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LYME DISEASE

It is important to catch this disease in its early stages when it is relatively easy to treat.

We are concerned at the number of cases of Lyme Disease in this area. It is not an infectious disease and therefore it is not a notifiable disease. We hope that providing the number of cases in Burghclere, Newtown and Ecchinswell and the surrounding area will help in alerting the Health Protection Agency to the risks in our parishes. If you have been unfortunate enough to have been diagnosed with Lyme Disease, would you be prepared to let the chairman of your Parish Council know?Your name will be taken in confidence. It is the total number of cases that is important. We know of cases as long ago as 1995.

Lyme Disease is here in this area and it is important it is to guard against it. Take care to be covered when walking in the countryside particularly in long grass. Wear trousers and tuck them into boots or socks. Brush yourself down well and remember that the ticks can be almost invisible at the nymph stage. Use an anti insect repellent, which will give you some protection. If you do pick up a tick you may not feel or see it. If you find that you have one, remove it with care. Don't squeeze it or burn it, which may prompt it to regurgitate into to your body with more risk of infection. You can use the v shaped tick removers available from vets to lever it out and then wash your hands. The tick may not be infected but do note how long you may have had it, think where you may have picked it up and, if you can, take the specimen with you to your doctor or to the hospital promptly. The bacteriology department in Southampton like to know all these facts and will analyse the tick in the lab in Southampton.

Bites from deer ticks infected with the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, cause Lyme disease. The reason for its common name is that the disease was first recognized in a town in Connecticut called Lyme in 1975. Diagnosis can be tough because the symptoms mimic other conditions. But here are a few to watch for, especially if you’ve come in contact with a deer tick: chills and fever, fatigue, joint and muscle pain, swollen lymph nodes and headache. A telltale sign of Lyme disease may be a circular rash that appears one day to one month after the tick bite. It may itch and have red splotches. The centre may clear up so that the rash takes on a target-like appearance. As Lyme disease progresses, it can cause numbness or tingling in arms and legs, a sore throat, severe fatigue, a higher fever and abnormal pulse. If not treated, Lyme disease can disable a person by causing pain and swelling that makes joints virtually immobile and neurological problems like confusion and short-term memory loss.

The ticks that spread Lyme disease are smaller than common dog or cattle ticks, so many people may not know they have been bitten. Lyme disease usually occurs in the spring or summer, when nymph ticks are feeding, but the symptoms may not appear until later.

Using tick and insect repellents that contain DEET or permethrin helps to prevent tick bites. Experts recommend aerosol spray and light use on children however, for both adults and children, avoid use on hands and faces.