For 2024 Pilgrims: €50,- donation = 1 year with no ads on the forum + 90% off any 2024 Guide. More here. (Discount code sent to you by Private Message after your donation) |
---|
Lots of mentions of bedbugs, nothing on tick bites.
I acquired several bedbug bites about 6 days out from Sarria. About two days out one changed its aspect into what I found out by Google looked like a tickbite with Lymes disease.
On the 26th attended Sarria hospital, doctors prescribed antibiotics, oral doxycycline, and the bitemarks (there were two) started to clear up within 24hrs.
There were no additional symptoms of itching, soreness or swelling.
The antibiotics caused some early daily fatigue compared with previous and did slow me down (no bad thing).
Prevention is the same as for bedbugs,
"use insect repellent on exposed skin and clothing, and carefully check every day for attached ticks. Minimize areas of exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and closed shoes; tucking shirts in and tucking pants into socks may also reduce risk"
Buen Camino
. . . . . . . . . . .
your know when it is a tick...they start out tiny and when on your skin on the way to a suitable place if you touch them they bury there head immediately into your skin..you are better off performing two actions . either use a tick card "see below" and use it properly or wait till it is fully engorged and it will full off. . . . . . . . . .
ticks can infect once engorged after they have had there meal from you..use a tick card properly as is the new way.
Well, mountaingoat999, perhaps the doctors erred on the safe side so I have no problem with their diagnosis. 6 days out from Sarria was before Sarria, should have been more explicit. I started at SJDPP.
Useful advice if late for me.
I saw no ticks at all, just the aftermath, as others might I'm sure.
Mountaingoat999 I think that the doctors prescribing the correct form of antibiotic suggests a diagnosis, don't you?
The bites certainly looked characteristic, and absent lengthy and controversial testing procedures generally undertaken after more adverse symptoms manifest, I think it was a good call.
I don't know about Spain but in Virginia (lots of ticks and Lyme disease) physicians will prescribe Doxycycline (sometimes in a relatively high "blast" dosage) when the patient presents with a tick bite. If the tick and patient are tested and the tests come back negative, the patient stops taking it. As I understand it, if the tick is infected, the faster the antibiotic is started, the better.I think that the doctors prescribing the correct form of antibiotic suggests a diagnosis, don't you?
Mountaingoat999, the NHS website is good, but there are other authoritative US sites which tend to give more technical info if that's what's wanted.
Mark, several sites suggest that the deer tick will fall off once fed. From my experience for the whole camino frances, it isn't possible to completely avoid grass, or brush. Sooner or later there will be exposure, especially if the walker wears shorts and ankle socks. And I wore longs all the time.
I never allowed the ticks on me to stay that long. My parents always made us check for ticks after coming out of the woods, and sho nuff, sometimes there would be a couple of the little bloodsucking bastards hanging on. From my experience from pulling ones off of dogs, they hang on for weeks sometimes and get as big around as the tip of your thumb (I know, gross huh?). Never heard of any that are happy with a few hours of nourishment from the host. They in there for da long haul.Mountaingoat999, the NHS website is good, but there are other authoritative US sites which tend to give more technical info if that's what's wanted.
Mark, several sites suggest that the deer tick will fall off once fed. From my experience for the whole camino frances, it isn't possible to completely avoid grass, or brush. Sooner or later there will be exposure, especially if the walker wears shorts and ankle socks. And I wore longs all the time.
Apparently so, from that other thread, though it's not clear on a quick read exactly where.is there lyme disease in Spain, or not?
So, to make this simple, is there lyme disease in Spain, or not? Because not all ticks carry it.
I agree with taking them seriously, but as you explained people not use to tics or knowing they exist are the ones finding out the hard way. Loggers before chemicals use to simply tuck their pants into their boot to keep them outside the clothing. As you can see them crawling up a leg sometimes. The pictures that are shared are good. Usually when my wife & I hike spring to summer we will find them & we usually only find them when we look for them. If you get a bad hatch it is not uncommon to find 5-6 or more depending how long you are out walking. If they get buried in an ear canal that is the hardest so a hot needle works the best to back them out. We have Rocky Mountain disease, besides Lyme, & they just discovered a new disease this summer from a tic most of us didn't know existed. But I think Lymes is the only one in Europe.Apparently so, from that other thread, though it's not clear on a quick read exactly where.
I walked in the spring this year and last and had no encounters with ticks.
That said, I've had Lyme Disease twice and in neither case was I aware of the tick at all. The first time was a case of not checking ('ignorance is not bliss'!). But by the time I got it a second time I knew better and was checking every day, carefully. But I still missed seeing the little guy (deer tics are not like dog ticks; they're really small). I'm told this is very common.
So. If you get that rash, big or small, go to a doctor and get it treated, pronto. I have 2 friends who did not and now have chronic Lyme--which is an utterly miserable affliction.
You are an encyclopedia.Mtcamino
you have lyme over there...
- Fast Facts
- In 2014, 96% of confirmed Lyme disease cases were reported from 14 states:
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- New Hampshire
Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vectorborne illness in the United States. In 2014, it was the fifth most commonNationally Notifiable disease. However this disease does not occur nationwide and is concentrated heavily in the northeast and upper Midwest.
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Wisconsin
So, to make this simple, is there lyme disease in Spain, or not? Because not all ticks carry it.
