ENTERPRIZE | Dragon Den type challenge assists local entrepreneurs and gets food truck rolling [A10]
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Sunday, April 12, 2015
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Tick concerns grabbing hold
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JENNIFER SMITH Morning Star Staff
LISA VANDERVELDE/MORNING STAR
Brody Russell, five, keeps his kite in the air as he runs with it at Polson Park on a sunny afternoon.
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Tick season has taken its hold and, despite the odds, has already left a young girl fighting lyme disease. It’s rare to get lyme disease in this area since most of the ticks in the Interior are wood ticks, which do not carry the bacteria, according to the Interior Health Authority. But it is possible, since the Ixodes ticks, which carry the bacteria are present in low numbers locally. “We usually get one or two lab-confirmed lyme disease cases in the Interior,” said Dr. Rob Parker, IHA medical health officer. The ticks carrying lyme disease are more common in the coastal areas of B.C. “They tend to see more cases.” Although there have been no lab-confirmed cases yet this year, a young girl visiting the area is believed to have contracted lyme disease. “We’re fairly sure that the tick was from around here,” said the local grandmother, who did not want to be named but wanted to share the story in hopes of spreading awareness. The seven-year-old is from the Lower Mainland, but was in town visiting over spring break. “She was in Vernon for a week when they discovered that she had a tick,” said the grandma. Not sure what to do with it, the tick was removed at Vernon Jubilee Hospital and discarded (although ticks can be removed at home using tweezers and gently grasping the tick close to the skin to pull it straight out without crushing it).
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“We usually get one or two lyme disease cases in the Interior.” — Dr. Rob Parker
But on her way home to Vancouver, the girl developed many of the symptoms of lyme disease, which are: muscle pain, headache, fever and the target mark. So they stopped at the Nicola Valley Health Centre, where she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. It was an upsetting ordeal for the young girl, and her family, but she is now being treated. “She’s only seven, it’s really scary,” said the grandma, who hopes their story spreads awareness. “Everyone I’ve talked to said it’s early for ticks and lyme disease isn’t in this area.” It is, but just in small amounts. In fact not all of the Ixodes ticks carry lyme disease. “When they collect those ticks, they usually find about .5 to two per cent might have the bacteria in them,” said Parker of Lower Mainland tests. One signature mark of lyme disease is the bull’s eye target, which the young girl had around the bite on her head. “It was almost on the top of her head, and that’s what ticks do, they crawl up,” said the grandmother. “She said that her head was itchy and she had a lump.” Parker agrees that awareness is key to preventing and treating bites.
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