Good news!
Luna has arrived on Kindle! The children’s book ‘Adventures of Luna & Dips‘ written by Jenny O’Dea of Tick Talk Ireland is now released on kindle & available worldwide.
Written as an educational & fun book on the life cycle of ticks, where they live & how they feed – tips on prevention are included, with a mix of facts, fiction & illustrations. Suited to ages 10 & up.To get your copy can search by title or product code B00VS46RIQ in any amazon store around the world.
NB: Pls note that since Sep 2018 Luna has also been loaded onto scribd for free download
Dates for your diary this Spring – on April 21st there will be an informal patient meeting at Leinster House Dublin from 2-4 pm to discuss issues surrounding testing & treatment – please encourage your local TD to attend if you can.
The HPSC’s Scientific Advisory Lyme Borreliosis Sub-Committee will be meeting on 6th May 2015 & on 17th May there will be a Lyme patient & carer meetup in Thurles, Tipperary (if you’d like more details feel free to use our contact us page for more info).
This year, the HSE announced their Lyme Awareness week will run from April 27th to May 1st 2015.
The HPSC (health protection & surveillance centre) have recently published information on the EPI Insights web page at:
http://ndsc.newsweaver.ie/epiinsight/1d8k33gt9m010gkzp9yxn5?a=1&p=48604010&t=17517774
Leaflets: Tick Talk Ireland have available some leaflets for distribution in Ireland, if you would like to help pass leaflets to vets, GPs, local libraries, churches, schools & sport clubs, brownie, scouts etc feel free to contact us (as soon as possible) at: http://www.ticktalkireland.org/contact.php
Leaflets are also available for download on our site at: http://www.ticktalkireland.org/leaflets.html
Surveys: Spring is with us & sadly so are the ticks! Keep a close eye on your self, children & pets whilst out playing, camping, fishing or even releaxing in your own back garden (our surveys show that 22% of ticks being reported were found in their own gardens). If you do spot a tick feel free to let us know on our surveys (see Tick Talking While You’re Walking link on the following site): http://www.ticktalkireland.org/surveys.html
The link above has survey results up to May 2014 with latest results being published summer 2015.
If you are a Lyme patient residing in Ireland (or a patient abroad who was infected in Ireland) why not take our Lyme Disease in Ireland survey located in the web site posted above too. Meanwhile, we have a new map online which will help us pinpoint cases (please note this indicates where the tick bite/infection took place not where the patient resides..)
https://www.zeemaps.com/map?group=1392964&hc_location=ufi
What about latest research? Promising new studies are coming out about persisters causing ongoing symptoms & the drugs that can be helpful to tackle them – let’s hope this type of science can continue unhindered as patients are tired of the ongoing debate about chronic Lyme & just want to be treated!
Drug Combinations against Borrelia burgdorferi Persisters In Vitro: Eradication Achieved by Using Daptomycin, Cefoperazone and Doxycycline
Jie Feng, Paul G. Auwaerter, Ying Zhang
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0117207
Taking a Bite out of Lyme: in honour of Lyme patients around the world & in support of the Lyme Disease Challenge here is Tick Talk Ireland’s submission:
For information on transmission head on down to:
https://ticktalkireland.wordpress.com/facebook-contents-page/transmission/
IDSA: The outdated IDSA guidelines are currently under review- the deadline for submissions/comments on their proposed Lyme Project Plan has been extended to April 24th 2015, more info at: http://lymedisease.org/news/lymepolicywonk/idsa-deadline-extended.html
UK charity Lyme Disease Action have submitted their views to the IDSA: http://www.lymediseaseaction.org.uk/latest-news/idsa-guidelines/
(ILADS updated their guidelines in 2014: available for download at): https://ticktalkireland.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/ilads-2014.pdf (PDF)
Links: Some useful links on our site are regularly updated – folks may be interested in the Irish related articles section, chronic Lyme section, or testing section. We have lots more useful information in our links page, all in alphabetical order for easy access!
Enjoy & remember to stay safe this Spring & Summer! http://www.ticktalkireland.org/ticks.html
Ticks collected in Portumna Forest, Co Galway Sep 2011
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