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By Cara Murez
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Could 25, 2023 (HealthDay Information) – Robert Weymouth, 58, of Portland, Maine, died this year because of a tick bite.
You’ve got most likely listened to of Lyme illness and the problems it can lead to when handed to a human as a result of the chunk of a deer tick. But Lyme is not the only tick-borne sickness in the woods.
Powassan virus — a exceptional and untreatable an infection — is also transmitted by ticks. That’s the bite that led to lethal troubles in the circumstance of this Maine truck driver.
Weymouth — the third Powassan demise since 2015 in Maine and the very first this calendar year — most likely contracted the virus in the point out, in accordance to Maine’s Centers for Illness Management and Prevention. He formulated neurological signs or symptoms and died in the clinic.
His widow, Annemarie Weymouth, is now warning other folks about protecting on their own from the disease.
“He was in there, but he couldn’t go his entire body. He could point to terms on a board. He pointed to ‘scared,’ ‘afraid,’ ‘frustrated,'” Weymouth told CBS Information.
True case figures unidentified
“Because it is fairly scarce to make the diagnosis, there is a good deal we don’t know,” explained Dr. Eugene Shapiro, a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at Yale College.
But here is what is recognised:
The U.S. Centers for Illness Control and Prevention obtained 189 reviews of Powassan an infection in between 2012 and 2021.
Most U.S. scenarios of Powassan virus transpire in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. Maine had four scenarios past calendar year by yourself.
Though ticks are arachnids like spiders, the virus is not so various from some viruses in which a mosquito is the vector, such as dengue and Zika. Other than its transmission by a tick, Powassan virus is “in no way, condition or sort just about anything like Lyme illness,” Shapiro explained.
Powassan virus is intently associated to a thing known as tick-borne encephalitis, which is a virus especially noticed in Central Eastern Europe and Eurasia, Shapiro said.
The Powassan virus seriously affects only a small quantity of folks every single year. But it really is feasible several some others are asymptomatic or have minor or flu-like signs or symptoms and aren’t diagnosed.
The virus got its title from its discovery in a 5-year-aged boy who died of the virus in the late 1950s in Powassan, Ontario, Canada.
Specialists consider it utilised to be transmitted mostly by the groundhog tick, which generally did not feed on humans. As an alternative, it fed largely on skunks, groundhogs and squirrels, Shapiro stated.
At some position, it moved to deer ticks, and these are ticks that usually bite individuals.
Brain irritation
There are however a lot of mysteries to unravel concerning Powassan virus. For illustration, whilst some research has proposed that as a lot of as 5% of deer ticks in some areas of Connecticut are constructive for the virus, that is not exhibiting up in substantial quantities of Powassan human infection, Shapiro said.
But circumstances are climbing, according to CDC figures, said Dr. Nicole Baumgarth, an immunologist at Johns Hopkins College of Public Overall health. However it’s not distinct whether or not there are really extra people today becoming infected or if physicians are screening for it additional routinely, she claimed.
“There is no treatment method, other than type of normal aid of an person who has the ailment,” Baumgarth claimed. “The most serious illness linked with Powassan is swelling of the brain, or encephalitis, but not most people who will get contaminated with this virus will establish these very critical cases.”
Other signs can contain fever, chills, fatigue, rash on trunk of the physique, muscle weak point, nausea, vomiting, dizziness and neck stiffness, according to Yale Drugs.
Nonetheless, the broad the vast majority of people infected possible will have no symptoms or insignificant signs or symptoms and not be identified.
For those people who do have signs serious ample to be identified, typically with encephalitis, the death fee is someplace concerning 10% and 30%, Shapiro explained.
Keep in mind, nonetheless, it is unusual. “It is a tiny frightening, but it is a unusual disorder,” Baumgarth claimed.
With Lyme ailment, the tick has to be attached for about a day or so to transmit its an infection. Pulling the tick off promptly puts you at reduced threat of an infection. If it’s been more time, a single dose of doxycycline is moderately successful in stopping infection. Having said that, Baumgarth mentioned that the Powassan pathogen can be transmitted speedier than Lyme bacteria, “so it is hard to outrun that.”
Prevention is the best remedy
You can acquire some safety measures to restrict tick exposure when spending time in grassy or wooded spots that can harbor ticks, Baumgarth and Shapiro claimed.
Use very long sleeves and long trousers, with the bottoms of the pants tucked inside socks.
Don gentle-colored garments so that any ticks might be noticeable. Get rid of them suitable absent.
Use an insect repellent that has 30% DEET. One more repellent, permethrin, is intended to be utilized to apparel.
Right after you return from climbing, clean garments and place in a warm dryer. If it’s incredibly hot plenty of, that will destroy ticks.
Check out by yourself for ticks immediately after you return, shower promptly and have an individual else check out in areas you just can’t see, if attainable.
Far more info
The U.S. Centers for Condition Regulate and Avoidance has much more on the Powassan virus.
Resources: Eugene Shapiro, MD, professor, pediatrics and epidemiology, vice chair for exploration, Division of Pediatrics, and deputy director, investigative medication PhD program, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD, immunologist, Johns Hopkins University of Community Wellness, Baltimore CBS News
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