• bob_lemon@feddit.org
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    1 month ago

    Do ticks in America not carry encephalitis (like they do in central/eastern Europe)?Because that’s way more dangerous than Lyme disease. I find it weird that it isn’t mentioned at all, nor the vaccination against it.

    • kautau@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      I would go to the CDC to check but that’s been deleted. We’ve solved it by removing the webpage

      https://www.cdc.gov/tick-borne-encephalitis/index.html

      I’m kidding, but it certainly seems to be a thing that people should be aware of.

      That being said I think the scary thing about Lyme disease is the symptoms aren’t crazy strong at the beginning, and easy to misattribute if you miss the tick. But if you don’t treat it early it can really fuck you up.

      I got bit by a tick years ago when I was 16, right above my belt buckle. Had a generalized rash, and my doctor said it was because of an allergic reaction to my belt buckle and prescribed me steroid cream. Basically had to demand a Lyme test just in case and tested positive.

      • bob_lemon@feddit.org
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        1 month ago

        Dang, what a shitty doctor.

        Although I think my perspective is a bit skewed, having grown up in a tick hotspot here in Germany. Everyone is aware of ticks here, pretty sure it’s taught in elementary school. And the encephalitis vaccine is pretty much standard, too.

      • IphtashuFitz@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        There is no vaccine for Lyme that’s available to the public. Hopefully there will be one soon though. My wife and I have been volunteering for a Lyme vaccine trial for the past two years.

      • corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca
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        1 month ago

        The vaccine they were testing was derailed when participants reported behaviours that resemble anti-vax talking points now. It killed the human testing in the final stages at a huge commercial loss.

        But if you go to the vet and get a vax for a big dog and it accidentally gets into your arm and not Rover’s paw, that’s the same thing. They repurposed the ‘failed’ vax for use in pets.

        Or so I heard. Go confirm.