7 ms·

15-minute at-home Lyme disease tick test

251 points by bookofjoe 5mo ago

https://archive.ph/cNwmN https://archive.ph/cNwmN

deleted 5mo ago
[deleted]
shinobi-apps 5mo ago
Anyone tried ivermectin?
mgerdts 5mo ago
https://lymealert.com/how-it-works/ https://lymealert.com/how-it-works/ I’m not optimistic this will be all that helpful. Just because the tick you found is negative, that tells you nothing about those you did not find. Just because a tick is positive, that does not mean that it has infected whoever it was attached to. My understanding is that the ticks only transmit disease after they have been attached long enough to become engorged. None of the ticks shown were engorged.
- _ink_ 5mo ago
  I think it's super helpful. Sure it doesn't help with ticks, you don't find, but in my experience it starts to itch eventually even with the tick attached. If it's negative good, if it's positive go see a doctor.
- kaikai 5mo ago
  > My understanding is that the ticks only transmit disease after they have been attached long enough to become engorged. None of the ticks shown were engorged. I’ve hear stats as long as 24 hours and as short as 30 seconds. One nurse told me that removing ticks by grasping and pulling means they transmit immediately, because you squeeze their contents through their mouths. I no longer believe any of the stats; seems like it could be at any time.
  - mgerdts 5mo ago
    > you squeeze their contents through their mouths Whenever someone recommends removal using tweezers, I wonder if the person offering this advice has ever removed a well attached tick. I’ve found tools like a Tick Tornado work better, but are still problematic with smaller ticks. https://www.zenpetusa.com/tick-tornado https://www.zenpetusa.com/tick-tornado
    - CamperBob2 5mo ago
      We always covered them with coal-tar ointment (ichthyol / ichthammal) for a few minutes. They detached without a problem after that, with nothing more than a subtle hint from the tweezers. Just breaking out the tweezers and yanking away was most emphatically not recommended. It can leave the mouth parts behind, if nothing else.
      - aorloff 5mo ago
        On dogs my friend likes to strike a match, touch the extinguished tip to the back of the tick, and then pull it out with tweezers. Seems to work
        sciencejerk 5mo ago
        From experience, you might end up with 2nd degree burns and burn the bugger into a hot crispy pile of ash.
        LargoLasskhyfv 5mo ago
        Now that you say it... Makes me wonder of what would happen when you'd use the tips of two blank wires connected to a 1.5V battery? ZAP! Could be made into a small USB-gadget, to have it always available? Zaptastick!
        bookofjoe 5mo ago
        I like this. Better: ZapStick!
- micromacrofoot 5mo ago
  there have been times in my life where this could have saved me a doctors visit, and that's good enough for me
  - lukan 5mo ago
    You went to a doctor because you had a tick, or because you had symptoms? (like the red ring)
    - micromacrofoot 5mo ago
      for a prophylactic dose of antibiotics after having a tick latched for an unknown amount of time the US gets a persistent amount of emergency room visits for this sort of treatment (tens of thousands annually), and with all the news about increased tick and lyme exposure a larger number of people treat it preemptively, especially with children
      - lukan 5mo ago
        Hm, that approach would have me at the doctor every second day and being on antibiotic all the time. I am outdoors a lot and had 5 ticks on me just today after not checking enough last night after being outside. I only would consider antibiotics if the red ring appears. In general I suppose I already have resistance .. or the disease slumbering in my body.
        annzabelle 5mo ago
        Same. I've found engorged ticks a half dozen times in my life. Never had the red ring and never had antibiotics for it. I've got hypothyroidism (genetic) and some mental health issues, but I am otherwise healthy and run 15 miles a week. I really don't believe that the vague long term symptoms a lot of people are describing in this thread are from ticks, especially people who don't spend much time outside in lyme endemic regions. Lyme has become a favorite label for quacks to describe the fatigue/pain syndrome that is sometimes called fibromyalgia. We don't really know what causes it (and it's probably not ticks), and taking high dose doxycycline for months is not the answer, other than maybe as a placebo.
- exogenousdata 5mo ago
  Unfortunately there are a number of tick-borne illnesses. Eg, Powassan virus is a viral infection that attacks the central nervous system (leading to encephalitis). It can be transmitted within hours or even just 15 minutes of tick attachment. Another is Alpha Gal. It is a molecule carried in tick saliva that can cause serious allergies to red meat and even dairy. Because the molecule is in the saliva, it can be delivered immediately.
  - superjan 5mo ago
    I’m not sure we are talking about the same virus, but for the version prevalent in northern europe, there’s a vaccine.
    - rciorba 5mo ago
      I assume you're thinking of Tick-borne Encephalitis
- Aurornis 5mo ago
  This is very helpful for determining if prophylactic treatment is necessary after discovering a tick. If someone doesn’t notice a tick then they aren’t going to be considering prophylactic treatment anyway. It’s for the cases where ticks are discovered.
- JimBlackwood 5mo ago
  According to the dutch public health institute, the longer the tick is in the body, the bigger the chance of transmission. Early removal also does not prevent lyme, it just reduces the chances. Next to that, in The Netherlands we have a site to report tick bites and if they had lyme disease or not. It’s good to know if you should be extra vigilant after a bite from a certain area. I think the self-test could be very useful for such sites.
  - SyneRyder 5mo ago
    Upstate New York has a site for testing and reporting / tracking. Costs are $80 USD for a comprehensive test though. It looks like they'll test just for Lyme for $20, but if you found a tick on you I imagine you'll want to know all the diseases it has potentially given you. At least I did. https://nyticks.org/ https://nyticks.org/
  - bregma 5mo ago
