Pennsylvania is a hotbed for ticks.

According to surveillance data, our home is considered a “high incidence” state.

Tick surveillance shows around 25 percent or more ticks analyzed carry Lyme disease bacteria, and generally less than 5 percent carry other tick-related diseases such as anaplasmosis or babesiosis.

Infectious diseases physician Jaan Naktin, MD, with LVPG Infectious Diseases, 1255 Cedar Crest, and Lehigh Valley Health Network, part of Jefferson Health, is keenly aware of this trend.

“Tick-related illnesses used to be here and there, now they occur regularly,” he says. “It’s important for people to know our region is an epicenter.”

People are often familiar with Lyme disease, caused by bacteria transmitted by deer ticks. Anaplasmosis is also transmitted by deer ticks, with bacteria that have an appetite for human white blood cells. Babesiosis affects the red blood cells. Both these diseases can occur independently or concurrent with a Lyme infection.

All three tick-borne diseases have similar symptoms:

• They can cause fever, chills, fatigue, headache and muscle aches.

• Lyme disease can be associated (in about 70 percent of cases) with a rounded red rash often described as a “bullseye.” The symptoms can be subtle, so clinicians often opt for testing and treatment during the peak seasons of late spring and early summer.

• Anaplasmosis is associated with the same symptoms, perhaps higher fevers, but the lab abnormalities are different with characteristic low white blood cell and platelet counts.

• Babesiosis shows similar symptoms, but can also cause low red blood cell counts, low platelet counts and elevated liver function tests.

These diseases have symptoms that look like other conditions, so clinicians need to be suspicious. If there is no rash (in the case of Lyme disease), clinicians use their experience to determine if blood tests are needed.

“The goal is early detection and treatment in the year the patient is infected,” Dr. Naktin says. “There are excellent tests that reveal presence of the organism in the blood.”

Initial treatment for all three tick-borne diseases is antibiotics. Doxycycline, frequently used for Lyme disease, is also effective against anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis. Ehrlichiosis is a potentially serious, bacterial illness transmitted by a lone star or blacklegged tick bite, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Additional treatment may be necessary for babesiosis infection.

Prevention is the best medicine.

Dr. Naktin recommends using 30-40-percent Deet insect repellent and treating clothes with permethrin.

“Dress appropriately,” he says. “It may be difficult in the spring and summer to cover effectively and stay cool. But if you are spending time outside, make the time to strip down at the end of the day, take a shower and inspect your body for any attached ticks.”

Visit LVHN.org to view our convenient care options in Carbon County. The emergency room at Lehigh Valley Hospital–Carbon is always open, and JeffExpress offers care 365 days a year.