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Author Topic: They creep, they crawl across the ground.  (Read 5712 times)
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KB2WIG
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« on: March 10, 2017, 06:18:09 PM »



Last Tuesday, I was doing a bit of work on my 80m/40m dipole. It was wet and rainy, but I didn't have a bad time of it - temperature was in the upper 40s. I'm a big boy and can take it after a pot of bean juice. Evidentially, little buggers like Ixodes scapularis can take it too.

Last night, the XYL said, Whatts that on your back?? Crap, a deer tick. Out comes the tweezers and pluck, out she comes.  After wearing the bulls eye a few years ago, I don't want to go through that again. A single $10 dose, and were good to go.

SO, the moral of the story, Just because its winter, you can still get taged.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ixodes_scapularis


klc

Oh yeah, the antenna came down again, so I'm still off the air.


klc
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K1JJ
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"Let's go kayaking, Tommy!" - Yaz


« Reply #1 on: March 10, 2017, 08:50:29 PM »

Yep deer ticks and Lyme disease are the silent epidemic sweeping the country one state at a time.  (sleep apnea is the second)

Many doctors do not understand the symptoms well if they have not had experience yet. A month or two without antibiotics and it could mean a life of misery.  Flu-like symptoms, even without the bull's eye and proof of a tick bite may mean a dose of antibiotics is the best choice.

I've had Lyme disease at least three times and it was cured in a few days. Smart doctor. Yaz had Lyme three times over his life and was cured too. I know of many people cured - and a few not cured due to a dummy doctor. It really is a silent epidemic.

I notice when the temperature is below 35 degrees, they are rarely out. But even in the dead of winter, over 40 degrees can bring them out.

They have dog Lyme immunization shots, though the tests are not very accurate. Do they have Lyme people shots yet? I dunno.

In peak seasons, I have combed up to 30 ticks out of Yaz's fur after a walk in the woods.  I try to avoid the ticks more than the rattlesnakes around here.


T
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KB2WIG
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« Reply #2 on: March 10, 2017, 09:34:46 PM »



"  They have dog Lyme immunization shots, though the tests are not very accurate. Do they have Lyme people shots yet? I dunno. "


Go here and read this.

http://www.naturalhealth365.com/vaccine-Lyme-disease-symptoms-1527.html

Then read this.

https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/52/suppl_3/s247/444695/The-Lyme-Disease-Vaccine-A-Public-Health

The ignorant are usually the loudest.


klc

Not the loudest signal.
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Jim/WA2MER
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« Reply #3 on: March 11, 2017, 07:19:53 AM »

About eight years ago my wife was spending a week down the shore visiting her sister. My wife had been feeling badly for a couple of weeks prior, but nothing bad enough to make to go to the doctor. While she was down the shore she took a turn for the worse and decided to see a local doc who ordered a blood test. The results came as a great shock: her blood work showed signs of leukemia! The local doc suggested a consultation with her own doc as soon as she got home. When her doc looked at the blood report she said you have Lyme! Apparently in regions where Lyme is rare the docs don't recognize the markers. Sad to say that Lyme is often overlooked or mis-diagnosed even up there (NW-NJ) where it's rampant.  A 30-day course of mega-antibiotics fixed her right up. Unfortunately, we have a friend who went for years before they diagnosed, and he's gummed up for life (fortunately not disabled, but will have lifelong heath issues).
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K1ETP
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« Reply #4 on: March 11, 2017, 09:30:32 AM »

This part of Massachusetts is crawling with deer ticks. Every time I go into the woods behind the house to work on the antennas or towers I find them crawling on me. I never venture out there without my clothes treated with Permethrin. You can buy the spray at any outdoor sporting goods store. It sells under the brand name Repel and is about $8 for a can. The stuff is deadly to the tiny bastards. I've watched them crawl across my treated pant leg for about 15-20 seconds and then just drop off dead. Repel treatment is good for 2-3 weeks and is effective even after washing the treated garments. I have never found a tick crawling on treated clothes after coming out of the woods and giving myself a good check before entering the house. BTW there are a couple of brands of Repel. Be sure to buy the brand containing Permethrin and not DEET. DEET will not kill the ticks. They will not bite a treated area but will crawl until they find an untreated area. It's a jungle out there.

