Do you feel like a tick magnet when you get in the woods for a hunting trip or work day at the camp?
If so, this could be a tough year for you.
With the warmer winter in most of the United States, experts believe ticks may be prolific this spring and summer along with the chances for Lyme disease.
“This is going to be a horrific season, especially for Lyme,”Leo J. Shea III, a clinical assistant professor at the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, part of New York University Langone Medical Center, told the Wall Street Journal. Shea is also president of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.
According to the story, “between 1992 and 2010, reported cases of Lyme doubled, to nearly 23,000, and there were another 7,600 probable cases in 2010, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But CDC officials say the true incidence of Lyme may be three times higher.”
Symptoms of Lyme disease may include “fatigue, chills, fever, headache and swollen lymph nodes.” They don’t always show up immediately, sometimes appearing months or years later, and because of that, symptoms could be misdiagnosed.
Precautions before going afield include tucking pants legs into boots, using a good repellent or Deet, and checking your body thoroughly after returning home or to camp. If you are bitten, monitor the site regularly and visit a doctor if you have any redness or swelling around the bite area or develop other symptoms.
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For information about Lyme disease: click this link
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