Methods of prevention of Lyme disease mentioned in various sources includes those listed below. This prevention information is gathered from various sources, and may be inaccurate or incomplete. None of these methods guarantee prevention of Lyme disease.
Some of the clinical trials for Lyme disease include:
Some of the more recent treatments for Lyme disease include:
Treatments to consider for Lyme disease may include:
Avoidance of Ticks. At present, the
best way to avoid Lyme disease is to avoid deer ticks. Although generally only
about one percent of all deer ticks are infected with the Lyme disease
bacterium, in some areas more than half of them harbor the microbe.
Most
people with Lyme disease become infected during the summer, when immature ticks
are most prevalent. Except in warm climates, few people are bitten by deer ticks
during winter months.
Deer ticks are most often found in wooded areas
and nearby shady grasslands, and are especially common where the two areas
merge. Because the adult ticks feed on deer, areas where deer are frequently
seen are likely to harbor sizable numbers of deer ticks.
To help prevent
tick bites, people entering tick-infested areas should walk in the center of
trails to avoid picking up ticks from overhanging grass and brush.
To
minimize skin exposure to ticks, people outdoors in tick-infested areas should
wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts that fit tightly at the ankles and
wrists. As a further safeguard, people should wear a hat, tuck pant legs into
socks, and wear shoes that leave no part of the feet exposed. To make it easy to
detect ticks, people should wear light-colored clothing.
To repel ticks,
people can spray their clothing with the insecticide permethrin, which is
commonly found in lawn and garden stores. Insect repellents that contain a
chemical called DEET (N,N-diethyl-M-toluamide) can also be applied to clothing
or directly onto skin. Although highly effective, these repellents can cause
some serious side effects, particularly when high concentrations are used
repeatedly on the skin. Infants and children may be especially at risk for
adverse reactions to DEET.
Pregnant women should be especially careful
to avoid ticks in Lyme disease areas because the infection can be transferred to
the unborn child. Although rare, such a prenatal infection may make the woman
more likely to miscarry or deliver a stillborn baby.
Checking
for Ticks. Once indoors, people should check themselves and their
children for ticks, particularly in the hairy regions of the body. The immature
deer ticks that are most likely to cause Lyme disease are only about the size of
a poppy seed, so they are easily mistaken for a freckle or a speck of dirt. All
clothing should be washed. Pets should be checked for ticks before entering the
house, because they, too, can develop symptoms of Lyme disease. In addition, a
pet can carry ticks into the house. These ticks could fall off without biting
the animal and subsequently attach to and bite people inside the house.
If a tick is discovered attached to the skin, it should be pulled out
gently with tweezers, taking care not to squeeze the tick's body. An antiseptic
should then be applied to the bite. Studies by NIH-supported researchers suggest
that a tick must be attached for at least 48 hours to transmit the Lyme disease
bacterium, so prompt tick removal could prevent the disease.
The risk of
developing Lyme disease from a tick bite is small, even in heavily infested
areas, and most physicians prefer not to treat patients bitten by ticks with
antibiotics unless they develop symptoms of Lyme disease.
Vaccine Development. Because Lyme disease is difficult
to diagnose and sometimes does not respond to treatment, researchers are trying
to create a vaccine that will protect people from the disorder. Vaccines work in
part by prompting the body to generate antibodies. These custom-shaped molecules
lock onto specific proteins made by a virus or bacterium-often those proteins
lodged in the microbe's outer coat. Once antibodies attach to an invading
microbe, other immune defenses are evoked to destroy it.
Development of
an effective vaccine for Lyme disease has been difficult for a number of
reasons. Scientists need to find out how the immune system protects against the
bacterium. However, a vaccine based on the outer surface protein A (OspA) of the
Lyme bacterium has been tested in people living in the northeastern United
States, and preliminary results are encouraging.
