SCOUTER Feature:

Lyme Disease Awarenesstick2.gif (1074 bytes)

ALWAYS consult your medical physician
for diagnosis and treatment of any medical condition.

by MaryAnn Gardner

Lyme Disease and related illnesses are a serious health threat. To join with the Lyme disease Foundation in recognizing May as Lyme Disease Awareness Month, SCOUTER has gathered dozens of links to web pages providing information about this problem.

Since Scouting is built on outdoor activities, our Scouts are going to come in contact with ticks. Our job as leaders is to educate the scouts and each other about the dangers of tick bites, how to attempt to prevent them, and what to do if someone is bitten.

One of the best Scouting websites I found with information on the subject is the Gaelic Wolf Outdoors section on Tick-Borne Illnesses. Not only do they explain the how and why of such diseases, they offer excellent illustrations to identify the ticks.

There are informative online publications about Lyme Disease and related illnesses. The Lyme Disease Brochure, a public information guide, can be downloaded from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention at the National Center for Infectious Diseases in Atlanta, Georgia.

Several online newsletters are available: "Spotlight on Lyme" from the Lyme Alliance, ICTTD Newsletter from the European Integrated Control of Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases project, LymeTruth edited by Douglas Dodge, and the Lymenet from The Lyme Disease Network

To help them understand more about Lyme Disease, your Scouts can listen on the Lyme Disease Audio Network as medical and research personnel and their patients talk about their experiences.

Browsing through our group of links you can become acquainted with the sypmtoms of tick-borne diseases, as listed by the University of Rhode Island, and read the personal stories of victims of such illnesses on the Fine Print website.

You can take a look at an actual bull's eye rash, as shown on the Berntsen Family's site, or become familiar with the terms used when talking about tick-borne illness.

The Tick-borne Disease Educational Foundation provides a list of preventive measures to minimize tick bites, what do if you find an attached tick, and the proper use of insect repellants.

Remember, you can reduce your chances of being bitten by:

Wearing light colored clothing so ticks can be easily found

Wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants


© SCOUTER.com 1994-2013