This may be the worst year ever for Lyme Disease, especially in Pennsylvania which leads the nation in reported cases. The unusually mild winter has allowed ticks to flourish and the early forecast should be concerning to anyone participating in outdoor activities. As if the debilitating effects of Lyme are not bad enough, your insurance may not cover your treatment, a perfect storm of physical misery meeting financial disaster.
Why You Are at Risk
Many people associate ticks with the wild outdoors, mountains, forests, and rugged terrain. Ironically, just the opposite is true. The most likely place to contract Lyme disease in in your front or back yard. Whitetail deer are hosts to mature ticks, yet tick nymphs feed and thrive on mice, often with 50-100 ticks on a single rodent. Because mouse predators are absent in suburban areas, their population explodes with a resulting increase in tick incubation.
Financial Disaster
Recommendations from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have not been updated since the early 1990’s when little was known about Lyme disease. As a result of their treatment protocol, insurance companies often will not cover expenses beyond a short-term treatment with antibiotics. Once Lyme disease develops in the body, treatment costs can reach $50,000 per year.
Like the Zika Virus
The Zika virus exploded onto the health scene last year with its devastating affects on newborn babies. If the mother was infected, the disease and birth complications could be passed onto newborns. Wake Up America- Lyme can also be transmitted from an infected mother onto a fetus with the child suffering the full effects of the Lyme. One mother in Pennsylvania learned that she had Lyme and had passed it onto her four young sons. Since insurance did not cover the family’s medical expenses, they spent more than $100,000.00 out-of-pocket and were forced to sell their home.
Thermacell Tick Tubes
Tick-checks should be a regular bedtime routine. As disgusting as it may sound, brush your teeth and check for ticks. Permethrin is a powerful deterrent for ticks and kills them when they come into direct contact. Be sure to spray your outdoor clothing and that of your family. Unlike Deet for skin repellent, it doesn’t need to be used every day, so follow the directions on the label. Finally, if you are looking for a prevention method, consider using Thermacell Tick Tubes which contain a preferred mouse bedding material that’s treated with permethrin.
By placing a few tubes around your home, mice will take the bedding material into their burrows and kill all ticks. Research at Harvard University has proved this tactic to be effective. Visit www.thermacell.com
UPDATE: Thermacell contacted us with a coupon code for free shiping for orders over $30 which should work for a little while: when checking out, use coupon code: TheHuntingPage
