Tick bite & Lyme chances

Sam355

Well-Known Member
Wondering what are the chances of Lyme disease of Tick bites, understand it depends on the area... Read in an article there is a 30٪ chance of getting Lyme off a Bite, is this correct? How often have you guys removed ticks while biting with no rash after bite? Couple of weeks ago I removed a tick the day after stalking in Wiltshire & had a red swollen lump for a day or two, didn't have the red ring...:-|
 
I would be very interested to know if there are any studies as such but you can only get Lyme if the tick is carrying it and regurgitates stomach contents so the big question would be what percentage of ticks carry lyme I guess

Best guess is that chances from a single bite are low but start getting 20+ and not seeing them quickly, that's going to change
 
I stalk in an area that is very bad for tick, will easily get a a hundred + bites per season, had Lymes in 1995 but in more or less a lifetime working with deer in areas with high numbers of tick, considering the amount of exposure I have had the chances of infection are probably not all that high.

Get a proper tick removal tool and check yourself thoroughly after each outing,any that you have missed for 24 hours or longer are said to be the greatest risk.
 
The current figures for human lyme is 1.73 cases per 100,000 people. A recent paper from Bristol put the prevalence of infected ticks on dogs at about 0.5%. However, I can't translate that into a risk per tick bite. Infection won't occur if the tick is removed within 24-48 hours after attaching.
 
The current figures for human lyme is 1.73 cases per 100,000 people. A recent paper from Bristol put the prevalence of infected ticks on dogs at about 0.5%. However, I can't translate that into a risk per tick bite. Infection won't occur if the tick is removed within 24-48 hours after attaching.

That is not correct. Infection is less likely if the tick is removed within 12 hours, but I personally got lymes from a tick that I removed less than 4 hours after being bitten.
 
That is not correct. Infection is less likely if the tick is removed within 12 hours, but I personally got lymes from a tick that I removed less than 4 hours after being bitten.

I heard that around 20% of ticks tested is a sample taken in the new forest by FC had Lymes disease present, and I heard that was done a few years ago, however I could be wrong. You know how the Chinese whispers go round the deer stalking community. I got Lymes about 10 years ago, and that was from a tick which I had picked up a few days earlier on my waist. I was in the shower, and felt a maddening itch, so without thinking I reached down and scratched hard at the itch.It was only after I had total destroyed the tick, that I realised what it was. I got the ring shaped rash a couple of weeks or so later, so my scratching must have squirted some stomach content from the tick into me ? Either way I'm glad my wife noticed the rash and it got treated. Dodgy stuff Lymes - Google it and you get scared out of your life.
 
That is not correct. Infection is less likely if the tick is removed within 12 hours, but I personally got lymes from a tick that I removed less than 4 hours after being bitten.
That's interesting and spectacularly bad luck T-T. Lyme interests me as part of a Masters I am doing, so I've taken up the challenge to justify my statement! Of all the research I've seen, none indicates disease transmission less than 12 hours after attachment. It is typically after 48 hours, but can be just over 24. My statement is therefore clumsy. The reason for the delay in transmission is is that the tick needs to be physically attached and then allow the growth of its salivary glands so that feeding can begin. The glands secrete a variety of chemicals designed to suppress the immune reaction and aid feeding over several days. This contrasts with the in-out feeding of mosquito and midges.
There are two explanations for your case - either this tick had previously been dislodged from another host (so beware when skinning) or you were infected by a tick you didn't know about. Either way, I hope you were OK.
 
The reason I can be sure of when I was bitten was that it had bitten through my sock, and it came off with the sock when I took it off. It's possible that it had been attached to another host before me, but there was no direct contact. I was fine thanks, I just needed a monster course of penicillin!
 
I had an inconclusive test result last autumn having found a tick and removed it- once it was found and than later having had a stiff neck and flu like symptoms a week after. The doctor agreed to do the test and then prescribed the antibio's without hesitation. The supposed tell tell red ring did not appear, but the bite was not happy after the tick was removed, was red and would not heal quickly. I think a bad bite and flu like symptoms should not be ignored. I hope they develop something for deer stalkers and other outdoor oriented people in the form of inoculation.
 
Gentlemen be warned................... You do not always get a enlarged red ring around the bite area of an infected tick bite. If you get any unusual symptoms, such as flu like, joint pains, bad headaches, blurred vision after finding a tick on you GO TO THE DOCTORS and seek a test for Lyme disease.

Lyme disease is in just about every southern county of the UK now. From the west country right through to Sussex. I have first hand experience of this, and even an know of a 3 year old living in north Kent that contracted the disease whilst on a camping holiday in the New Forest. Poor little mite ended up in Great Ormond Street hospital and only just pulled through.

Be vigilant and keep safe.
 
Back
Top