Hypersensitivity to Ticks and Lyme Disease Risk

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Emerg Infect Dis
• Personal Author:
  Burke, Georgine ; Wikel, Stephen K. ; Spielman, Andrew ; Telford, Sam R. ; McKay, Kathleen ; Krause, Peter J.
• Corporate Authors:
  Tick-borne Infection Study Group
• Description:
  Although residents of Lyme disease-endemic regions describe frequent exposure to ticks, Lyme disease develops in relatively few. To determine whether people who experience cutaneous hypersensitivity against tick bite have fewer episodes of Lyme disease than those who do not, we examined several factors that might restrict the incidence of Lyme disease among residents of Block Island, Rhode Island. Of 1,498 study participants, 27% (95% confidence interval [CI] 23%-31%) reported > or = 1 tick bites, and 17% (95% CI 13%-21%) reported itch associated with tick bite in the previous year. Borrelia burgdorferi infected 23% (95% CI 20%-26%) of 135 nymphal Ixodes scapularis (I. dammini) ticks. The likelihood of Lyme disease infection decreased with >3 reports of tick-associated itch (odds ratio 0.14, 95% CI 0.94-0.03, p = 0.01). Prior exposure to uninfected vector ticks protects residents of disease-endemic sites from Lyme disease.
• Subjects:
  Animals Arachnid Vectors Bites And Stings Borrelia Burgdorferi Dermatitis, Allergic Contact Humans Incidence Ixodes Lyme Disease Polymerase Chain Reaction Questionnaires Research Risk Factors

  More +
• Source:
  Emerg Infect Dis. 11(1):36-41.
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Rhode Island
• Location:
  North America
• Volume:
  11
• Issue:
  1
• Collection(s):
  Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:3137f25a7ab255e290f23bb0f87fd71152db8e01f806ff13fa566c6349bd86f0
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/15609/cdc_15609_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 215.02 KB ]