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A new comment from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) reveals that tick-borne diseases could become more important. The article, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, provides an expert perspective on what public health officials can do to curb this upcoming problem.
In the past decade, tick-borne infections have increased dramatically. According to the CDC, reported cases of tick-borne diseases have increased by more than 200% over the last 13 years. However, not all cases of tick-borne diseases are reported. For example, Lyme disease accounts for more than 80% of infections in humans by ticks and 30,000 cases are reported. However, the CDC estimates that there are actually 300,000 cases of Lyme disease in the United States by ticks every year. This lack of reporting could be explained by the fact that diagnostic tools may not recognize new tick-borne pathogens and the limitations of surveillance for tick-borne diseases.
The NIAID team includes the director of NIAID, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Lyme disease comes from many factors. The first is that the density of ticks in the United States has increased. Ticks that carry Lyme disease have also expanded their geographical area. In 2015, the tick xodes scapularis that carries much of the Lyme disease in the northeast, was detected in nearly 50% of the counties more than 39 years ago. in 1996. 19659002] Lyme disease and many other tick-borne diseases come from bacteria. However, viral infections are also a major risk and are increasing in the United States. Powassan virus causes febrile illness and death in 10 to 15% of cases. It can also lead to severe neurological disorders and 50 to 70% of survivors experience long-term symptoms. The disease was identified for the first time in 1958. In the 48 years from 1958 to 2006, only 20 cases were reported. From 2006 to 2016, 99 cases were reported.
"The largest gap , however, is in the vaccines: there are no vaccines licensed for humans targeting an American tick pathogen, "they write in the commentary A lack of vaccines for all tick-borne diseases means that humans have little protection, beyond the bomb and long pants
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To spread and become more popular at Across the United States, more research and innovations are needed.NIAID authors call for increased treatment options, improved diagnoses and the creation of effective vaccines.
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