Spread of Deadly Disease. Beware! Part 3 "Lyme Disease"

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an advisory on how to protect yourself and your family from tick bites. The CDC became famous in the movie, Contagion, showing its involvement in disease-plague prevention. The Flu-like symptoms are true. Ticks pass infected saliva into human skin with a bite. The parasites act quickly, invading and feeding on the body’s red cells, introducing disease into the host through an infected bite.

The elderly population, children and people with low immune system are more at risk. It is advisable to seek medical attention immediately, instead of dismissing it as a case of common flu. They say treatment can be effective if the disease is caught early on.

Lyme disease affects various parts of the body in different degrees as it advances. Bacteria enters the skin through the initial tick bite, infection is followed by the spread of a reddish rash associated with common flu-like symptoms. Overtime, the parasites work fast to hijack your system to later produce abnormalities in the joints, nervous system and the heart.

The part one of this article showed a short story I made about a small town that was unknowingly taken over by a strange disease they took for granted as the common flu, later causing pandemonium and rampant deaths which took the CDC officials by surprise. Fiction as it maybe, the symptoms I mentioned attributing to the disease itself is true.

Lyme disease is medically described to have 3 stages as: (1) early localized disease with skin inflammation; (2) early disseminated disease with heart and nervous system involvement, including palsies and meningitis; and (3) late disease featuring motor and sensory nerve damage and brain inflammation as well as arthritis.

Some tips given by the CDC included the following:

1. Spray yourself with DEET or permethrin tick repellent (on clothing and gear)

2.      Always wear pant before venturing in to the forest. Tuck you pants into your boots.

3.      Wear white or light colored clothing, it will be easier to see a tick and kill it right way.

4.      Before entering a wooded or grassy area use repellents containing 20 percent or more DEET.

5.      Nymphs are commonly found on the forest floor and can climb aboard via your feet.

Always use socks and shoes. Boots are recommended. Check them from time to time.

6.      Avoid tick infected areas like tick vegetation. They like tall grass, shrubs and leaf litter, these hitchhikers are just waiting to get a ride via your boot and snack on you.

7.      Perform daily tick checks after being outdoors, even when in your yard.

8.      Use a hand-held mirror or full length mirror to view all parts of your body. If you find a tick, remove it immediately using tweezers.

9.      Important areas to check: Your arms, in and around your ears, inside the belly button, back of the knees, all around your head and body hair, between the legs and around the waist.

10.  Toss your clothing in the dryer upon coming home from the woods. This will avoid the ticks from entering your house which can be carried via your clothing.

So next time you come down with the common flu, please do not dismiss it. Danger may be constantly around us. The common pests might surprise you as they bring not so common problems.

We do not need to wait the last minute to take extra precaution. Whether it is common pests, health condition, weather changes or spread of disease, one must not take for granted things and wait for the hammer to come crashing down.

Get rid of pests, keep yourself updated with the latest diseases, stay healthy, take care of our ecology, be aware of changes in your surroundings and consult a doctor. These tips will save your life. Time is precious. We do not have the luxury of time. Life is short, we must live it well.