    A site to report tick bytes. Is there a similar site to report mosquito bites? They also carry many debilitation or fatal diseases. I live in prime tick country. During peak season (March through June and again September through November) I can get 3 or 4 tick bites a day. I don't always get them all because they're completely painless while they're embedded (although I react strongly after they've been removed) and I've been diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease twice after developing all the classic symptoms. I am not alone in my area. If there was a site where you report tick bites here it would need to be pretty robust to handle the load and it would serve no purpose. The local authorities have acknowledged the rampant outbreak of Lyme in the region. You do not need to provide the tick to authorities for identification. All you need to do is go to any pharmacy and tell them you've been bitten by a tick and they'll write you a prescription for Doxycycline on the spot.
    - armitron 5mo ago
      That must do wonders for antibiotic resistance.
- Fomite 5mo ago
  This is one of the things that is oft repeated by my vector disease colleagues -- your infection may not be caused by the tick you found, but by the tick you didn't.
  - nkrisc 5mo ago
    Do ticks commonly detach on their own before being noticed? Because from what I’ve seen of fully engorged ticks I don’t think I would fail to discover that. Or maybe an earlier stage where they’re smaller?
    - zxexz 5mo ago
      I always thought that too. I spend a lot of time outside and check rigorously. Very often I find a recently attached tick. Found a fully-engorged deer tick half-detached not too long ago - pulled it off jaw-intact. In treatment for early-mid stage disseminated Lyme again, for the third time. Certainly a hidden tax one pays living in New England...I've recently put a lot more effort into things like permethrin. From what I understand, you're spot on with your last note. Larval stage can be extremely hard to see even when fully engorged. Adult-stage ticks (at least Deer Ticks) are the size of a large grain of cooked brown rice. I've seen fully engorged nymph-stage that rival the size of a grape...
      - nkrisc 5mo ago
        I’ve been fortunate that all the ticks I’ve found on myself I discovered before they began feeding because I am very hairy and they tickled my hairs on my legs as they made their way up. One other I found crawling up my white tshirt. Good reminder to wear light colored clothes when you’re out where ticks are.
- locallost 5mo ago
  I think you need to stop overthinking. Yes it can make you sick, but the only thing you can do is be on the lookout for it and be smart about avoiding it. I've had around 4-5 ticks in the last years, my kids and family probably around 15-20, one recently near my ankle that probably could've been avoided if I wasn't wearing short trousers. But anyway nobody ever got sick from it and we live in a region with a high prevalence of tick caused encephalitis. There's a vaccine for that so we're all vaccinated now. Otherwise just enjoy your life.
- DANmode 5mo ago
  > My understanding is that the ticks only transmit disease after they have been attached long enough to become engorged This understanding will age like milk.
- 1970-01-01 5mo ago
  As everyone is different, there is no "best" method to remove one however there's lots of wrong ways. The only thing everyone agrees with is sooner is always better. I'm surprised "laser tick remover" isn't a thing yet.
billfor 5mo ago
I always keep doxycyline around take a couple whenever I find a deer tick on me. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545493/table/rc1121.app4.tab3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545493/table/rc1121.ap...
- holdenk 5mo ago
  And it's relatively easy to get a prescription for since it's a PEP drug for high -er risk sexual activities.
- alfon 5mo ago
  You're the smart one.. Unfortunately I didn't find the tick on time and have been sick with persistent Lyme for over 10 years. Hoping for some kind of solution soon.
  - throwawaycan 5mo ago
    Did you ever see a tick?
    - anakaine 5mo ago
      Does it matter at this point?
      - DANmode 5mo ago
        The “no, never saw a tick” anecdotes help support the obvious concept that a bullseye rash is not required to end up with chronic Lyme.
        DANmode 5mo ago
        (nor is a tick required!)
  - any_throw777 5mo ago
    Controlled hyperthermia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwtPtlcNXEs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwtPtlcNXEs
viccis 5mo ago
How about loosening restrictions on deer hunting as part of the policy change to reduce deer populations and, consequently, tick populations, that Governor Healey grandstanded^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H spoke passionately about earlier this year
- zzzeek 5mo ago
  and the rabbits and chipmunks and mice and squirrels, as well as that you have to kill basically all deer to the point of about 8 deer per square mile, since one deer can carry 2000-3000 new ticks. which is basically impossible on mainland because new deer just wander over.
  - viccis 5mo ago
    I wasn't making a scientific statement about whether depopulating the deer will help; the governor of Massachusetts already did. I'm saying that it's pathetic to blame it all on deer and then not eliminate the pointlessly onerous burden on culling their population. But since you're being needlessly snarky about it (it's not productive to suggest killing "the rabbits and chipmunks and mice and squirrels"), here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25118409/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25118409/ >After hunts were initiated, number and frequency of deer observations in the community were greatly reduced as were resident-reported cases of Lyme disease. Number of resident-reported cases of Lyme disease per 100 households was strongly correlated to deer density in the community. Reducing deer density to 5.1 deer per square kilometer resulted in a 76% reduction in tick abundance, 70% reduction in the entomological risk index, and 80% reduction in resident-reported cases of Lyme disease in the community from before to after a hunt was initiated.
    - zzzeek 4mo ago
      As I said - on mainland. That study was done on a peninsula community surrounded by water, except on the north side, which was mostly a nature preserve where a 6 foot high fence on that side prevented new deer from entering. So yes "kill all the deer" (like nearly ALL deer) works if you're in a small community that is 95% sealed off. Realistically, "we have no solution to tick borne disease except for hiring tens of thousands of full time hunters continuously shooting animals in residential areas to keep the deer population on the brink of extinction" is not a sufficient solution for me. And I live in a town where we have lots of those guys. It's fine. But scaling them up to the point that we don't need to spray for ticks anymore, you'd have them falling out of trees in playgrounds.
