Lyme disease cases continue to rise on Nantucket
Wet summer may boost tick activity
Nantucket is reporting a spike in cases of Lyme disease, with 262 people already diagnosed this summer - up nearly 39 percent from last year, with time to climb.
The island reported 189 diagnoses for all of last year, Nantucket Cottage Hospital spokesman Chuck Gifford said - a dramatic increase over the 23 Nantucket cases recorded by the state Department of Public Health in 2006. The department does not compile data from local hospitals and laboratories until the end of the year and, therefore, could not offer comparisons to other communities.
"The risk of Lyme disease on Nantucket is always considered to be high and what they're reporting is something that's known to be a problem here," said Dr. Bela Matyas, director of epidemiology at the state Department of Public Health.
The summer's wet conditions might have increased activity in areas where the ticks are already prevalent, he said. Ticks are more active and eager to feed in wet, warm conditions.
Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness, can cause a rash and flulike symptoms that can be treated with antibiotics if caught early. If untreated, the disease can cause later problems of the joints or central nervous system, including arthritis and memory loss.
Prime ecological conditions exist in New England because it has the white-footed mice that act as carriers, the ticks that transmit the disease, and the deer that transport the ticks far and wide.
"Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the Cape has for quite some time been known to be high risk for transmission," Matyas said.
While the risk of Lyme disease was once clustered on the Cape and Islands, Cape Ann, and the Connecticut River Valley, it spread across much of Massachusetts over the past 15 years, said Matyas. "The biologists believe the best explanation we can offer as to why we see an increase is the return of the deer to communities," said Matyas.
In 2006, the last year for which statewide data are available, 2,446 people were diagnosed with Lyme disease - about the same number as 2005. That was a big jump from 2004, when just 1,621 cases were reported.
Last year, 63 of the 189 diagnosed with Lyme disease were Nantucket residents, while others were visitors, Gifford noted.
Doctors stress prevention as the best medicine. In wooded or potentially tick-infested areas, people should wear long sleeves and pants, in light colors so ticks can be spotted, and tuck pants into socks to prevent exposure of the skin.
Use bug spray that has DEET or pyrethrin, though pyrethrin should be sprayed on the clothing as it may not work on the skin. Also, regularly check children's bodies for ticks. If removed within the first 24 or 48 hours, they will probably not spread the infection. Using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull with steady pressure.
The diagnoses of other, less prevalent tick-borne diseases on Nantucket have not registered as much of an increase this year. The reported cases of babesiosis climbed from 53 last year to 59 so far this year; the 15 cases of ehrlichiosis last year rose to 17. Those diagnoses can be tougher to make, said Matyas, and their symptoms are probably less recognizable to patients. 