We knew in 1994 that a 24-36 hour 'attachment time' was bogus. ......................
Disseminated Lyme disease after short-duration tick bite Michael A. Patmas, MD, FACP and Carolina Remorca, MD. JSTD 1994; 1:77-78.
Lyme disease, an Ixodes tick-borne spirochetal infection, has been the subject of much controversy. One problematic area has been the prophylactic treatment of deer-tick bites in endemic areas. Some have argued against routine antimicrobial prophylaxis based upon the belief that transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi is unlikely before 24-48 hours of tick attachment. Others have suggested that it is cost effective to administer prophylactic antibiotics against Lyme disease when embedded deer-tick bites occur in endemic areas.
Herein, a case of disseminated Lyme disease after only 6 hours of tick attachment is presented. The current recommendation against treatment of short-duration tick bites may need reconsideration, particularly in hyperendemic areas. Color pictures.
Posted by Melanie Reber (Member # 3707) on :
SHORT REPORT: DURATION OF TICK ATTACHMENT REQUIRED FOR TRANSMISSION OF POWASSAN VIRUS BY DEER TICKS GREGORY D. EBEL AND LAURA D. KRAMER Arbovirus Laboratories, Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health, Slingerlands, New York; Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Public Health, The University at Albany, State University of New York, Albany, New York Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 71(3), 2004, pp. 268-271
ABSTRACT
Infected deer ticks (Ixodes scapularis) were allowed to attach to naive mice for variable lengths of time to determine the duration of tick attachment required for Powassan (POW) virus transmission to occur. Viral load in engorged larvae detaching from viremic mice and in resulting nymphs was also monitored. Ninety percent of larval ticks acquired POW virus from mice that had been intraperitoneally inoculated with 105 plaque-forming units (PFU). Engorged larvae contained approximately 10 PFU.
Transstadial transmission efficiency was 22%, resulting in approximately 20% infection in nymphs that had fed as larvae on viremic mice. Titer increased approximately 100-fold during molting.
Nymphal deer ticks efficiently transmitted POW virus to naive mice after as few as 15 minutes of attachment, suggesting that unlike Borrelia burgdorferi, Babesia microti, and Anaplasma phagocytophilum, no grace period exists between tick attachment and POW virus transmission.
Posted by iceskater (Member # 8655) on :
Thanks for posting such an informative article. It is pretty scary stuff, all stuff we knew.