daemonologist 5mo ago
I like that it involves grinding up the tick. Just deserts.
- AnimalMuppet 5mo ago
  I don't mind there being some selection pressure against biting humans.
  - nkrisc 5mo ago
    At the same time no tick that I’ve ever removed from a person survived, even without testing it for anything. I don’t think anyone removes a tick and sets it on its merry way.
    - xandrius 5mo ago
      Ticks are extremely tough to kill, compared with the myth that some people hold that they can only be drowned (you can obliterate them pretty well with a rock) I'm pretty sure many return to the wild unscathed. And some even just pull them off and squish them a bit and then throw them down the toilet, bin, outside. Those very likely survive for a new bite.
      - nkrisc 5mo ago
        I usually trap it between two pieces of tape and then put it in a plastic bag and keep it in the freezer for a few weeks in case someone gets sick and I might need it as a sample. I have no idea if that is actually necessary, but it's easy and I think that probably kills it.
hmmnxrye 5mo ago
No, well the point was that noise, chorus, or feedback did not exist. There was no such thing. Therefore, the technical workaround was to place two amplifiers, face to face in order to "mimic" distortion. This is the way that "Loveless" (1991) was recorded, sans anesthesia.
- phyzome 5mo ago
  Wrong thread?
beaker52 5mo ago
I didn’t discover that ticks were a problem until I was in my mid 20s, and had been rolling around in deer-filled brush for years. Either I got very lucky, or have a chronic tick-borne disease. I’ve been battling unexplained anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive decline throughout my 30s. I’ve had every blood test under the sun, numerous sleep studies and tried every vitamin. I’ve had no answers and no change. Sometimes, I've believed that it impacts my performance at work. Sometimes I feel like I should be retiring, but I’m not even 40 yet. Sometimes, it's not so bad. I saw a video on controlled hypothermia the other day, which seems like snake oil. I guess that’s next on my list to try. I feel desperate, but I’m just having to get used to the feeling of desperation, because there appears to be no answer or solution.
- stevenjgarner 5mo ago
  That's rough. Same symptoms of low testosterone, which a blood test can measure. This can be caused (even in younger men) through daily exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like BPA and phthalates, heavy metals, and pesticides. Poor lifestyle exposures such as chronic stress, lack of sleep, and high ambient air pollution also significantly suppress hormone production.
  - beaker52 5mo ago
    Indeed. Thanks for the pointer. My testosterone level is in a happy range, as are most of my levels. Chronic stress, now that's an interesting one. I've never regarded myself as stressed. Or, if I am stressed, I'm always stressed and it's just normal. But I see no reason to be stressed, but maybe I am. And I wonder, how much of stress is a cause, or a result. I've taken a year off work. Am I better for it? It's hard to say. I'm yet to find anything that I can say helps. I've only really found things that make it worse. Like alcohol, and sugar. Diabetes? Yeah, I've considered it. I've got 6 months of blood sugar monitoring data, with no discernible correlation between my levels and how I feel. Funny world <3
    - dlahoda 5mo ago
      Do you drink coffee?
gaiagraphia 5mo ago
Growing up in the UK, I never thought about ticks, ever. I then moved to Poland, and remember thinking the Poles were crazy for worrying about tall grass all the time. It was a huge 'wtf are you doing lol?' moment... Then a friend of a friend got fucked over by Lyme disease. Now I've developed a case of Polish paranoia and tuck my trousers in socks, even if it's 35 degs :/
- ed_balls 5mo ago
  We stopped burning grass and got ticks infestation. I used work and play in tall grass as a 7 year old in my grapa farm. Never got a tick. 30 years later I found 7 ticks on my cloths after 2 hours walk on the same farm.
redsocksfan45 5mo ago
[dead]
skirge 5mo ago
it's good to have test for Lyme in case of strange symptoms (joint pain etc.) but check for alpha-tryptasemia which is more probable (5% people have it).
royosherove 5mo ago
TLDR: A startup called LymeAlert is launching a $40 at-home test (August 2026) that tells you in 15 minutes whether a tick carries Lyme disease. You grind the tick in a container, insert a chemical strip, and it changes color if Lyme bacteria are present. Founded by an MIT Sloan MBA / physician assistant who wanted to save people the $50–$450 and week-long wait of lab testing. Caveat: it only detects Lyme (not other tick-borne infections like Alpha-gal), though a multi-pathogen version is planned for next year. They're also building a smartphone app to crowdsource infected-tick locations.
nekusar 5mo ago
[flagged]
- dd8601fn 5mo ago
  Nah. The surrounding conversation here is an absolutely beautiful example of why people shouldn’t be able to take whatever they want, whenever they want. The facebook/youtube grade quackery is everywhere.
  - nekusar 5mo ago
    There's a big difference of telling OTHER PEOPLE what drugs and stuff to do, and CHOOSING FOR YOURSELF. Call it quackery, or whatever other name. I do not trust the medical establishment. Most don't even follow scientific guidelines for treatment. They're lucky to even read the old MR. Usually its for 'cover my ass' reasons, and not correlating treatment. I've even known women friends who had doctors say "oh its hysteria", or "lose weight", for a variety of issues. And when they go to a decent doc, its correctly identified as endometriosis. And of course the shit docs won't tell you they're shit. They have your money already. And insurance sees "doctor visit" so any others are out of pocket. So yeah, I do my own research. I pay for my own tests. You can contact cheap labs out of country for a variety of tests. And in the end, I'm capable of treating myself, either with the drugs, or synthesizing it myself. I don't need your or anybody's permission.
  - coryrc 5mo ago
