MAY 2018 • LONGISLANDPRESS.COM 79
LYME DISEASE:
SEASONAL UPTICK
By ANNIE WILKINSON
They’re out there, crawling up grasses
or low-growing bushes. They cling
to perches, claws waving in the air,
then snag an unsuspecting passerby.
Latching on to shoes or clothing, they
climb to a cozy spot and bite the skin,
using their curved teeth and mouths
to transmit bacteria and viruses as
they become engorged with blood.
Ticks are masters of this hosthunting
called “questing.”
Nationwide, deer ticks infect
300,000 people annually with Lyme
disease, and transmit the rare but
sometimes fatal babesiosis.
A bite can cause flu-like symptoms
or hives two days or up to nine
weeks later, plus facial swelling and
trouble breathing. Untreated, the
transmitted pathogens can cause
paralysis, limb or joint amputation,
and/or organ failure.
The spread of tick-borne diseases
(TBDs) has been labeled an
epidemic, with New York State
having the nation’s highest number
of confirmed Lyme cases. Suffolk
County has at least 500 reported
cases and boasts the state’s highest
babesiosis rate.
TICKS’ BEST-KEPT
SECRETS
Researchers have learned that ticks
don’t fly, leap or jump. And their
bite doesn’t always produce a bull’seye
shaped rash.
Only female ticks are bloodsuckers,
swelling to 135 times their original
size; sometimes, male ticks steal the
blood. After a blood meal, she lays
thousands of eggs, keeping them moist
by painstakingly wrapping each one in
wax from an organ on her head.
Genital secretions of people who
had intimate contact have revealed
Lyme bacteria, and the bacterium
that causes Lyme and the bacterium
that causes syphilis are cousins.
Babesiosis can be transmitted from
mother to baby during pregnancy
or delivery, or by transfusion.
These arachnids — not insects
— are not a new problem, as
proved by a 30-million-year-old
amber-preserved tick engorged
with monkey blood unearthed in
the Dominican Republic. More
recently, over the past 50 years, a
dozen emerging TBDs have been
discovered. Between 2001 and 2015,
TBD rates doubled nationwide.
Hundreds of East Enders developed
red meat allergies starting in 2010.
The cause? Bites from lone star
ticks, dubbed “reverse zombie” ticks
because they make humans say “No”
to red meat. Symptoms included
itching, stomach cramps, flu-like
symptoms, trouble breathing —
and even death from anaphylactic
shock. Doctors warn those with the
allergy to avoid beef, pork, lamb,
goat, rabbit, venison, and animal
products like gelatin and milk.
THE HUMAN-TICK
CONUNDRUM
Humans help increase ticks’
numbers. Some trace higher
survival rates to climate change’s
warmer weather. Others blame
suburban development, forests
decimated to become landscapes
that not only invite people but
provide paradises for deer mice.
Ticks feed on LI’s white-footed
mice; 90 percent of these mice carry
Lyme, other bacteria and parasites.
Development destroys fox, raptor,
and other mouse predator habitats,
so more mice survive to host ticks.
For de-ticking, people embrace
natural solutions, keeping chickens,
bats, and other predators. Just one
opossum can vacuum 4,000 ticks in
one week with its mouth.
PRESS HEALTH
THE INVISIBLE
ILLNESS
After visiting an area with sea grass
in Amagansett, 6-year-old Cate
Higgins discovered two bulls-eye
rashes and took antibiotics. Six
months later, she was getting
headaches, which later worsened.
Neurologists and concussion
specialists tried different medicines
without success.
In 7th grade, she developed asthma
with the headaches. She was
missing one day of school a week,
then several. She had a rash that
spread and was extraordinarily
fatigued and anxious.
Finally, an acupuncturist suggested
looking at her bloodwork and diet.
They did, and found a suppressed
immune system.
Now age 15, the Oyster Bay resident
dropped out of public school
because of severe headaches. For
her slow-growing, chronic Lyme
disease, some remedies work, and
some don’t.
Her mother Margaret Higgins says
the 10 doctors they consulted
treated only the migraines and
didn’t look at the big picture.
“It’s a very polarizing disease.
Some in the medical community
don’t acknowledge chronic Lyme
disease,” says Higgins.
“It’s an invisible illness: She looks
fine, but often can’t get out of bed,
do sports, or see friends.”
—AW