Editorial: Preventing tick-borne illness requires research and acceptance

It all starts with a tick.

Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria carried by the black-legged tick. While naturalists and scientists will warn arachnophobes that Pennsylvania spiders aren’t really something to worry about — even the deadly brown recluse isn’t as common as many fear — this eight-legged first cousin is definitely a reason for concern.

First, there’s the size. It’s easy to miss. The biggest, full-grown black-legged ticks can fit comfortably within the coils of an inch-long paper clip. Most are the size of a sesame seed or smaller. Even if you notice the black speck on your leg or arm, it could be easily brushed off as a speck of dirt.

Then there’s the habitat. They are mostly in the northeastern United States. They are commonly in woods and fields and grass. The more rural an area, the better.

Yeah, sounds a lot like the vast majority of Pennsylvania.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the number of reported Lyme disease cases in the country at about 30,000 per year, with one-third of those in Pennsylvania. However, the CDC also says it is vastly underreported and estimates actual cases at about 10 times that number.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health agrees, estimating that 1 in 100 residents is infected annually.

A Yale University study puts the economic impact of treating the disease at about $1.2 billion. With almost one-third of the cases being in the Keystone State, that would break down to about $400 million annually spent on treatment. And that doesn’t address other costs, including lost wages and lowered productivity from a disease notable for extreme fatigue.

Lyme disease is treatable with antibiotics, but it hasn’t been preventable by vaccine — not because one wasn’t available but because people weren’t interested in trying it, opting to try preventing the bug bites instead of addressing the bacteria.

That could be changing.

A trial of a potential vaccine is being conducted in the U.S. and Europe for the first time since 2002. Pennsylvania is one of the areas being targeted for participation. Yale researchers are developing another that could help the body develop a strong immune response to tick saliva, warding off other tick-borne illnesses like Rocky Mountain spotted fever, anaplasmosis and tularemia.

It’s a good sign for Pennsylvania that could mean health and economic benefits in a state where many people’s homes and livelihoods overlap with tick habitats and where the tourism and recreation industries can bring visitors into contact with those same woods and fields.

But to be successful, it will require people to be more accepting of the science and the need for medical prevention than they were 20 years ago.