We have received the email below from the Peak National Park. Dark Peakers should take note as Lyme Disease can be very unpleasant:<\/p>\n
\nTwo confirmed and one unconfirmed case of Lyme disease have been reported
\nin the Peak District. I have spoken to one the two men who contracted the
\ndisease, so this is not an urban myth. As far as I am aware, this is the
\nfirst time this potentially-fatal illness has been reported in our area.<\/p>\n
The details are:<\/p>\n
On 29.9.06., during an exercise, a member of the Glossop Mountain Rescue
\nteam was bitten on the lower leg though a pair of Ron Hill tracksters.
\nThis was at Deer Knoll on the northern edge of Bleaklow. He thought he’d
\nsuffered a midge bite and only went to his doctor after the bite got
\nworse. He told me that it developed as a red, blind spot surrounded by a
\nring of clear skin surrounded by an inflamed area, which eventually grew
\nto 5″ or so in diameter. After about 10 days he had also developed severe
\njoint pains and after blood tests he was put on what sounds like a
\ntetracycline drug. He says it will be 3 years before he can be sure he is
\nfree of the infection. He said, “Don’t believe what they say about
\n‘flu-like symptoms’ being the first sign.”<\/p>\n
Another member of the MRT was bitten in June 2006 – also through a thin
\ngarment – while walking through rough scrub near Crowden. His bite
\ndeveloped in the same way but the symptoms in his case were extreme
\nlethargy\/tiredness but no joint pain. I did not ask, but I assume the
\nsecond man had similar treatment but this did not happen immediately
\nbecause his doctor thought he had an allergy until he learnt from the
\npatient about his colleague’s experience.<\/p>\n
The details of the illness are:<\/p>\n
Lyme disease (the bacteria Borrelia Burghdor feri) is spread by animal
\nticks, particularly deer ticks. Other wild animals may also carry the
\nticks, which are found in scrub, long grass, bracken or other vegetation
\nfrequented by infected animals. Not all ticks carry the bacteria. The
\nrisk of infection can be reduced by wearing long trousers and long sleeved
\nshirts when working in tall vegetation during May-June or
\nSeptember-October. Tuck trousers into socks if necessary. Light coloured
\nclothing will make ticks more noticeable so that they can be brushed off.
\nInsect repellent sprays can help.<\/p>\n
The range of symptoms includes partial paralysis of the face (Bells Palsy)
\nand serious illness of the nervous system, joints and heart. Flu-like
\nsymptoms may develop, as may swollen glands near the site of the bite,
\nmild headaches, aching muscles and joints, and tiredness.<\/p>\n
Although the highest risk is during the summer when the tick is most
\nactive and feeding, there is some research showing that in certain areas,
\nticks can be active all year round.<\/p>\n
If bitten:<\/p>\n
Remove the tick as soon as possible by grasping it close to the skin with
\na pair of tweezers. Apply gentle pressure, twist anti-clockwise and pull
\nupwards. Pull slowly and consistently until it lets go. Do not squeeze
\nthe body of the tick or attempt to remove with burning or chemicals. If
\nthe tick is accidentally pulled apart and the head remains in the skin,
\nthere may be a risk of infection from other microscopic organisms. This
\nkind of infection is not related to Lyme Disease but can still be
\nunpleasant.<\/p>\n
Retain the tick in a sealed contain in case you develop symptoms later.<\/p>\n
The bite might show itself as an expanding reddish, round rash in the area
\nof the bite. This will usually develop within 3 to 30 days of a bite.
\nConsult a doctor as soon as you believe you are infected and advise him or
\nher the a Lyme Disease infection is possible.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We have received the email below from the Peak National Park. Dark Peakers should take note as Lyme Disease can be very unpleasant: Two confirmed and one unconfirmed case of Lyme disease have been reported in the Peak District. I have spoken to one the two men who contracted the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dpfr.org.uk\/wp_dpfr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}