    I see both points of view. In capitalism, it is government's job to compensate for negative externalities. Government restricted common people from making voluntary contracts with antibiotic manufacturers because of antibiotic resistance, but that creates a new negative externality of preventing people from healing themselves cost-effectively. So government should be providing the doctors for nearly-free so people can still get treatment.
- zahlman 5mo ago
  Unregulated use of antibiotics has negative consequences for the rest of society, in that it promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains. Many people try to take antibiotics (and pressure doctors for prescriptions) for likely viral infections where there's no chance of them working. Most people aren't great with attention to detail (qv: you misspelled both antibiotic names) and won't finish a course of antibiotics if symptoms fade even when they're explicitly instructed to do so (which, again, is important for avoiding the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains). The regulation occurs for a damn good reason. Also, please don't advertise here.
bilsbie 5mo ago
The problem is the ticks you don’t find.
warumdarum 5mo ago
My pet theory is that lyme disease coevolved to make mamals "addicted" to ticks. Every reinfection and the resulting fever-body pyrolysis, resets the infections malaise sideffects for a while. Thus, if you where outside all the time, you would be conditioned to expose yourselfs to ticks all the time, to feel "healthy" again. If those little bastards secreted fentanyl it would have a similar outcome.
josters 5mo ago
We are giving our dog Fluralaner/Bravecto[1] against ticks which paralyzes and kills them when they bite, drastically reducing potential exposure to Lyme disease. Unfortunately not approved for humans and therefore an interesting inverse: humans can get vaccinated against TBEV but not against Lyme disease whereas dogs can get vaccinated against Lyme disease but not TBEV. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluralaner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluralaner
jaeckel 5mo ago
Fancy! One can buy a pack of 3 for 30€ in Germany, which detect multiple types of borrelia bacteria ...
poszlem 5mo ago
"LymeAlert seeks to help people avoid the cost and the wait of going to the emergency room after being bitten by a tick" I might be mistaken, but I don't think you should go to the emergency room with a tick bite..? Do people really do that?
- cogman10 5mo ago
  Do you need to? Probably not. However it is somewhat area specific and Massachusetts is a hotbed when it comes to lyme disease carrying ticks. Lyme really should be treated right away. I think urgent care wouldn't really be out of the question for a tick bite there. Telehealth is also something that likely could work here. It should be a 5 minute "Hey, got a tick bite, here's the picture of the tick, can I get a prescription for some antibiotics".
  - poszlem 4mo ago
    Again, I don't think you should be given antibiotics for a tick bite, unless you start showing symptoms, namely the infamous erythema migrans? Most ticks don't carry lyme.
    - cogman10 4mo ago
      It's region dependent and most people aren't commonly getting ticks in the first place. The reason to bias towards earlier treatment is because lyme disease can potentially result in nerve damage. For something that's already uncommon (a tick bite) throwing antibiotics at it isn't a terrible thing. Especially because that's also the general treatment for a number of tick born illnesses which don't have the obvious "bullseye". I get the "we shouldn't needlessly take antibiotics" wisdom. But that's more about common ailments and situations where they aren't needed and don't help. Like, if you have a sore throat you shouldn't immediately get antibiotics.
mfi 5mo ago
Pfizer recently released that they’re planning to send in their new Lyme vaccine to regulatory authorities after their phase 3 study: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-valneva-announce-lyme-disease-vaccine-candidate https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-deta...
rkagerer 5mo ago
How effective do you think this test will be? Is the reactive strip used in the kit an existing, well-proven product?
cheesecakegood 5mo ago
It might be irrational but ticks terrify me (grew up in the Northwest where they aren’t so much a thing) and make me want to avoid moving to the East entirely
miiiiiike 5mo ago
Start thinking about α-gal syndrome, even if you're in The North. I just pulled an adult Lone Star tick off my back last night. I had no idea that they had made it to Northern Illinois. Now I get to spend the summer waiting to see if a burger is going to kill me. https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal
eggy 4mo ago
For me, vigorous exercise, riding my bike, running, jumping rope, has always made me feel better mentally and physically whether it was a pathogen funk or just life and feeling down or symptomatic as some describe below. I always check my kids and myself after hikes, especially in tall grass or shrubs. I've found ticks here and there over the years. The cathartic effect of high-intensity exercise where you push yourself to what you think is your limit is amazing for your physical and mental well being. The old Sufi saying, "Movement is life; stillness is death" is my mantra. I have friends who avoid hiking for fear of ticks and Lyme disease. It's a shame, since being outdoors in the sun, smelling the woods, and taking in the views while walking are priceless. Movement over pharmaceuticals.
dilfred 4mo ago
While this at-home test kit is neat, there already are solutions to this problem which are likely more beneficial to the overall awareness of tick-borne illness. In the US, one can send a tick (alive, dead, in shreds) to Penn State’s tick research lab via usps and get results in just a few days. Customers can select what results they’re looking for, as ticks don’t solely carry one “lyme disease” marker. I would feel better sending a tick that i pulled off of myself or my pets to a dedicated research lab rather than buy some one-off test kits which don’t contribute to the overall incidence rate of tick-borne illness. I even sent a tick that I found in a potted plant from home depot (never attached to me) which turned out to carry rocky mountain spotted fever. I only sent that random tick in just to see if it carried anything, and since seeing the report from Penn State Ive wondered if i had contracted RMSF what my medical journey would have looked like, since i live on the opposite side of the continent from those ticks and i had found it mid-December. That would have required a Gregory House differential diagnosis where I live.

