Hi - I haven't been here in some time and am sorry to see the forums so sparsely populated. They were so helpful to me years ago.
I had an adult friend's tick tested and learned it was attached for over 40 hours and tested positive for Lyme. My friend removed the tick 13 days ago and has experienced no symptoms in that time. What's the latest protocol to follow at this point? We don't have LLMDs around here.
Thanks!
Posted by Badger2 (Member # 52883) on :
What region are you in? Lyme tick-vectored Powassan virus has changed all safe time-windows for attachment down to fifteen minutes. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40545598 '....POWV can be passed to mammalian hosts in tick saliva within the first 15 minutes of tick attachment and feeding.*'
*Ojibwe: nindozhimiwin gimiigwechiwendam niizhtooshin nisis "transmits in fifteen minutes."
Posted by hiker53 (Member # 6046) on :
I would still ask for an antibiotic such as doxycycline or one from the penicillin class. Better safe than sorry.
Best wishes for your friend, Alisande.
Posted by Alisandne (Member # 27304) on :
Thanks for your responses. I'm in the northeast. The tick was negative for the Powassan virus (two variants, I think).
Asking for doxy sounds like a good idea to me. Maybe he'll be lucky and discover his doctor has read a bit about tick-borne illness. I was on doxy recently for a badly infected stye under my eyelid. It was like old times--but only for a week. lol
Posted by Phoiph (Member # 41238) on :
My symptoms didn't start until many weeks later...so being non-symptomatic early on does not mean your friend wasn't infected, unfortunately.
Fortunately, your friend caught this early and so infection would not be considered chronic at this point.
Make sure your friend is treated right away and given a long enough course of treatment as per the ILADS guidelines:
[ 07-02-2025, 07:50 PM: Message edited by: Phoiph ]
Posted by Badger2 (Member # 52883) on :
Negative for POWV. Good. It should be mentioned that at least in Wisconsin, the 15-minute tick-check rule is most applicable to the northern half of the state, and why tick-flagging there should be done by two or more persons for safety.
Posted by terv (Member # 29410) on :
When I pulled a deer tick off of myself, my LLMD gave me 2 weeks of doxy and told me to call back if the tick tested positive. If it was positive they would give me 2 more weeks.
If you dont have luck getting doxy, I have read that people have had some success by going to the telemed doctors.
Posted by 6t5frlane (Member # 8628) on :