Lyme Disease Public Education Plan

majority of the reported cases have been in the months of June, July, and August. The population that is most affected by this disease are those in areas that are highly wooded.

The areas that have a high deer population are also among the most affected areas. Those regions that are among the highest reported cases are the states in the upper east coast, including, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Hampshire. States like Minnesota and Wisconsin are also highly affected. The rest of the upper east coast, the upper Midwest, and parts of northern California are in the moderate risk category.

The areas in the southwest and west mountains are in the low risk category. Ticks transmit Lyme disease; however, a tick bite doesn’t mean you will get Lyme disease.

The tick must be attached to your skin for 36-48 hours (wikipedia. com). This still doesn’t mean you are affected because not all ticks carry the bacteria. Once you are infected, the typical progression of the disease will start with a red, raised rash at the site of the bite. It can be itchy and slightly lighter in color in the center.

As the disease progresses, you could begin to have flu like symptoms and then soreness in he Joints (lymediseaseassociation.

org). This disease has been linked toa lot of children developing arthritis. If this is not treated early, there can be some major permanent damage to the body. There are many associations for Lyme disease in the United States that are conducting many different research programs to help improve the understanding of the disease, improve testing and treatment procedures, and help with the prevention and control of the disease.

The center for disease control alone has totaled three and a half million dollars a year to ten different institutes to help research these topics. A few more topics that have been funded are tick control and community based prevention programs.

Prevention is a big topic because the disease it is very preventable. Being able to educate the public on the disease and ways to keep you tick free are very valuable to the control of Lyme disease. Just as important as prevention is the ability to know when you have the disease.

Lots of research is going into better diagnosis skills and more effective testing. This is major because the disease tends to mimic other illnesses. Some of the things it likes to mimic are: viruses, attention deficit disorder, ibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, multiple sclerosis, Lupus, dementia, Parkinson’s, ALS, autoimmune diseases, stress-related illnesses, arthritis, hearing disorders and others (www.

lymediseaseassociation. org). In New York, May is the Lyme awareness month. This is also the month that the new campaign to raise awareness of Lyme disease was launched (www. lads.

org). Another big moment in Lyme disease was when the Connecticut Attorney General called for the reassessment of the guidelines for how the physicians where testing and treating Lyme disease of which are now published and can be viewed at this ebsite: http://www. guideline. gov/summary/summary. aspx? Treatment is another research topic.

There is currently no vaccine available for the disease; however, there are drugs available to get rid of the disease if you contract it. There are some common symptoms of the disease to look out for if you ever get bite by a tick.

They include a red rash that is usually seen in seventy five percent of people with the disease. Some may begin to notice neurological abnormalities that happen in about fifteen percent of people. The big side effect of the disease is arthritis. About sixty percent of people affected will develop this and will continue to have reoccurring symptoms for several years.

The government seems to be doing a lot for the research and development of the disease. Like anything, there could be some improvements.

The disease is only in a portion of the country; however, I feel that everyone should have some knowledge of Lyme disease. Data Sheet: The bacteria Borrelia Burgdorferi cause Lyme disease. This disease, if not diagnosed early and treated properly, can cause serious problems involving the heart, Joints, eyes, and nervous system (www. fnr.

purdue. du). It is transferred into the human body by a tick that is implanted into the skin for at least three days. There are three stages that Lyme disease will typically progress through.

During the first stage, you could have a combination of the following symptoms: headache, rash, chills, aching Joints, fever, nausea, and fatigue. This could last for weeks or months.

If these symptoms go untreated, the disease could progress into stage two where you will begin to have heart and nervous system complications. The disease will continue into the third and final stage, which can lead to long-term arthritis. In order to develop this disease, you must come into contact with a tick that caries Borrelia Burgdorferi.

Some of the more common ticks that transmit this disease are the deer tick, dog tick, and lone star tick. In Indiana, there are about fifteen different species of ticks and only people and their pets encounter three.

They are the dog tick, lone star tick, and blacklegged tick (www. harrisoncountyhealth. com). Indiana is considered to be a moderate risk state. Some of the states with a higher risk factor are along the upper east coast, Midwest, and western states. These reas seem to have a larger section of woods where the ticks like to hang out.

Children seem to develop the disease more than adults.

This is probably from being outside and playing in the woods more than adults. According to the Center for Disease Control, most patients can be cured within a few weeks with antibiotics. Antibiotics commonly used for oral treatment include, doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime axetil (www. harrisoncountyhealth.

com). If you are further along in the disease, you will need more intensive antibiotic therapy (www. fnr. purdue. edu).

Prevention techniques are the best way to keep free of Lyme disease. There are some simple things to remember to help keep tick free.

The most important thing you can do is to check yourself and your kids regularly for ticks. If you find a tick, make sure you remove it correctly. Another important thing to remember is to always keep your skin covered if you are going into a wooded area. Using insect repellant on top of your clothing will give you extra protection.

Lyme disease can be very easy to avoid as long as you are aware of your surroundings. Make sure you are knowledgeable about the disease and get help right away if you feel affected. Cause and Effect Flow Sheet The threat of Lyme disease depends entirely on the supply of infected ticks.

