Tick bite can be deadly

Commentary: Three recent deaths from cardiac complications have highlighted Lyme disease as a potentially fatal illness, but it should be noted that patients may also die from neurological complications of Lyme disease such as a meningoencephalitis (an infection or inflammation of the meninges, and encephalitis, which is an infection or inflammation of the brain), as well as psychiatric manifestations (see the Poughkeepsie Journal article below). Other tick-borne infections however are also claiming lives, and are not as well known or reported. According to a recent study by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, more people died from tick-borne co-infections in Massachusetts last year than Lyme disease. Babesiosis claimed the lives of five people in Massachusetts, and four individuals died of Anaplasmosis in 2012. Individuals who present with a severe febrile, flu-like illness in Lyme endemic areas should therefore be promptly evaluated by their health care provider. Details regarding the diagnosis and appropriate treatment of these potentially life threatening tick-borne co-infections are found in my book “Why Can’t I Get Better? Solving the Mystery of Lyme and Chronic Disease”, in chapter four: Lyme and Common Tick-Borne Bacterial Infections, and chapter five: Lyme and other Co-infections: Parasitic, Viral and Fungal Infections Neurological complications of Lyme disease can be found in chapter twelve, Lyme and the Brain.

Tick bite can be deadly, by Cynthia McCormick, Cape Cod Times