a 30-year-old african woman in kenya succumbed to severe swollen regional lymph nodes, development of painful boils and ulcer formation and rashes at specific tick-biting sites together with an intermittent fever and headache following repeated tick bites of rhipicephalus pulchellus. she later developed nuchal lymphadenopathy-like condition and an eschar with edematous margins at bitten sites. ...

BACKGROUND Farmworkers are at high-risk for tick bites, which potentially transmit various tick-borne diseases. Previous studies show that personal prevention against tick bites is key, and certain factors namely, knowledge, experience of tick bites, and health beliefs influence compliance with tick bites preventive behaviour. This study aimed to assess these factors and their associations with...

The phylum Arthropoda includes arachnids and insects. Although their bites typically cause only local reactions, some species are venomous or transmit disease. The two medically important spiders in the United States are widow spiders (Latrodectus), the bite of which causes intense muscle spasms, and the brown recluse (Loxosceles), which may cause skin necrosis. Widow bites usually respond to n...

INTRODUCTION Tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and ehrlichiosis are a significant concern for many thousands of workers who have frequent and unavoidable exposure to tick-infested habitats. Many North Carolina state employees with outdoor occupations report multiple tick bites each year, indicating that existing tick preventive strategies may be underutiliz...

Tick bites and tick-borne infections are an increasingly large problem. There is a wide range of precautions that citizens can take, but compliance is low. Mobile technology can offer a solution here, as they allow citizens to access health information in context. In this article, we discuss the development of requirements for a mobile app to support citizens in dealing with ticks and tick bite...

BACKGROUND We performed a nationwide prospective study on the transmission risk for Borrelia to humans, investigating symptoms and serology at enrolment and three months after tick bites, and after standard treatment for erythema migrans (EM). Aiming to quantify the infection risk at point of care by physicians, we explored risk factors such as tick testing for Borrelia and assessment of the du...

BACKGROUND There is controversy about chronic health consequences of tick-borne infections, especially Lyme borreliosis. This study aims to assess whether general function, physical fitness and subjective health complaints are associated with tick bites or antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato in blood donors. METHODS Sera from 1,213 blood donors at four different blood banks in Sogn ...

BACKGROUND Nationwide surveys have shown a threefold increase in general practitioner (GP) consultations for tick bites and early Lyme borreliosis from 1994 to 2009 in the Netherlands. We now report an update on 2014, with identical methods as for the preceding GP surveys. METHODS To all GPs in the Netherlands, a postal questionnaire was sent inquiring about the number of consultations for ti...

BACKGROUND Many public health campaigns use a one-size-fits-all strategy to achieve their desired effect. Public health campaigns for tick bites and Lyme disease (LD) in many countries convey all relevant preventive measures to all members of the public. Although preventing tick bites (eg, by wearing protective clothing or using repellants) and checking for tick bites after visiting a risk area...

Serious tick-induced allergies comprise mammalian meat allergy following tick bites and tick anaphylaxis. Mammalian meat allergy is an emergent allergy, increasingly prevalent in tick-endemic areas of Australia and the United States, occurring worldwide where ticks are endemic. Sensitisation to galactose-α-1,3-galactose (α-Gal) has been shown to be the mechanism of allergic reaction in mammalia...