News

Science News, August 9, 2017: By Susan Milius Thanks, Holly Gaff. Soon, anyone straining to tweeze off a mid-back tick can find answers to the obvious question: What if humankind just went after the little bloodsuckers with killer robots? Gaff, who calls herself a mathematical... Read More »

KQED Public Media, July 27, 2017: by Anna Kusmer Northern California has many attractions, but the fact that it’s prime tick habitat isn’t one of them. Adding to the angst surrounding outdoor activities is that tick hotspots are unevenly distributed on a patchy landscape. One... Read More »

Contagion Live is a website devoted to educating medical professionals about infectious diseases. One of its features is called “Peer Exchange”–videotaped discussions about different diseases and their treatments. The following recent exchange about Lyme disease... Read More »

There’s a troubling statement about Lyme disease on the CDC website which is widely cited in the media: “This disease does not occur nationwide.”  (Editor’s note: Since this blog was published, the CDC has deleted this line from its website.) What in the world does that... Read More »

New York Times, August 2, 2017: By Amy Harmon It is August, the month when a new generation of black-legged ticks that transmit Lyme and other diseases are hatching. On forest floors, suburban estates and urban parks, they are looking for their first blood meal. And very often,... Read More »

The risk of contracting Lyme disease depends on where you live or visit. The best way to determine an area’s risk is to look at a map. However, maps from different sources vary. For example, the CDC surveillance maps show exposure as primarily limited to the East Coast, but... Read More »

Press release from Stanford University School of Medicine, July 31, 2017: Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have linked chronic fatigue syndrome to variations in 17 immune-system signaling proteins, or cytokines, whose concentrations in the blood correlate... Read More »

Lyme disease and tick-borne diseases are complicated illnesses and because of that, treatment can be complex. Patients who’ve gone through treatment will often say “your symptoms get worse before they get better.” One of the reasons for this is something called a... Read More »

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is accepting nominations for people to serve on a federal “tick-borne disease working group.” The working group was a Lyme-related portion of the 21st Century Cures Act, signed into law in December 2016. According to... Read More »