251 points by bookofjoe 5mo ago

https://archive.ph/cNwmN https://archive.ph/cNwmN

deleted 5mo ago

[deleted]

shinobi-apps 5mo ago

Anyone tried ivermectin?

mgerdts 5mo ago

https://lymealert.com/how-it-works/ https://lymealert.com/how-it-works/ I’m not optimistic this will be all that helpful. Just because the tick you found is negative, that tells you nothing about those you did not find. Just because a tick is positive, that does not mean that it has infected whoever it was attached to. My understanding is that the ticks only transmit disease after they have been attached long enough to become engorged. None of the ticks shown were engorged.

_ink_ 5mo ago
I think it's super helpful. Sure it doesn't help with ticks, you don't find, but in my experience it starts to itch eventually even with the tick attached. If it's negative good, if it's positive go see a doctor.
kaikai 5mo ago
> My understanding is that the ticks only transmit disease after they have been attached long enough to become engorged. None of the ticks shown were engorged. I’ve hear stats as long as 24 hours and as short as 30 seconds. One nurse told me that removing ticks by grasping and pulling means they transmit immediately, because you squeeze their contents through their mouths. I no longer believe any of the stats; seems like it could be at any time.
- mgerdts 5mo ago
  > you squeeze their contents through their mouths Whenever someone recommends removal using tweezers, I wonder if the person offering this advice has ever removed a well attached tick. I’ve found tools like a Tick Tornado work better, but are still problematic with smaller ticks. https://www.zenpetusa.com/tick-tornado https://www.zenpetusa.com/tick-tornado
  - CamperBob2 5mo ago
    We always covered them with coal-tar ointment (ichthyol / ichthammal) for a few minutes. They detached without a problem after that, with nothing more than a subtle hint from the tweezers. Just breaking out the tweezers and yanking away was most emphatically not recommended. It can leave the mouth parts behind, if nothing else.
    - aorloff 5mo ago
      On dogs my friend likes to strike a match, touch the extinguished tip to the back of the tick, and then pull it out with tweezers. Seems to work
      - sciencejerk 5mo ago
        From experience, you might end up with 2nd degree burns and burn the bugger into a hot crispy pile of ash.
      - LargoLasskhyfv 5mo ago
        Now that you say it... Makes me wonder of what would happen when you'd use the tips of two blank wires connected to a 1.5V battery? ZAP! Could be made into a small USB-gadget, to have it always available? Zaptastick!
        bookofjoe 5mo ago
        I like this. Better: ZapStick!
micromacrofoot 5mo ago
there have been times in my life where this could have saved me a doctors visit, and that's good enough for me
- lukan 5mo ago
  You went to a doctor because you had a tick, or because you had symptoms? (like the red ring)
  - micromacrofoot 5mo ago
    for a prophylactic dose of antibiotics after having a tick latched for an unknown amount of time the US gets a persistent amount of emergency room visits for this sort of treatment (tens of thousands annually), and with all the news about increased tick and lyme exposure a larger number of people treat it preemptively, especially with children
    - lukan 5mo ago
      Hm, that approach would have me at the doctor every second day and being on antibiotic all the time. I am outdoors a lot and had 5 ticks on me just today after not checking enough last night after being outside. I only would consider antibiotics if the red ring appears. In general I suppose I already have resistance .. or the disease slumbering in my body.
      - annzabelle 5mo ago
        Same. I've found engorged ticks a half dozen times in my life. Never had the red ring and never had antibiotics for it. I've got hypothyroidism (genetic) and some mental health issues, but I am otherwise healthy and run 15 miles a week. I really don't believe that the vague long term symptoms a lot of people are describing in this thread are from ticks, especially people who don't spend much time outside in lyme endemic regions. Lyme has become a favorite label for quacks to describe the fatigue/pain syndrome that is sometimes called fibromyalgia. We don't really know what causes it (and it's probably not ticks), and taking high dose doxycycline for months is not the answer, other than maybe as a placebo.
exogenousdata 5mo ago
Unfortunately there are a number of tick-borne illnesses. Eg, Powassan virus is a viral infection that attacks the central nervous system (leading to encephalitis). It can be transmitted within hours or even just 15 minutes of tick attachment. Another is Alpha Gal. It is a molecule carried in tick saliva that can cause serious allergies to red meat and even dairy. Because the molecule is in the saliva, it can be delivered immediately.
- superjan 5mo ago
  I’m not sure we are talking about the same virus, but for the version prevalent in northern europe, there’s a vaccine.
  - rciorba 5mo ago
    I assume you're thinking of Tick-borne Encephalitis
Aurornis 5mo ago
This is very helpful for determining if prophylactic treatment is necessary after discovering a tick. If someone doesn’t notice a tick then they aren’t going to be considering prophylactic treatment anyway. It’s for the cases where ticks are discovered.
JimBlackwood 5mo ago
According to the dutch public health institute, the longer the tick is in the body, the bigger the chance of transmission. Early removal also does not prevent lyme, it just reduces the chances. Next to that, in The Netherlands we have a site to report tick bites and if they had lyme disease or not. It’s good to know if you should be extra vigilant after a bite from a certain area. I think the self-test could be very useful for such sites.
- SyneRyder 5mo ago
  Upstate New York has a site for testing and reporting / tracking. Costs are $80 USD for a comprehensive test though. It looks like they'll test just for Lyme for $20, but if you found a tick on you I imagine you'll want to know all the diseases it has potentially given you. At least I did. https://nyticks.org/ https://nyticks.org/
- bregma 5mo ago
  A site to report tick bytes. Is there a similar site to report mosquito bites? They also carry many debilitation or fatal diseases. I live in prime tick country. During peak season (March through June and again September through November) I can get 3 or 4 tick bites a day. I don't always get them all because they're completely painless while they're embedded (although I react strongly after they've been removed) and I've been diagnosed with and treated for Lyme disease twice after developing all the classic symptoms. I am not alone in my area. If there was a site where you report tick bites here it would need to be pretty robust to handle the load and it would serve no purpose. The local authorities have acknowledged the rampant outbreak of Lyme in the region. You do not need to provide the tick to authorities for identification. All you need to do is go to any pharmacy and tell them you've been bitten by a tick and they'll write you a prescription for Doxycycline on the spot.
  - armitron 5mo ago
    That must do wonders for antibiotic resistance.
Fomite 5mo ago
This is one of the things that is oft repeated by my vector disease colleagues -- your infection may not be caused by the tick you found, but by the tick you didn't.
- nkrisc 5mo ago
  Do ticks commonly detach on their own before being noticed? Because from what I’ve seen of fully engorged ticks I don’t think I would fail to discover that. Or maybe an earlier stage where they’re smaller?
  - zxexz 5mo ago
    I always thought that too. I spend a lot of time outside and check rigorously. Very often I find a recently attached tick. Found a fully-engorged deer tick half-detached not too long ago - pulled it off jaw-intact. In treatment for early-mid stage disseminated Lyme again, for the third time. Certainly a hidden tax one pays living in New England...I've recently put a lot more effort into things like permethrin. From what I understand, you're spot on with your last note. Larval stage can be extremely hard to see even when fully engorged. Adult-stage ticks (at least Deer Ticks) are the size of a large grain of cooked brown rice. I've seen fully engorged nymph-stage that rival the size of a grape...
    - nkrisc 5mo ago
      I’ve been fortunate that all the ticks I’ve found on myself I discovered before they began feeding because I am very hairy and they tickled my hairs on my legs as they made their way up. One other I found crawling up my white tshirt. Good reminder to wear light colored clothes when you’re out where ticks are.
locallost 5mo ago
I think you need to stop overthinking. Yes it can make you sick, but the only thing you can do is be on the lookout for it and be smart about avoiding it. I've had around 4-5 ticks in the last years, my kids and family probably around 15-20, one recently near my ankle that probably could've been avoided if I wasn't wearing short trousers. But anyway nobody ever got sick from it and we live in a region with a high prevalence of tick caused encephalitis. There's a vaccine for that so we're all vaccinated now. Otherwise just enjoy your life.
DANmode 5mo ago
> My understanding is that the ticks only transmit disease after they have been attached long enough to become engorged This understanding will age like milk.
1970-01-01 5mo ago
As everyone is different, there is no "best" method to remove one however there's lots of wrong ways. The only thing everyone agrees with is sooner is always better. I'm surprised "laser tick remover" isn't a thing yet.