Rich
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K1JJ
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"Let's go kayaking, Tommy!" - Yaz


« Reply #5 on: March 11, 2017, 12:49:14 PM »

Very interesting.

I'll look into the Repel with Permethrin, Rich. With your pharmacist background, you should know... :-)

Yes, the lack of proper doctor Lyme disease familiarity is much of the problem. If it's not common in your area, then it's overlooked in favor of similar symptoms for other diseases.  Looking at  WIG's map I see the heavy concentration of cases in the NorthEast and Lake states, but more or less random in other areas. Imagine having Lyme in those other states. The symptoms are often really bad, just like the flu that will not leave.

Jim's story about the NJ doctor rings true, but for dogs too. When Yaz was 10 weeks old, he got Lyme from a tick. His whole body ached and he was lethargic... I could not pick him up without him screaming. Steve/ HUZMAN was here visiting for the weekend and was concerned too. I brought Yaz to a vet who said he probably swallowed an object and it was caught in his intestines. He wanted to do exploratory surgery on the poor guy even though an X-ray did not show it. I learned long ago to get a second vet's opinion when there is a serious diagnosis and I did. The second vet said almost immediately that Yaz had Lyme. He had seen the symptoms before. Within two days on antibiotics, Yaz was healthy and running around again.   The same scenario can easily happen to a person, especially in areas outside the Northeast.

I was told several years ago by my doctor that it's no longer just the tiny deer ticks carrying the disease. Now the bigger, common wood ticks and ones that are the size of a BB gun pellet carry it. Though, the tiny deer ticks are so VERY small, they are often hard to detect on people and animals, thus more of a threat.

It runs in cycles. Some years I rarely see a tick and in other years it's like an invasion.

T
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There's nothing like an old dog.
K1ETP
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« Reply #6 on: March 11, 2017, 01:14:03 PM »

Tom-- Be aware that permethrin is toxic to cats and small dogs. It can cause CNS problems in them. Permethrin and a derivative of permethrin are the active ingredient(s) in some lice treatment for children.

R
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W6TOM
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« Reply #7 on: March 11, 2017, 03:10:44 PM »

  A guy I worked with here in Northern California got Lyme Disease about 15 years ago, he had problems for two years, went to the doctor and they thought it was something else. I guess it wasn't to common then, not sure about now. Not good, that is for sure.
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n1ps
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« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2017, 07:58:20 PM »

I had lyme 6-7 years ago.  The symptoms were similar to a stroke with a massive headache.  The docs thought it was a stroke and a catscan quickly determined it wasnt.  It took a week before I found the bullseye bite.  Also we believe lyme killed one of our labs about 10 years ago.  That wasnt fun.

Best way to dispose of the nasty mini vampires is to use scotch tape.

When I play golf...always play in shorts.  Long pants are bad because the little monsters can get inside a pant leg.

~ps

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W2PFY
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« Reply #9 on: May 04, 2017, 09:00:10 PM »

I just happen to be reading an article on line about how it's plaguing people in the UK.

I didn't get the name of the tick that they get bit by but it was the same size as our deer tick's but it had white stripes going across it's back and wings, otherwise looked the same. They say the disease is carried by deer but I thought it was infected mice?

I guess from what they were saying the deer herd was just about wiped out over there so they outlawed killing them around 1964. Now they have so many deer that it's becoming an epidemic disease carrying manual.    
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KB2WIG
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« Reply #10 on: May 04, 2017, 10:28:11 PM »

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.aldf.com/deer-tick-ecology/&ved=0ahUKEwj84P6Z2dfTAhVM7yYKHbUWD60QFghfMA4&usg=AFQjCNH3BnMQvIUUQTvPBjXCG5PFvfOUuQ&sig2=7x110XiyUZaxZfgGqP-DdA

Click on the above and enter the wonderfull world of nature.

KLC
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