Very well doneThe European Centre for Disease Control and prevention has some useful maps and infographics showing distribution of the tick species that carry Lyme disease - in Europe this seems to be mainly the species Ixodes ricinus (note there are different species which carry Lyme in North America). This page shows broad distribution of a couple of disease-carrying tick species (don't look at the other things they might be carrying!). And this page has maps showing distribution of different species - to see Ixodes ricinus select it from the drop-down under "Select vector species". Basically it's pretty much everywhere you might be on a Camino in Spain. Note that this is distribution of the tick and not the disease, but they state quite clearly that this species carries a number of diseases including Lyme, so the implication seems to be that where Ixodes ricinus goes, there goes Lyme. There's more on the ECDC website than you ever wanted to know on ixodes ricinus and a bit more on Lyme disease.
The European Centre for Disease Control and prevention has some useful maps and infographics showing distribution of the tick species that carry Lyme disease - in Europe this seems to be mainly the species Ixodes ricinus (note there are different species which carry Lyme in North America). This page shows broad distribution of a couple of disease-carrying tick species (don't look at the other things they might be carrying!). And this page has maps showing distribution of different species - to see Ixodes ricinus select it from the drop-down under "Select vector species". Basically it's pretty much everywhere you might be on a Camino in Spain. Note that this is distribution of the tick and not the disease, but they state quite clearly that this species carries a number of diseases including Lyme, so the implication seems to be that where Ixodes ricinus goes, there goes Lyme. There's more on the ECDC website than you ever wanted to know on ixodes ricinus and a bit more on Lyme disease.
If you didn't post it then this forum has an IT glitch because the list that does not include Canada appears as if it it coming from you.Anemone del Camino
The list is not mind I never wrote it
interestingly
its usually the female adult (hard tick) is the one causing the bites as, males usually die after mating (so that's usually)..
same with midges female does all the bites.
If you didn't post it then this forum has an IT glitch because the list that does not include Canada appears as if it it coming from you.
mountaingoat999, I think the key thing is that initially I had no idea that I had been bitten by a tick, and that does not seem to be that unusual. I thought all the marks I had were from bedbugs, and I'd like to emphasise the fact from the WHO report that the bullseye doesn't always appear. The advice to check regularly for ticks isn't generally part of the prep, bedbugs being, seemingly, the major concern.
I haven't brought any bedbugs back, and I assume I didn't transfer any either. I wore a Nosilife shirt all the way, and one in the pack, and I think that provided some deterrent. Didn't have Nosilife trousers, probably why only my lower legs were affected.
Rubbish. The active ingredient in Smidge is listed as Saltadin, a trade name for icaridin or picariden. This is compound developed by Bayer and released onto the market early this centrury. It appears to be a good alternative to DEET, but does need to be used in relatively high concentrations to be effective. Smidge is a 20% solution, but even that will need to be re-applied every couple of hours or so to maintain its effectiveness. It is certainly not a natural product.for my face and hands in to deter everything I use smidge. natural product
Rubbish. The active ingredient in Smidge is listed as Saltadin, a trade name for icaridin or picariden. This is compound developed by Bayer and released onto the market early this centrury. It appears to be a good alternative to DEET, but does need to be used in relatively high concentrations to be effective. Smidge is a 20% solution, but even that will need to be re-applied every couple of hours or so to maintain its effectiveness. It is certainly not a natural product.
@mountaingoat999, merely repeating the advertising that the company wants you to believe is no replacement for providing facts. See here for the information about the active ingredient (which cannot be found on the maker's site) and here for some general information on icaridin.
ps I'm sorry you don't like being disagreed with. I don't like seeing patently incorrect information being provided in posts.
If you were happy to quote some one else's thoughts or beleifs without saying you did not agree or were just ciputting and pasting while ignorant of the issu you are endorsing what you are posting. And I mean theAnemone del Camino
It was my post, I never said otherwise .copy and pasted... I said the list is not mind I never wrote it" I added along side Andorra "I am moving here between camino's if that what made you think otherwise. depending which post you mean
the other list "fast facts" are from the USA. again copied and pasted. like the images in post two .again copied and posted to show the masses. post 11 same deal. after line 4.
while we are here permethrin kills ticks just read it. from the center for disease control. from a USA site....
I like this clarifying post contents....
Thanks
If you were happy to quote some one else's thoughts or beleifs without saying you did not agree or were just ciputting and pasting while ignorant of the issu you are endorsing what you are posting. And I mean the
Ost listing all sorts of countries, the one that says there in spno lyme in Canada. If you din't know if something you are posting is correct, please don't post.
here is the link to the WHO (World Health Organisation) paper on Lyme Disease. - http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/96819/E89522.pdf
Please do before pontificating about things you are just cutting and pasting while havin no 1st knowledge about ang leading readers in the wrong direction while I have better things to do than try to teach this Ipad to detect 3 languages to do proper spell check and not sutocorrect anyway it feels like. And please refrain yoirself from writing to me privately, those messages are not welcomed.so I go a verify everything written on the internet.....that can be updated from time to time .
can you verify what "issu" means and Ost along with ciputting.. can not seem to find a translation on google
Thanks Viranani, these are very helpful links.Cutting through the cross-talk...here are links for those who simply want current reliable and non-commercial information about both lyme disease and repellents.
General current information about Lyme Disease [US Centers for Disease Control]: http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/
General current information about Lyme occurrence internationally [US Centers for Disease Control]: http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/yellowbook/2016/infectious-diseases-related-to-travel/lyme-disease
Also what Tio Tel posted above:
Insect repellents Use and Effectiveness [US EPA]: http://cfpub.epa.gov/oppref/insect/
Insect Repellent Use & Safety [US Centers for Disease Control]: http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/faq/repellent.html
Hope this helps.
Please do before pontificating about things you are just cutting and pasting while havin no 1st knowledge about ang leading readers in the wrong direction while I have better things to do than try to teach this Ipad to detect 3 languages to do proper spell check and not sutocorrect anyway it feels like. And please refrain yoirself from writing to me privately, those messages are not welcomed.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?