Ticked Off

     The ticks are thick this year.  I've had two (that I could see) attached to me this season.  Yuk.  In spite of faithful application of Frontline, the dog had ticks latched on to her ears.
     Mike and I have a number of tick rituals which we perform faithfully.  Whenever we work in the wooded area of our lot, we saturate ourselves with insect repellent containing DEET.  I wash work clothes in hot water as soon as the work is done, and I dry them in the dryer.  We enter the house from the garage and drop the clothes into the washer before we go into any other parts of the house.  The most fun part is checking each other for ticks.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vSNiQKAH0E  Ah, come on.  We're married.
     Ticks are vectors of disease.  Lyme disease is the most well known, but there are other diseases associated with tick bites.  The little blood suckers also transmit Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Bartonella, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Tularemia.  Lyme is difficult to diagnose.  The ticks are so small that many people don't know they have been bitten.  The characteristic bull's eye rash, the best way to confirm the disease, occurs in less that 50% of cases.  The spirochete that causes Lyme, Borrelia burgdorferi, doesn't always stimulate the body to produce antibodies in sufficient quantities to register during testing.  Lyme is called the great imitator.   If a person doesn't develop the bull's eye rash, they might be misdiagnosed as having just about anything.
     Unless you've been living under a rock, you know about ticks and the diseases they transmit.  Here's some information you might not know:
     If you have been bitten, you can send the tick, once removed, to a lab for testing.  Try to save the tick alive.  Place it in an airtight container or zip lock bag with a moist cotton ball (no alcohol).  Send this package, along with a check, to a tick testing lab.  Here is info on three labs:
     IGeneX Labs, Palo Alto, CA (800) 832-3200
     MDL, Mt. Laurel, NJ (877) 269-0090
     NJ Labs, New Brunswick, NJ (732) 249-0148
I called NJ Labs.  They charge $60.00 for tick testing.  It could get expensive if you get a lot of tick bites.  MDL in Mt. Laurel charges only $29.90 for tick testing.
     Another thing you might not know is that there are state and federal laws that protect students with Lyme disease.  The federal laws supercede the state regulations.  If Lyme impairs a child to the point that they need are learning disabled or need special accommodations in school, schools have to provide supplementary aids and services.  Go to http://www.504idea.org/Council_Of_Educators/Welcome.html or
http://www.cec.sped.org/content/navigationmenu/policyadvocacy/idearesources/default.htm .
     Finally, you can get support if you suffer from Lyme disease.  Contact the New Jersey Lyme Support Group at (201) 891-7220 or email them at njlsg@aol.com.  You can also contact the Lyme Disease Association at:
      P.O. Box 1438
     Jackson, NJ 08527
     Toll-free (888) 366-6611
     Fax (732) 938-7215
     Email: Lymeliter@aol.com
     Website: http://www.lymediseaseassociation.org/
I thank the Lyme Disease Association for their pamphlet Lyme (R) Primer.  The Primer contains the above information and more.