Ep. 235 - Why Tick Bites are Summer’s Biggest Health Problem

Tick bites can transmit far more than Lyme disease. In this episode, Saravanan Thangamani, PhD, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at SUNY Upstate Medical University and Director of the SUNY Center for Vector-Borne Diseases, explains why coinfections are common, with roughly one in three ticks carrying the Lyme disease agent and five to ten percent of those also carrying additional pathogens like anaplasma, babesia, or Powassan virus. He breaks down how the deer and mouse life cycle spreads ticks, why pets are "tick magnets," why the old 24-to-48-hour transmission window is outdated advice, and how tick testing can give clinicians critical extra information. He also covers the expanding range of the lone star tick, alpha-gal syndrome, and where Lyme vaccine development currently stands.About the Guest:Saravanan Thangamani, PhDSUNY Empire Innovation Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, SUNY Upstate Medical UniversityDirector, SUNY Center for Vector-Borne Diseases and Vector Biocontainment LaboratoriesWebsiteInstagram: @upstate_tick_labX: @NY_TicksFacebook: UpstateTickLabResources Mentioned:Upstate Tick Lab — Research, Education & Public HealthTickMAP — Interactive Tick & Tick-Borne Disease SurveillanceUpstate Tick Testing Laboratory — National Tick Testing & Surveillance ProgramThangamani Laboratory — Powassan Virus & Vector-Borne Disease ResearchLive Q&A with Dr. Mitchell, August 19: How Stress Turns Into Disease, and What Actually Works to Lower ItNobody just gets colitis. Stress goes looking for your weak spot, and thirty years of practice says it usually finds it. Dr. Dean Mitchell is live on Wednesday, August 19 at 6:00 PM Eastern for a free hour: the Holmes-Rahe scale, what HRV shows, which relaxation methods have evidence behind them, and where medication belongs. Register hereContact Dr. Mitchell:Email: care@mitchellmedicalgroup.comWebsiteInstagramYouTubeFacebookLinkedInBook: Conquering CandidaImmunoLytics - code SmartestDoc, 5% offApollo Neuro - code SMARTMD