Most ticks do not carry the germ the causes Lyme disease. Areas that have a mix of various trees and grasslands lead to: A high population of deer leads to: A larger population of deer ticks leads to: Larger number of tick bites from a tick that carries Lyme disease.

Stages of the disease: Stage 1: includes symptoms like headache, spreading rash, chills, fever, and aching Joints. Stage 2: develop complications with the heart and/ or nervous system. Stage 3: Arthritis Clinical Indicators: Diagnose with symptoms and characteristics of disease

Blood test if needed Disease Analysis Sheet Since its identification almost 40 years ago, Lyme disease has continued to spread, causing increasing numbers of cases in the northeastern and north central United States. The Lyme disease agent, Borrelia burgdorferi, causes infection by migration through tissues, adhesion to host cells, and evasion of immune clearance. This disease is only transmitted by the bite of a deer tick or blacklegged tick that has been attached to your skin for 36-48 hours (wikipedia. com).

It is now the most commonly reported arthropod-borne illness in the US and

Europe and is also found in Asia. Since surveillance for Lyme disease was begun in the US by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of reported cases has increased steadily, and in the year 2000, more than 18,000 cases were reported. (pubmedcentral. nih. gov) Lyme disease got its name from Lyme, Connecticut, the town where the first major outbreak was documented in 1975 (vitaminstuff.

com). There was a large geographic clustering of children in the Lyme, Connecticut, area who was thought to have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.

It was finally noted that this onset of Juvenile arthritis as caused by the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. This emergence of this disease was brought about when farmland was reverted back to woodland. This helped deer to proliferate, white-footed mice were more plentiful, and the deer tick began to thrive.

Finally, these areas became heavily populated with both humans and deer, as more rural wooded areas became wooded suburbs in which deer were without predators and hunting was prohibited (pubmedcentral. nih. gov). Another major outbreak in 1993 caused an investigation into the link between Lyme disease and the white tailed deer.

This more recent emergence of the disease eems to be caused by the presence of rock walls, woods, deer, or a bird feeder on residential property. A review of physician reporting patterns suggested that the increase in reported cases in 1993 was due to improved reporting as well as to an increase in the numbers of patients diagnosed with Lyme disease (ncbi.

nlm. nih. gov). It has since then caused other outbreaks scattered in California and the Northwest. It has also been noted that the majority of the reported cases have been in the months of June, July, and August.

As the years pass by, the infection has continued to spread. Borrelia burgdorferi has caused focal outbreaks in some coastal areas including suburban locations near Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. In the year 2000, the overall incidence of reported cases in Connecticut, the state with the highest reported frequency of Lyme disease, was 111 per 100,000 residents (pubmedcentral. nih. gov).

There are a lot of similarities in the different emergence of the disease. The cause has been tied to the population of deer that carry the infected deer tick.

Another common factor is the wooded area where the deer live. This disease is also ontinuing to spread because of the over population of deer. In more recent years, there have been a few differences in the outbreaks of the disease. One difference is the presence of birds that carry the tick.

This was noted by the homes that contained bird feeders in their yard. Another difference is that the medical profession is correctly diagnosing Lyme disease more often. This will inevitably cause the number of incidents to rise. The main thing to keep in mind with Lyme disease is to be aware of your surroundings and yourself.

Prevention and knowledge about the disease will help eep the number of outbreaks low. If you now you are in a highly wooded area or high deer populated area, check yourself daily for ticks.

They must be attached for more than 36 hours to transmit the disease. The more the public is educated, the fewer outbreaks should occur. Disease Control Plan References: www. aldf. com/lyme. shtml www.

fnr. purdue. edu www. lymediseaseassociation. org www. ncbi.

nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/9508107 www. neurologychannel. com/lymedisease/treatment.

shtml www. pubmedcentral. nih. goWarticlerender. fcgi? artid=385417 www.

vhi. e/topic/lyme www. vitaminstuff. com Annotated Bibliography: This website has a wealth of information and helpful products. There is information on the symptoms, treatment methods, cases in each state, and helpful educational materials including videos and brochures.

They also explain all about the association and what they are doing to help with the control of the Lyme disease, including their achievements, grants, research efforts. This website is the American Lyme Disease Foundation. This is another site that has a wealth of information. Everything you need to know about Lyme disease is included here.

It gives information on programs and services that are available along ith prevention products. There is a frequently asked questions section and US maps with statistical data on the disease.

www. cdc. gov The Center for Disease Control is a website put out by the government. This is a good place to go for information on any disease. Lots of health and safety topics to choose from. There is statistical data along with many publications to review.

Check out the hot news and event topics available. This site is all about how they can help out the people of this country with many things that might come up, including hurricanes. ww. harrisoncountyhealth. com This site has great information on Lyme disease in Indiana. Nice pictures of ticks and tick removal.

Also includes pictures of symptoms and an in depth disruption of the disease, symptoms, treatment, and prevention. Great site for facts! There are nice explains of every aspect of Lyme disease including a well laid out description of the three stages of symptoms. It also talks about what treatment you will need and how to prevent getting it in the future. There is a nice section on ticks including the different kinds that carry the bacteria and how to remove them if you happen to get bit by one.