Blog- In microbiology, the ID50 is the infectious dose (ID) of a micoorganism required to produce infection in 50 percent of the experimental population.
February 04, 2008
Factless press release. Please recall.
PRESS RELEASE
Lyme Disease Education and Support Groups of Maryland
Residents at risk year round for multiple tick borne diseases
Feb 08- Centreville, MD- January is normally considered to be a time for cold and snowy weather in the mid-Atlantic region, however, someone forgot to tell the ticks. It seems they don’t check thermometers, don’t listen to weather reports or they just don’t care if their tiny tick toes get frostbite.
Not sure why this press release was produced right now. Mid-winter boredom perhaps? First off, there are no cited references or quotes from state health officials so right away there should be a high level of suspicion about the content of this mercifully short announcement. The main point seems to be that it’s possible to contract tick-borne infections in the winter. Yes, it’s possible, but not as probable as contracting them during warmer months when cold-blooded ticks are more mobile. Cases of Lyme disease diagnosed during winter months, for example, are likely to have been contracted earlier in the fall when more ticks—and more people—are both more active.
The press release then briefly becomes hysterical: “no where in the state is there a totally safe haven from the tiny blood-sucking arthropods that carry multiple diseases.” [Lock your doors! Move to Virginia!]
And then it gives readers some odd ‘data’ about Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF): “Over the past three years more than 200 Maryland residents also contracted Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which poses a serious danger, especially to children.” Two hundred cases? Curious phrasing. Does it mean 200 Marylanders caught RMSF in Maryland or 200 Marylanders were diagnosed with RMSF contracted in Maryland and other states. It’s an important point because “approximately 35 cases of RMSF are reported annually in Maryland. From 1994 to 1998, Maryland ranked 8th nationally, reporting 112 cases.” Two hundred cases? Must be a typo.
Ehrlichiosis has been detected in over half of the counties in the state, with over half of those cases reported in Kent County in 2006.” Detected in people or detected in rats and ticks? And just how many cases (human, not equine) were there in Kent County?
There’s more of these vague, numberless warnings: “Babesiosis…has already been identified in a number of patients in ten counties, on both sides of the bay.” “Tularemia (rabbit fever) and Leptospirosis have managed to claim victims on both the sides of the bay also.”
Again, no numbers, though it should be pointed out that tularemia can be contracted through other means than a tick bite, and leptospirosis is not a tick-borne infection.
Finally some press release good news: “The good news is seven fewer Maryland residents were infected with Malaria last year….”
Does that mean fewer Marylanders traveled overseas and returned with malaria, or fewer residents caught P. vivax in Virginia?
West Nile has also noted a decrease from 11 to 10 cases in Maryland after millions of dollars were spent on detection and prevention efforts.”
Anyone else notice the sarcasm? Millions of dollars to prevent one case of West Nile. Well, it might be worth questioning the costs of detection and prevention if they were the only factors involved in reducing the number of cases. Other factors would include the westward movement of the epidemic; a rebounding, resistant bird population on the East Coast; changes in types of mosquito vectors; and a population more aware of the dangers of viral encephalitis and the potentially debilitating consequences of post-infection sequelae.
Don’t forget, do a tick check and do it year round.”
Yeah, and don’t forget, do a fact check too.
Posted by HadLyme at 17:18