Ticks and Lyme Disease

Summer is in full swing and people will be spending as much time as they can out in the sun. Camping, sport events, barbeques, hiking, and lots more. But out in the grasses, forests, and fields are ticks. Lots of them. And these arachnids are carrying nasty and painful diseases, from the well-known (Lyme disease) to less common (Powassan encephalitis, Q-fever.)  

Thanks to climate change and hotter temperatures tick populations have boomed, and now can be found anywhere from the deep woods to the parks of New York City. Cases of tick-borne (also called vector borne) diseases have also spiked in recent years. In 2004 there were 22,527 tick-borne disease cases reported to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2017 that number has more than doubled up to 59,349—of which 42,743 cases were Lyme disease.

As summer winds to a close, make sure your staff know:

• The species of ticks native to your area
• The types of disease most commonly carried by those ticks
• What seasons are those ticks active (depending on where you live, it might be year round.)

Also teach patients about the dangers of ticks diseases, how to remove them, and the importance of doing “tick checks” when they come inside.