Expert: County has high rate of Lyme Disease
Out of the 336,000 people nationally who are diagnosed a year with a tick-borne illness, one-third of them come from Pennsylvania — and Butler County has one of the highest infection rates in the state.
Karen Ruberto, medical referral coordinator for the PA Lyme Resource Network, shared those facts Tuesday at the Butler Area Public Library, 218 N. McKean St., during a program to learn about diseases spread by ticks. Spring season is when nymphs, which are most likely to spread diseases, are most common, she said.
"May is Lyme Disease Awareness Month for a reason," Ruberto said. “This time of year is very dangerous because those nymphs are tiny, tiny, tiny little ticks.”
The talk was planned in collaboration with the Jean B. Purvis Community Health Center, 103 Bonnie Drive. Iona Balt, a LPN with the community health center, said she, too, was a victim of tick-borne disease as a child.
Balt said she suffered from leg pain, headaches, insomnia and more as a result of a tick bite, and she doesn’t want to see anyone else go through the long-lasting symptoms of Lyme Disease.
"There is a lot of terrible mental illness that goes undiagnosed along with Lyme Disease," Balt said. “A lot of people don’t know they have it, so we need to make sure we get information out and that that information is correct.”
According to Ruberto, she gives talks about prevention because it's easier to stop ticks from infecting a person than it is to treat Lyme or other illnesses ticks spread.
People should do a tick check every time they come inside from spending an extended period of time outdoors and shower within two hours of coming in, Ruberto advised. As an extra measure, people can even put their clothing in a dryer, where a 25-minute spin cycle is enough to kill ticks.
However, Ruberto said pulling a tick off the body is one of the most important — but difficult — methods of prevention.
"You want to get under the skin and the tick itself, you want to get as close to the mouth parts as possible, and then just pull straight up," Ruberto said. “If you wiggle, dig, if you poke, if you try to burn it, you’re going to irritate the tick and you’re going to have a higher likelihood of transmission of disease.”
If you do get hold of a tick, Ruberto said, people should freeze it in a bag so they can send it to the resource network to be tested.
Ruberto also warned about the warning signs of infection. The signature "red circle rash" is one obvious sign of Lyme Disease, but oftentimes it is more difficult to spot early signs.
Ruberto said people who think they have been bitten by a tick should seek medical help immediately.
"If you see a rash, if you see a big puff — and it can be all different colors — don’t dismiss it," Ruberto said. “It’s not necessarily going to happen, but if you do have it, it’s definitive.”
Balt also said it’s important for people to be aware of the signs of Lyme Disease, because they may not get the medical attention they need if they aren’t specific about their illness and its potential cause.
“A majority of people need to be treated immediately,” Balt said. “There is a lack of resources out there and some healthcare agencies need to catch up.”
Ruberto directed the audience to visit ticklab.org to learn more about diseases spread by ticks, and the website also offers testing of ticks and