billfor 5mo ago

I always keep doxycyline around take a couple whenever I find a deer tick on me. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545493/table/rc1121.app4.tab3 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545493/table/rc1121.ap...

holdenk 5mo ago
And it's relatively easy to get a prescription for since it's a PEP drug for high -er risk sexual activities.
alfon 5mo ago
You're the smart one.. Unfortunately I didn't find the tick on time and have been sick with persistent Lyme for over 10 years. Hoping for some kind of solution soon.
- throwawaycan 5mo ago
  Did you ever see a tick?
  - anakaine 5mo ago
    Does it matter at this point?
    - DANmode 5mo ago
      The “no, never saw a tick” anecdotes help support the obvious concept that a bullseye rash is not required to end up with chronic Lyme.
      - DANmode 5mo ago
        (nor is a tick required!)
- any_throw777 5mo ago
  Controlled hyperthermia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwtPtlcNXEs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwtPtlcNXEs

viccis 5mo ago

How about loosening restrictions on deer hunting as part of the policy change to reduce deer populations and, consequently, tick populations, that Governor Healey grandstanded^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H spoke passionately about earlier this year

zzzeek 5mo ago
and the rabbits and chipmunks and mice and squirrels, as well as that you have to kill basically all deer to the point of about 8 deer per square mile, since one deer can carry 2000-3000 new ticks. which is basically impossible on mainland because new deer just wander over.
- viccis 5mo ago
  I wasn't making a scientific statement about whether depopulating the deer will help; the governor of Massachusetts already did. I'm saying that it's pathetic to blame it all on deer and then not eliminate the pointlessly onerous burden on culling their population. But since you're being needlessly snarky about it (it's not productive to suggest killing "the rabbits and chipmunks and mice and squirrels"), here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25118409/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25118409/ >After hunts were initiated, number and frequency of deer observations in the community were greatly reduced as were resident-reported cases of Lyme disease. Number of resident-reported cases of Lyme disease per 100 households was strongly correlated to deer density in the community. Reducing deer density to 5.1 deer per square kilometer resulted in a 76% reduction in tick abundance, 70% reduction in the entomological risk index, and 80% reduction in resident-reported cases of Lyme disease in the community from before to after a hunt was initiated.
  - zzzeek 4mo ago
    As I said - on mainland. That study was done on a peninsula community surrounded by water, except on the north side, which was mostly a nature preserve where a 6 foot high fence on that side prevented new deer from entering. So yes "kill all the deer" (like nearly ALL deer) works if you're in a small community that is 95% sealed off. Realistically, "we have no solution to tick borne disease except for hiring tens of thousands of full time hunters continuously shooting animals in residential areas to keep the deer population on the brink of extinction" is not a sufficient solution for me. And I live in a town where we have lots of those guys. It's fine. But scaling them up to the point that we don't need to spray for ticks anymore, you'd have them falling out of trees in playgrounds.

daemonologist 5mo ago

I like that it involves grinding up the tick. Just deserts.

