home:special:ticks

Introduction

Marshall Protocol (MP) patients who develop a bulls-eye rash after a tick bite or who think a tick bite has put them at risk for Lyme disease should ask their physician about taking 100mg of minocycline twice daily for 30 days.

Ticks are an efficient vector of diseases. ¹⁾

Keeping ticks away

The mixture of creeping thyme and citronella containing 1.5% of each showed higher repellency (91%) than individual essential oils at the concentration of 3%. ²⁾

In tick country carry a device to freeze any tick which attaches itself (ask your pharmacy for it). This kills the tick so it does not transfer amy more fluid into you. Once dead, you may brush the tick off. This is much safer than an attempt to twist the tick off.

Treatment for MP patients

For patients taking less than 100mg of minocycline – Continue olmesartan (Benicar). Ask physician about taking 100mg of minocycline twice daily for 10 days.³⁾ (Note that in this case minocycline is dosed more frequently than it is typically used during the MP. This is due to the fact that the drug is being used to target an acute rather than a chronic infection.)
For patients taking 100mg of minocycline but not a three antibiotic combination – Continue olmesartan. Ask physician about taking 100mg of minocycline twice daily for 30 days. To reduce any kind of immunosuppressive effect, these patients may wish to reduce although not eliminate any other MP antibiotics being taken.
For patients who have progressed to Phase Three – Patients who are taking three or more antibiotics may opt to continue this effective treatment for killing many bacteria.

Treatment for non-MP patients

A person bitten by a tick may or may not develop the classic bulls-eye (or other) rash that signals an acute borreliosis (Lyme disease) infection. For this reason, many physicians routinely prescribe a course of doxycycline after a tick bite. The amount prescribed may be as little as a one-time dose of 200mg or 100mg twice daily for 21 days. Lyme disease caught in its early stages is highly susceptible to treatment, and this is the best course of action for anyone bitten by a tick and not already on the Marshall Protocol (MP).

Minocycline seems to be just as effective at eradicating borreliosis as doxycycline.

Tick removal instructions

Here is information on a tick remover device.

Better are new instructions on how to remove a tick.

Here is another set of tips on tick removal.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website information on tick removal is surprisingly brief and reassuring. Perhaps this reflects their official stance the borreliosis/Lyme disease is not a big problem in the United States.

The general consensus seems to be to not use heat to try to make the tick come out. There is no agreement on the technique that works best and whether or not it is vital to ensure the head is removed.

Additional information

Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia. ⁴⁾

Six ticks, including Amblyomma triguttatum, Bothriocroton hydrosauri, Haemaphysalis novaeguineae, Ixodes cornuatus, Ixodes holocyclus, and Ixodes tasmani may transmit Coxiella burnetii, Rickettsia australis, Rickettsia honei, or Rickettsia honei subsp. marmionii.

These bacterial pathogens cause Q fever, Queensland tick typhus (QTT), Flinders Island spotted fever (FISF), and Australian spotted fever (ASF).

It is also believed that babesiosis can be transmitted by ticks to humans in Australia. In addition, Argas robertsi, Haemaphysalis bancrofti, Haemaphysalis longicornis, Ixodes hirsti, Rhipicephalus australis, and Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks may play active roles in transmissionAn incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted. of other pathogens that already exist or could potentially be introduced into Australia.

These pathogens include Anaplasma spp., Bartonella spp., Burkholderia spp., Francisella spp., Dera Ghazi Khan virus (DGKV), tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), Lake Clarendon virus (LCV), Saumarez Reef virus (SREV), Upolu virus (UPOV), or Vinegar Hill virus (VINHV).

It has recently been demonstrated that saliva from Rhipicephalus sanguineus ticks contains adenosine (ADO) and prostaglandin E2 (PGE2), two non-protein molecules that have significant immunomodulatory properties. ⁵⁾

10 Days of Doxycycline Sufficient for Early Lyme Disease – Medscape article (free registration required)

Lyme disease, Special issues, special

¹⁾

Henning TC, Orr JM, Smith JD, Arias JR, Rasgon JL, Norris DE. Discovery of filarial nematode DNA in Amblyomma americanum in Northern Virginia. Ticks Tick Borne Dis. 2016 Mar;7(2):315-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2015.11.007. Epub 2015 Nov 26.
[PMID: 26707835] [PMCID: 4876860] [DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2015.11.007]

²⁾

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³⁾

Steere AC. Duration of antibiotic therapy for Lyme disease. Ann Intern Med. 2003 May 6;138(9):761-2. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-138-9-200305060-00014.
[PMID: 12729432] [DOI: 10.7326/0003-4819-138-9-200305060-00014]

⁴⁾

Dehhaghi M, Kazemi Shariat Panahi H, Holmes EC, Hudson BJ, Schloeffel R, Guillemin GJ. Human Tick-Borne Diseases in Australia. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2019 Jan 28;9:3. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00003. eCollection 2019.
[PMID: 30746341] [PMCID: 6360175] [DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2019.00003]

⁵⁾

Anatriello E, Oliveira CJF, Oliveira NB, Fisch A, Milanezi CM, da Silva JS, de Miranda-Santos IKF, Ferreira BR. Interaction between saliva's adenosine and tick parasitism: effects on feeding and reproduction. Parasit Vectors. 2017 Jul 10;10(1):326. doi: 10.1186/s13071-017-2248-8.
[PMID: 28693553] [PMCID: 5502490] [DOI: 10.1186/s13071-017-2248-8]

Table of Contents

Ticks, what to do when bitten