8 ms·

I'm still mad that the Lyme disease vaccine was killed by anti-vaxxers. If not for those people, ticks would be about as annoying as leeches.

stinos 9y ago
That would completely depend on your definition of 'annoying': ticks spread more diseases than just Lyme. For example, I'm really not sure whether Human Anaplasmosis [1] is only as annoying as a leech. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/symptoms/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/symptoms/index.html
- ceejayoz 9y ago
  There's also the one that induces a severe, life-long allergy to red meat. https://www.wired.com/story/lone-star-tick-that-gives-people-meat-allergies-may-be-spreading/ https://www.wired.com/story/lone-star-tick-that-gives-people...
- hwillis 9y ago
  Lyme disease is a couple times more common than other diseases, and it can have permanent, sometimes debilitating effects. In many people it can be hard to recognize or diagnose before permanent effects set in. The other things you can get just make you sick. But true, its very hard to get sick from a leech. A mosquito or black fly would be a better comparison. Without the vaccine, ticks are second only to like... bot flies and tarantula wasps.
eveningcoffee 9y ago
Could you be more specific about vaccination opponents aspect?
- lobster_johnson 9y ago
  Here [1] is an article: > The idea that the vaccine could cause this “autoimmune arthritis” stemmed from a hypothesis, named the molecular mimicry hypothesis, which suggested that the protein used in the vaccine displayed similarity to a protein found in the human body, but was still different enough to be recognized as foreign by the immune system. This would mean that, alongside attacking the foreign bacterial protein, the immune system would also start targeting the normal human protein and thus lead to an autoimmune reaction. It's not quite as simple as "anti-vaxxers shut it down", but it's also pretty clear that an effective, useful vaccine is unavailable for largely political (or non-medical) reasons. [1] http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-vaxxers-only-licensed-lyme-disease-vaccine-was-withdrawn/ http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-va...
- hwillis 9y ago
  Same thing as the "vaccines cause autism" crowd. For Lyme disease, it was fear that it would cause arthritis (Lyme disease causes arthritis). Despite repeated proof that it did not, the vaccine was banned in the US.
jpalomaki 9y ago
Interesting, did not know about this. One article about the subject: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-vaxxers-only-licensed-lyme-disease-vaccine-was-withdrawn/ http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-va...

stinos 9y ago

That would completely depend on your definition of 'annoying': ticks spread more diseases than just Lyme. For example, I'm really not sure whether Human Anaplasmosis [1] is only as annoying as a leech. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/symptoms/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/anaplasmosis/symptoms/index.html

ceejayoz 9y ago
There's also the one that induces a severe, life-long allergy to red meat. https://www.wired.com/story/lone-star-tick-that-gives-people-meat-allergies-may-be-spreading/ https://www.wired.com/story/lone-star-tick-that-gives-people...
hwillis 9y ago
Lyme disease is a couple times more common than other diseases, and it can have permanent, sometimes debilitating effects. In many people it can be hard to recognize or diagnose before permanent effects set in. The other things you can get just make you sick. But true, its very hard to get sick from a leech. A mosquito or black fly would be a better comparison. Without the vaccine, ticks are second only to like... bot flies and tarantula wasps.

eveningcoffee 9y ago

Could you be more specific about vaccination opponents aspect?

lobster_johnson 9y ago
Here [1] is an article: > The idea that the vaccine could cause this “autoimmune arthritis” stemmed from a hypothesis, named the molecular mimicry hypothesis, which suggested that the protein used in the vaccine displayed similarity to a protein found in the human body, but was still different enough to be recognized as foreign by the immune system. This would mean that, alongside attacking the foreign bacterial protein, the immune system would also start targeting the normal human protein and thus lead to an autoimmune reaction. It's not quite as simple as "anti-vaxxers shut it down", but it's also pretty clear that an effective, useful vaccine is unavailable for largely political (or non-medical) reasons. [1] http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-vaxxers-only-licensed-lyme-disease-vaccine-was-withdrawn/ http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-va...
hwillis 9y ago
Same thing as the "vaccines cause autism" crowd. For Lyme disease, it was fear that it would cause arthritis (Lyme disease causes arthritis). Despite repeated proof that it did not, the vaccine was banned in the US.

jpalomaki 9y ago

Interesting, did not know about this. One article about the subject: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-vaxxers-only-licensed-lyme-disease-vaccine-was-withdrawn/ http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/thanks-anti-va...