Antibiotic gel prevents Lyme infection from tick bites

[Cosmo]

Antibiotic gel prevents borreliosis resulting from tick bites -- ScienceDaily.

Prevention is so much nicer than treatment.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 093939.htm

total of 1,000 patients with fresh tick bites were treated with the antibiotic gel within 72 hours of being bitten. Says Jilma: "None of the test subjects went on to develop Lyme borreliosis." Conversely, in the control group that received a placebo, there were seven cases of borreliosis.

[Bill n Robi]

Wonder if it would work on dogs? We get the lyme vaccine for it but adding a second layer of prevention might not be a bad idea.

[Cosmo]

Ya for me this is great news.

There are lots of recent studies I was able to find regarding preventing borreliosis infection using topical azithromycin gel which is good news for hikers in tick infested areas like where I hike. I am going to get a tube of this stuff ASAP and do my own research

I did find a study that indicated topical azithromycin gel was 100% effective preventing Lyme infection in mice bitten by ticks. So it may work if its a really small dog... Ha ha ha.

Sounds (to me) like a low risk improvement over the current situation.
=Cosmo

[lrrowe]

And this is good news for me too. I am a victim of Lymes Desease from about 30 years ago. I am convinced many of my health issues today come from it. And some news that links Lymes Desease to dementia also scares me.

Thanks for the post. I am going to bring this up with my doctor on my next visit and see what he thinks.

[S. Heisley]

Wonder if it would work on dogs? We get the lyme vaccine for it but adding a second layer of prevention might not be a bad idea.

I would worry about the dog licking and ingesting the gel. It would probably be best to ask your vet.

[Bill n Robi]

Wonder if it would work on dogs? We get the lyme vaccine for it but adding a second layer of prevention might not be a bad idea.

I would worry about the dog licking and ingesting the gel. It would probably be best to ask your vet.

'Being a white boxer it is easy to see the ticks and the Trifexis we use does kill fleas and ticks but only after they bite. That doesn't help stop any infection at the bite point. I don't think it would be that big a dose, have used Neosporin on her before and it has similar ingredients. Used a transparent wound protector similar to a transdermal patch to protect the spot from her licking, which she does ALL the time. I imagine a longer haired dog would be less a challenge as you could get it down on the skin and the hair would cover and protect from licking.

Even though Robi is a retired AHT, everything goes through her vet first.

[JuneBug]

Would this would work with the other tick-borne bacterial diseases as well? Are OTC antibiotic ointments effective?

On a cheerful note, here's the CDC's list of Tickborne Diseases of the United States, all 15 of them if I'm counting correctly.

[Nobody]

I'm not very computer savvy & haven't been able to find an answer to this ?. Is the new gel a prescription item or over the counter?

[lrrowe]

I'm not very computer savvy & haven't been able to find an answer to this ?. Is the new gel a prescription item or over the counter?

That is what I was going to ask my doc during my visit this coming Friday.

[Cosmo]

Azithromycin cream is available in the USA and requires a prescription. One use is eczema treatment. Is this the right dose? Will the eczema cream work? I have no idea. I work in information technology.

I am not in favor of animal testing - but here are the test results
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3910720/
I am not making any suggestions - the above article describes about making the cream for the mouse test "Antibiotic creams were prepared with the assistance of a local pharmacy (Good Day Pharmacy, Loveland, CO). A 4% azithromycin cream was prepared by taking 3 tablets (250 mg each) and crushing them in 18.75 gm of Lipoderm cream"

Should we start smearing “morning after cream” after a nonconsensual date with a tick. That is a personal decision we each have to make.

How to remove a tick (the sooner you remove it the less likely you will be infected). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27McsguL2Og

I did find a naysayer in the USA who flat our stated this won’t work, but they had not done any of their own testing.

The reports sound good. Time will tell
https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/en/abo ... ick-bites/
https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/2016/12 ... e-disease/

For now you will recognize me on the trial – I am the guy carrying tweezers with his pant legs tucked into his socks to try and stop the ticks from crawling up my leg. This look causes female hikers to reach for the pepper spray when they see me coming.

