LYME DISEASE STOPPER
THE NOTORIOUS BULLS EYE
TICKS
Dear Mister SASB, I live out in the woods with three dogs. I get a lot of ticks on me. No Lyme disease yet but it’s just a matter of time!!! Is there anything I should do? – WoodyLane5
There sure is, Woody. You should move to the city.
You’re right to worry. Lyme disease can be nasty. And you can’t be hauling yourself off to the clinic every time a tick sticks its bloody proboscis into your sweet epidermis. But, if the tick bite that you choose to ignore happens to carry a bacterium called lime borreliosis, suckiness will be knocking at your door. Soon you will have headaches, joint pain, and possible “organ damage”. How does THAT sound?
But a group of researchers (Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology IZI in Leipzig and others) is testing a new gel. If a tick bites you, all you will have to do is remove the tick (make sure you get the head) and slap their gell on the bite. After that? No worries.
I hope testing goes well. For Woody’s sake.
Image credits” Yersinia Pestis. 
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I wonder what ever became of the Lyme vaccine? Years ago a friend who is an avid gardener got the prophylactic vaccine (and as far as I know has never gotten Lyme), but it is no longer available. Having had Lyme disease myself, and the resulting and lingering effects from it, I can tell you this is no picnic. The gel is great, but very often you don’t even know you were bitten by the tic until you get sick from it.
Zoey:
I believe the vaccine was withdrawn in the US because it wasn’t making headway with the insurance companies for reimbursement (very expensive) and it was getting killed by class action suits from people who had convinced themselves that it was responsible for all kinds of stuff. I’m pretty sure the claims were investigated and nothing was found.