AnimalMuppet 5mo ago
I don't mind there being some selection pressure against biting humans.
- nkrisc 5mo ago
  At the same time no tick that I’ve ever removed from a person survived, even without testing it for anything. I don’t think anyone removes a tick and sets it on its merry way.
  - xandrius 5mo ago
    Ticks are extremely tough to kill, compared with the myth that some people hold that they can only be drowned (you can obliterate them pretty well with a rock) I'm pretty sure many return to the wild unscathed. And some even just pull them off and squish them a bit and then throw them down the toilet, bin, outside. Those very likely survive for a new bite.
    - nkrisc 5mo ago
      I usually trap it between two pieces of tape and then put it in a plastic bag and keep it in the freezer for a few weeks in case someone gets sick and I might need it as a sample. I have no idea if that is actually necessary, but it's easy and I think that probably kills it.

hmmnxrye 5mo ago

No, well the point was that noise, chorus, or feedback did not exist. There was no such thing. Therefore, the technical workaround was to place two amplifiers, face to face in order to "mimic" distortion. This is the way that "Loveless" (1991) was recorded, sans anesthesia.

phyzome 5mo ago
Wrong thread?

beaker52 5mo ago

I didn’t discover that ticks were a problem until I was in my mid 20s, and had been rolling around in deer-filled brush for years. Either I got very lucky, or have a chronic tick-borne disease. I’ve been battling unexplained anxiety, fatigue, poor sleep and cognitive decline throughout my 30s. I’ve had every blood test under the sun, numerous sleep studies and tried every vitamin. I’ve had no answers and no change. Sometimes, I've believed that it impacts my performance at work. Sometimes I feel like I should be retiring, but I’m not even 40 yet. Sometimes, it's not so bad. I saw a video on controlled hypothermia the other day, which seems like snake oil. I guess that’s next on my list to try. I feel desperate, but I’m just having to get used to the feeling of desperation, because there appears to be no answer or solution.

stevenjgarner 5mo ago
That's rough. Same symptoms of low testosterone, which a blood test can measure. This can be caused (even in younger men) through daily exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) like BPA and phthalates, heavy metals, and pesticides. Poor lifestyle exposures such as chronic stress, lack of sleep, and high ambient air pollution also significantly suppress hormone production.
- beaker52 5mo ago
  Indeed. Thanks for the pointer. My testosterone level is in a happy range, as are most of my levels. Chronic stress, now that's an interesting one. I've never regarded myself as stressed. Or, if I am stressed, I'm always stressed and it's just normal. But I see no reason to be stressed, but maybe I am. And I wonder, how much of stress is a cause, or a result. I've taken a year off work. Am I better for it? It's hard to say. I'm yet to find anything that I can say helps. I've only really found things that make it worse. Like alcohol, and sugar. Diabetes? Yeah, I've considered it. I've got 6 months of blood sugar monitoring data, with no discernible correlation between my levels and how I feel. Funny world <3
  - dlahoda 5mo ago
    Do you drink coffee?

gaiagraphia 5mo ago

Growing up in the UK, I never thought about ticks, ever. I then moved to Poland, and remember thinking the Poles were crazy for worrying about tall grass all the time. It was a huge 'wtf are you doing lol?' moment... Then a friend of a friend got fucked over by Lyme disease. Now I've developed a case of Polish paranoia and tuck my trousers in socks, even if it's 35 degs :/

ed_balls 5mo ago
We stopped burning grass and got ticks infestation. I used work and play in tall grass as a 7 year old in my grapa farm. Never got a tick. 30 years later I found 7 ticks on my cloths after 2 hours walk on the same farm.

redsocksfan45 5mo ago

[dead]

skirge 5mo ago

it's good to have test for Lyme in case of strange symptoms (joint pain etc.) but check for alpha-tryptasemia which is more probable (5% people have it).

royosherove 5mo ago

TLDR: A startup called LymeAlert is launching a $40 at-home test (August 2026) that tells you in 15 minutes whether a tick carries Lyme disease. You grind the tick in a container, insert a chemical strip, and it changes color if Lyme bacteria are present. Founded by an MIT Sloan MBA / physician assistant who wanted to save people the $50–$450 and week-long wait of lab testing. Caveat: it only detects Lyme (not other tick-borne infections like Alpha-gal), though a multi-pathogen version is planned for next year. They're also building a smartphone app to crowdsource infected-tick locations.

nekusar 5mo ago

[flagged]

dd8601fn 5mo ago
Nah. The surrounding conversation here is an absolutely beautiful example of why people shouldn’t be able to take whatever they want, whenever they want. The facebook/youtube grade quackery is everywhere.
- nekusar 5mo ago
  There's a big difference of telling OTHER PEOPLE what drugs and stuff to do, and CHOOSING FOR YOURSELF. Call it quackery, or whatever other name. I do not trust the medical establishment. Most don't even follow scientific guidelines for treatment. They're lucky to even read the old MR. Usually its for 'cover my ass' reasons, and not correlating treatment. I've even known women friends who had doctors say "oh its hysteria", or "lose weight", for a variety of issues. And when they go to a decent doc, its correctly identified as endometriosis. And of course the shit docs won't tell you they're shit. They have your money already. And insurance sees "doctor visit" so any others are out of pocket. So yeah, I do my own research. I pay for my own tests. You can contact cheap labs out of country for a variety of tests. And in the end, I'm capable of treating myself, either with the drugs, or synthesizing it myself. I don't need your or anybody's permission.
- coryrc 5mo ago
  I see both points of view. In capitalism, it is government's job to compensate for negative externalities. Government restricted common people from making voluntary contracts with antibiotic manufacturers because of antibiotic resistance, but that creates a new negative externality of preventing people from healing themselves cost-effectively. So government should be providing the doctors for nearly-free so people can still get treatment.
zahlman 5mo ago
Unregulated use of antibiotics has negative consequences for the rest of society, in that it promotes antibiotic-resistant bacteria strains. Many people try to take antibiotics (and pressure doctors for prescriptions) for likely viral infections where there's no chance of them working. Most people aren't great with attention to detail (qv: you misspelled both antibiotic names) and won't finish a course of antibiotics if symptoms fade even when they're explicitly instructed to do so (which, again, is important for avoiding the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains). The regulation occurs for a damn good reason. Also, please don't advertise here.

