease sufferer Shelley Ball knows the risks all too well. In April 2019, she found a fully engorged tick on her back and had it removed in hospital. Though medics wouldn't test her for Lyme, they gave her a dose of the antibiotic doxycycline.
In the following weeks she developed symptoms, and after a back-and-forth with medical professionals, finally found a Lyme expert who diagnosed her with Lyme disease, as well as bartonellosis, babesiosis and mould infections. She says she was likely infected with Lyme bacteria as a kid (Lyme bacteria can stay in your body for decades) but didn't get ill until she was older and then was bitten by a tick again.
Ball, who's also an insect ecologist and the founder and president of Biosphere Environmental Education, wrote a book about the condition. Lyme disease, Ticks and You was released in May through Firefly Books. Ball spoke with Postmedia News about what Canadians need to know about Lyme disease and how to protect themselves. (This interview has been edited for space and clarity.)
Q What are the symptoms of Lyme disease?
A The list of symptoms for Lyme disease is long, which is why Lyme is often referred to as “the great imitator.” The symptoms are varied and overlap with many other diseases and conditions. This is why a clinical diagnosis, and not relying on inadequate Lyme antibody blood tests, is so important in diagnosing Lyme and other tick-borne diseases (TBDs). I started with flu-like symptoms. It progressed to excruciating, migratory joint pain and swollen joints. I had a headache, nausea, swollen lymph nodes, extreme fatigue, neck pain, bone pain. I eventually developed alternating chills and sweats, especially at night, and air hunger. These latter symptoms were those of babesiosis — a malaria-like protozoan parasite, which is transmitted by ticks. Five months after my tick bite, I started to develop neurological symptoms such as shortterm memory loss, problems with word-finding and speaking, problems reading and processing information and I couldn't sleep. I had numbness in the left side of my face and in my left arm and a feeling of extreme pressure in my head. I had vision problems, constant ear ringing, light sensitivity, sound sensitivity.
Q What are the treatment options?
A Treatment options depend on where you live. In the United States, more doctors seem to be relaying on the ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society) guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of Lyme and TBDs, which means they receive earlier diagnosis, better treatment and are less likely to progress to chronic illness. In Canada, where adherence to the IDSA (Infectious Diseases Society of America) guidelines is rigid, the only way to access adequate treatment is to pay out of pocket for diagnosis and treatment with a medical doctor at a private clinic or to go to the United States to find a Lyme-literate doctor who follows the ILADS guidelines that better reflect the current science on Lyme and TBDs. Lyme most often is accompanied by other tick-borne infections. This makes them much, much harder to treat and means that treatment is much longer and more expensive. In North America, doctors are using a combination of prescription drugs, such as antibiotics, and herbal medicines for boosting the immune system, reducing systemic inflammation and killing infections, which had reasonably good success.
Q How can people to protect themselves?
A As a biologist and environmental educator, I refuse to hide in my house. I get outside to hike, garden, and enjoy the outdoors. But I do it safely. I use an icaridin-based repellent. It is far more effective and safer than DEET. When I come inside from gardening or hiking, I immediately do a very thorough, fullbody tick check. I have a shower or bath, or a swim or soak in the hot tub, because if a tick is crawling on you, but has not yet started feeding on you, it will drop off when exposed to the water in your shower or bath. While you are bathing, put your outdoor clothes in the dryer on high for 20 minutes. This will kill most of the larval and nymphal ticks that may be hiding in your clothing. Don't simply put them in your laundry basket, where they can crawl out and find you or your pets. I do tick checks every night before bed and every morning when I get up. You check again in the morning because nymphal ticks can be very, very small and easily missed.
Q What should you do if you find a tick on you?
A Get it off right away. Be sure you remove the head, not just the body. Use a clean pair of fine-tipped tweezers or special tick pullers to pull the tick out. Be sure to grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible to ensure you're gripping its head. Next, pull steadily and firmly to get it out. Remember that ticks are masters at staying attached to you. They actually glue themselves to your skin. I also ensure I treat my pets with tick-preventive medicines. Your pets can bring ticks inside the house, which then find their way onto you. I also moved my bird feeders 30 feet away from my house. Ticks hitchhike on birds and small mammals like squirrels, chipmunks and mice, and can drop off onto your lawn.