Thanks to the warmer winter and abundance of rain, ticks are thriving.
Arthur Gran, M.D., of Troy Infectious Disease, a practice of St. Peter’s Health Partners Medical Associates, shared insight into the current tick season during an interview on WNYT/NewsChannel 13.
From the report:
Experts say warmer winters correlate to higher tick populations.
The warmer weather now is drawing people outdoors.
Dr. Arthur Gran is an infectious disease specialist with St. Peter’s Health Partners.
“This year, like most early summers, we do see a lot of tick diseases. Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis are the most common. There are a few others that we do occasionally see, ehrlichiosis and Powassan virus, but we haven’t see too many of those this year, it’s mostly Lyme and anaplasmosis.”
He’s expecting the number of people who get tick-borne illnesses to go up over the next few weeks, and it’s not just Lyme disease. Ticks spread a number of serious diseases.
“Anaplasmosis is probably the second most common and it’s an even more severe disease than Lyme disease. It’s much more likely to end up requiring hospitalization than Lyme disease. It can make you very sick and fairly quickly, so I tend to see more of those cases in the hospital when I’m on hospital rounds, although Lyme disease remains the most common.”
Symptoms include fever, chills, headache, and fatigue. With Lyme disease, you might see a rash, maybe with a bull’s eye.
Experts say the sooner you can get treatment, the better.
June tends to be the worst month for these infections.
Dr. Gran suggests wearing a repellent with DEET.
“The best thing you can do is do a tick check at the end of the day where you look to see if there’s anything on your body, and if you have somebody to help you look in the places you can’t see, that is useful.”
The state health department says don’t sit on the ground, shower as soon as possible, and tuck your pants into your socks.
Click here to watch WNYT’s full story.