bilsbie 5mo ago

The problem is the ticks you don’t find.

warumdarum 5mo ago

My pet theory is that lyme disease coevolved to make mamals "addicted" to ticks. Every reinfection and the resulting fever-body pyrolysis, resets the infections malaise sideffects for a while. Thus, if you where outside all the time, you would be conditioned to expose yourselfs to ticks all the time, to feel "healthy" again. If those little bastards secreted fentanyl it would have a similar outcome.

josters 5mo ago

We are giving our dog Fluralaner/Bravecto[1] against ticks which paralyzes and kills them when they bite, drastically reducing potential exposure to Lyme disease. Unfortunately not approved for humans and therefore an interesting inverse: humans can get vaccinated against TBEV but not against Lyme disease whereas dogs can get vaccinated against Lyme disease but not TBEV. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluralaner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluralaner

jaeckel 5mo ago

Fancy! One can buy a pack of 3 for 30€ in Germany, which detect multiple types of borrelia bacteria ...

poszlem 5mo ago

"LymeAlert seeks to help people avoid the cost and the wait of going to the emergency room after being bitten by a tick" I might be mistaken, but I don't think you should go to the emergency room with a tick bite..? Do people really do that?

cogman10 5mo ago
Do you need to? Probably not. However it is somewhat area specific and Massachusetts is a hotbed when it comes to lyme disease carrying ticks. Lyme really should be treated right away. I think urgent care wouldn't really be out of the question for a tick bite there. Telehealth is also something that likely could work here. It should be a 5 minute "Hey, got a tick bite, here's the picture of the tick, can I get a prescription for some antibiotics".
- poszlem 4mo ago
  Again, I don't think you should be given antibiotics for a tick bite, unless you start showing symptoms, namely the infamous erythema migrans? Most ticks don't carry lyme.
  - cogman10 4mo ago
    It's region dependent and most people aren't commonly getting ticks in the first place. The reason to bias towards earlier treatment is because lyme disease can potentially result in nerve damage. For something that's already uncommon (a tick bite) throwing antibiotics at it isn't a terrible thing. Especially because that's also the general treatment for a number of tick born illnesses which don't have the obvious "bullseye". I get the "we shouldn't needlessly take antibiotics" wisdom. But that's more about common ailments and situations where they aren't needed and don't help. Like, if you have a sore throat you shouldn't immediately get antibiotics.

mfi 5mo ago

Pfizer recently released that they’re planning to send in their new Lyme vaccine to regulatory authorities after their phase 3 study: https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/pfizer-and-valneva-announce-lyme-disease-vaccine-candidate https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-deta...

rkagerer 5mo ago

How effective do you think this test will be? Is the reactive strip used in the kit an existing, well-proven product?

cheesecakegood 5mo ago

It might be irrational but ticks terrify me (grew up in the Northwest where they aren’t so much a thing) and make me want to avoid moving to the East entirely

miiiiiike 5mo ago

Start thinking about α-gal syndrome, even if you're in The North. I just pulled an adult Lone Star tick off my back last night. I had no idea that they had made it to Northern Illinois. Now I get to spend the summer waiting to see if a burger is going to kill me. https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal https://radiolab.org/podcast/alpha-gal

eggy 4mo ago

For me, vigorous exercise, riding my bike, running, jumping rope, has always made me feel better mentally and physically whether it was a pathogen funk or just life and feeling down or symptomatic as some describe below. I always check my kids and myself after hikes, especially in tall grass or shrubs. I've found ticks here and there over the years. The cathartic effect of high-intensity exercise where you push yourself to what you think is your limit is amazing for your physical and mental well being. The old Sufi saying, "Movement is life; stillness is death" is my mantra. I have friends who avoid hiking for fear of ticks and Lyme disease. It's a shame, since being outdoors in the sun, smelling the woods, and taking in the views while walking are priceless. Movement over pharmaceuticals.

dilfred 4mo ago

While this at-home test kit is neat, there already are solutions to this problem which are likely more beneficial to the overall awareness of tick-borne illness. In the US, one can send a tick (alive, dead, in shreds) to Penn State’s tick research lab via usps and get results in just a few days. Customers can select what results they’re looking for, as ticks don’t solely carry one “lyme disease” marker. I would feel better sending a tick that i pulled off of myself or my pets to a dedicated research lab rather than buy some one-off test kits which don’t contribute to the overall incidence rate of tick-borne illness. I even sent a tick that I found in a potted plant from home depot (never attached to me) which turned out to carry rocky mountain spotted fever. I only sent that random tick in just to see if it carried anything, and since seeing the report from Penn State Ive wondered if i had contracted RMSF what my medical journey would have looked like, since i live on the opposite side of the continent from those ticks and i had found it mid-December. That would have required a Gregory House differential diagnosis where I live.