Ali Moresco said she had classic cold and flu symptoms, which led to a two-year delay in diagnosis and permanent bodily damage.
After visits with more than a dozen specialists, Moresco was diagnosed with Lyme disease 10 years ago. She’s still dealing with the long-term effects.
“I still do have some days where I wake up and I’m in pain, and my joints hurt, and my muscles ache for no reason. But then I have days where I feel very, very normal,” said Moresco, who now advocates for awareness and education about the disease on social media.
Intermittent symptoms, like Moresco’s, are common among Lyme patients, according to Dr. Richard Horowitz, who works with chronic Lyme disease patients and is a founding member of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society.
“Really what you’re looking for is good days and bad days where the symptoms come and go. You have fatigue. You have migratory pain. You have memory concentration problems you didn’t have before. You can’t fall asleep,” Horowitz said.
Horowitz and other experts are concerned a surge in emergency room visits for tick bites, reported recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may lead to other chronic illnesses.
“It’s very important because a tick bite, even 15 minutes on you can give you Powassan virus,” he said. “So, it’s not like wait 24 hours to 48 hours and get sick. These ticks can transmit organisms very quickly.”
Powassan virus disease is rare but increasing, according to the CDC. Initial symptoms include fever, headache, vomiting and weakness.
The disease was recently detected in two Illinois counties.
“We do keep finding new pathogens in the state,” said Chris Stone, with the Illinois Natural History Survey at the University of Illinois.
“That landscape of disease to be at least aware of does keep changing,” Stone said.
Tick activity is higher than usual for this time of year, according to both Stone and Dr. Matthew Leslie, an epidemiologist with the Illinois Department of Public Health.
Leslie said it’s still too early to tell if diagnoses for tick-borne illnesses will also increase.
“There is often a lag with tick-borne illness between the tick bite, the presentation of the illness and the diagnosis of the illness,” Leslie said. “But the prevention message is clear.”
The most recent data from IDPH shows about 40% of adult ticks in Illinois test positive for the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.
There is concern amongst some in the medical community that more exposure will lead to a higher possibility of infection.
Experts shared the following tick-prevention advice:
Wear light colors, long sleeves and pants outside Use EPA-registered repellants and perform tick checks along the hairline, back of the neck and armpits every two to three hours Walk in the middle of pathways, away from brush and tall grass“The majority of ticks don’t jump. None of them fly.” Leslie said. “Oftentimes they will position themselves on the edge of leaves, grasses, bushes, right on the edges, looking to be brushed up against by a human or animal. And they’re ready to quickly crawl onto that human or animal if they’re brushed up again.”
Leslie said if a tick attaches, remove it as soon as possible using tweezers, grasping the tick close to the skin, and pulling upwards with even pressure.
If a tick has been attached for longer than 24 hours, it can be placed in isopropyl alcohol and submitted to IDPH through a local health department for identification.
“That information can later help your provider understand if there is the possibility for any disease transmission,” Leslie said.
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