The Vineyard Haven Library is holding two events that focus on Lyme disease. On Tuesday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. the library will screen the documentary Under Our Skin. This movie follows the journey of several patients and their difficulties with both the disease and the health care industry. For more information, visit underourskin.com.
Ticks
2013
January 31, 2013
A tick-borne disease so new it only has a scientific name has been identified in United States patients for the first time, including at least one person from Nantucket. Borrelia miyamotoi is a relative of Lyme disease with similar symptoms including fever, headache, muscle ache, and fatigue.
Unlike Lyme disease, B. miyamotoi presents recurring fevers in patients and does not trigger a bulls-eye rash. Nor does it cause a positive test with traditional Lyme disease testing, said Dr. Sam R. Telford 3rd, a professor of infectious diseases at Tufts University.
January 31, 2013
In an attempt to quantify the Vineyard deer population, a Mount Holyoke College professor flew across the Island last Friday afternoon taking thousands of aerial infrared photographs for a tick-borne illness study. While a snowy, 20 degree day on Martha’s Vineyard may not be most visitors’ optimal conditions for a flight around the Island, professor of geography Thomas Millette deemed Friday’s weather ideal. A frozen ground, calm winds and an overcast sky all optimize the efficiency of the thermal imaging system developed by Mr. Millette.
2012
July 12, 2012
Lyme disease, the tick-borne illness that has been documented at epidemic levels on the Vineyard, is now the focus of a growing public health initiative that involves Island doctors, boards of health and university researchers.
The initiative, which aims to zero in on prevention, education, and improved data collection, is seen by at least one leading expert as a possible model for the rest of the state.
2009
May 21, 2009
As a senior editor at Discover Magazine, science journalist Pamela Weintraub had covered myriad scientific dramas throughout her career. But it was her own family’s medical odyssey with Lyme disease — and the book she wrote about it, Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic — that brought her to speak on Monday to about 60 people on Martha’s Vineyard, where tick-borne illness is one of the most serious and prevalent health concerns.
2008
July 21, 2008
With six confirmed cases of tularemia and reports of Lyme disease coming in, the Vineyard has begun another season of documenting tick-borne illnesses.
Although cases are still being confirmed, official numbers will not be released until early next year. But initial reports from state public health officials and the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital indicate no slowdown in the high rates of tick-borne illnesses on Island.