I also carry one of those sticky tape lint rollers in the car to try and get any ticks that are on my clothing. I have not found any ticks on the tape yet so maybe this is an urban myth. But when I take it out everyone wants to borrow it. If someone renames it a Tick Roller they will become very wealthy very quickly..


=Cosmo

[JuneBug]

Many years ago I traveled in back-country Mexico quite a bit -- in areas that were accessible only on foot. Mexicans had terms for different kinds of ticks: "garrapata" referred to regular sized ticks and "semillas" (I think) referred to tiny seed ticks. Hiking in brush country, my then boyfriend ended up (literally) hundreds of itchy bites from seed ticks. Maybe the lint roller would help pick up the seed ticks.

According to google, a seed tick is the larval form of a tick.

I KNOW you want to know more! And thanks to the Missouri Department of Conservation, you can!

A tick's life is divided into four stages: egg, larva (often called seed ticks), nymph and adult. Ticks advance through these stages by molting, during which they shed their outer skin.

After an egg hatches, the emerging larva is about the size of a poppy seed and has six legs. After a blood meal, typically from a small rodent, the larva drops off its host, casts its skin and becomes an 8-legged nymph. After attaching and feeding on another mammal, the nymph drops to the ground and transforms into an 8-legged adult. Adult ticks are 1/16 to 1/4 inch long, or about the size of a sesame seed. When engorged with blood, female ticks might expand to 3/8 inch or longer.

Soon after feeding and mating, which usually occurs on a host, the adult male dies. The female drops to the ground to lay thousands of eggs, and then she dies, too. Eggs may not hatch for several months, depending on humidity, temperature and other conditions.

Ticks are hardy parasites. Their skin is so tough it's hard to crush one. The larva, nymph and adult can survive several months without feeding. When not climbing onto low vegetation to wait for an animal or human to pass, they remain on or near the ground. Dehydration is their worst enemy. They often have to leave their perches to rehydrate themselves with ground moisture.

[Bill n Robi]

How to remove a tick (the sooner you remove it the less likely you will be infected). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27McsguL2Og



=Cosmo

Too funny of a story not to share. Last summer we were camping and saw this woman was running from camp site to camp site. Since we were at the very end, out of breath she asked if we had a pair of tweezers she could borrow, her husband had been bitten by a tick and it was embedding it 'self. Of course we had tick removal kit with us and Robi asked her if she needed help since the lady was a total wreak by this time. She said 'yes, please', Robi asked where was it at, "on his ball sack" wasn't the answer she expected. Reply was , "here you go, please make sure you return them".

[Cosmo]

Nice
Reported Cases of Lyme Disease—United States, 2015
https://www.cdc.gov/lyme/resources/repo ... e_2015.pdf

Canada

Reported number of Lyme disease cases


The Government currently has data for Lyme disease cases reported between 2009 and 2016:
•2009: 144 cases
•2010: 143 cases
•2011: 266 cases
•2012: 338 cases
•2013: 682 cases
•2014: 522 cases
•2015: 917 cases
•2016: 841 (preliminary data*)
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/ ... sease.html

[Don L.]

Anyone have experience using Sawyer's?

Permethrin Premium Clothing Insect Repellent | Sawyer
https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin- ... repellent/
For use on clothing, tents, and other gear, Sawyer Permethrin not only repels insects, they actually kill ticks, mosquitoes, chiggers, mites, and more than 55 other ...

I got some to try out this year. Lyme's is bad enough but after reading about Powassan virus ...

[Bill n Robi]

Anyone have experience using Sawyer's?

Permethrin Premium Clothing Insect Repellent | Sawyer
https://sawyer.com/products/permethrin- ... repellent/
For use on clothing, tents, and other gear, Sawyer Permethrin not only repels insects, they actually kill ticks, mosquitoes, chiggers, mites, and more than 55 other ...

I got some to try out this year. Lyme's is bad enough but after reading about Powassan virus ...

Our TD has gaps around the window screen, I bought some and sprayed the edges. Seems to work, did not stain.