Between 1995 and 1998, a vaccine based on rOspA, the component first made by NIAID investigators, was tested by SmithKline Beecham in humans. The vaccine was proven safe and effective for preventing infection for people between the ages of 15 and 70. In 1998, the FDA approved a vaccine against Lyme disease, LYMErix, produced by SmithKline Beecham. (Source: excerpt from Stories of Discovery Lyme Disease Vaccine Preventing an Emerging Disease: NIAID)
As of February 25, 2002 the manufacturer announced that the LYMErix™ Lyme disease vaccine will no longer be commercially available. The existing recommendations apply to any vaccine currently in use. (Source: excerpt from Questions and Answers About Lyme Disease: DVBID)
Avoid tick habitats: Whenever possible, avoid entering areas that are likely to be infested with ticks, particularly in spring and summer when nymphal ticks feed. Ticks favor a moist, shaded environment, especially areas with leaf litter and low-lying vegetation in wooded, brushy or overgrown grassy habitat. Both deer and rodent hosts must be abundant to maintain the enzootic cycle of B. burgdorferi . Sources for information on the distribution of ticks in an area include state and local health departments, park personnel, and agricultural extension services.
|
Tuck
pants into socks to protect yourself from the bites of ticks and
other vectors. |
Use personal protection
measures:
If you are going to be in areas that are tick infested, wear light-colored
clothing so that ticks can be spotted more easily and removed before becoming
attached. Wearing long-sleeved shirts and tucking pants into socks or
boot tops may help keep ticks from reaching your skin. Ticks are usually
located close to the ground, so wearing high rubber boots may provide
additional protection.
The risk of tick attachment can also be reduced by applying insect repellents
containing DEET (n,n-diethyl-m toluamide) to clothes and exposed skin,
and applying permethrin (which kills ticks on contact) to clothes. DEET
can be used safely on children and adults but should be applied according
to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines to reduce the possibility
of toxicity.
|
Use tweezers to remove ticks. |
Perform a tick check and remove attached ticks: The transmission of B. burgdorferi (the bacteria that causes Lyme disease) from an infected tick is unlikely to occur before 36 hours of tick attachment. For this reason, daily checks for ticks and promptly removing any attached tick that you find will help prevent infection. Embedded ticks should be removed using fine-tipped tweezers. DO NOT use petroleum jelly, a hot match, nail polish, or other products. Grasp the tick firmly and as closely to the skin as possible. With a steady motion, pull the tick's body away from the skin. The tick's mouthparts may remain in the skin, but do not be alarmed. The bacteria that cause Lyme disease are contained in the tick's midgut or salivary glands. Cleanse the area with an antiseptic.
Taking preventive antibiotics after a tick bite: The relative cost-effectiveness of post-exposure treatment of tick bites to avoid Lyme disease in endemic areas (areas where the disease is known to occur regularly) is dependent on the probability of B. burgdorferi infection after a tick bite. In most circumstances, treating persons who only have a tick bite is not recommended. Individuals who are bitten by a deer tick should remove the tick promptly, and may wish to consult with their health care provider. Persons should promptly seek medical attention if they develop any signs and symptoms of early Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, or babesiosis.
Strategies to reduce tick abundance: The number of ticks in endemic residential areas may be reduced by removing leaf litter, brush- and wood-piles around houses and at the edges of yards, and by clearing trees and brush to admit more sunlight and reduce the amount of suitable habitat for deer, rodents, and ticks. Tick populations have also been effectively suppressed through the application of pesticides to residential properties. Community-based interventions to reduce deer populations or to kill ticks on deer and rodents have not been extensively implemented, but may be effective in reducing the community-wide risk of Lyme disease. New approaches such as deer feeding stations equipped with pesticide applicators to kill ticks on deer, and baited devices to kill ticks on rodents, are currently under evaluation. (Source: excerpt from Prevention and Control (Lyme): DVBID)
Information on prevention of Lyme disease comes from many sources. There are some sources that claim preventive benefits for many different diseases for various products. We may present such information in the hope that it may be useful, however, in some cases claims of Lyme disease prevention may be dubious, invalid, or not recognized in mainstream medicine. Please discuss any treatment, discontinuation of treatment, or change of treatment plans with your doctor or professional medical specialist.
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