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Comment by stupidboy | Hacker News Reader

Surprised to see Lyme disease on HN, since bringing affordable DNA testing for B. burgdorferi & other pathogens to the public is the startup I've been working on since 2014.

Relevant Plug: https://www.tickcheck.com/

As mentioned in other comments, serological tests fall short in various ways (accuracy, time). If you keep the tick that bit you, we can test it for the presence Lyme, and several other pathogens. If negative, we can effectively rule out much of the risk. Super quick & accurate, too.

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What they thought me for first aid was: remove the tick with a proper tool, wrap it in some scotch tape and put it in something storable (back then a photo roll plastic thingey) and give it to the person affected and send them to a doctor or emergency service. That was over 20 years ago. Apperantly the "save the tick" advice is not as wide spread as I believed it to be as you were the first to mention it (my reading).

Yeah, that's proper procedure--except for the scotch tape. Our lab techs need to tediously remove ticks from adhesive every day because some authority (first-aid manuals?) is telling people to do that. It ends up in pieces after extraction which hinders us from identifying the species, life stage, and duration of engorgement. Hopefully this practice phases out with time.

So how else do you store the tick? I can see why they would recommend scotch tape: deer ticks are tiny, and the tape helps keep you from losing them. Don't say "put it in a film storage canister" because no one has those any more! I haven't seen one of those in decades. I'm not sure what I'd do with one honestly; I have some small Tupperware containers I could use, IF I happen to be at home when I pull the tick off.

Good point about the size. Unengorged nymph ticks are tough to spot. That's why most people don't notice them until after multiple days of feeding. The adults are much easier to catch early, and thus pose less of a threat.

For storage, a Ziplock bag works well (especially for mailing). Just make sure it's sealed air tight. A prescription pill bottle works great too because of the secure lid.

When I was in the woods and found one on me, I took the batteries out of an extra flashlight I was carrying and kept the tick trapped in the handle.

When I got home, I transferred him to a double ziplock labelled with the date and where on the body I found him and tossed him into the freezer for a few months until I figured I was in the clear.

Ziploc bag?

That's what I used. Worked perfectly.

Old spice jars.

Then they just smell like Grandpa :)

Interesting. I got bit by 2 blacklegged ticks in the past 3 months but I couldn't find any free tick tests, so I never had them tested. Both were within a few hours so I assumed based on CDC advice that I was still in the green zone. It sounds like one of those things that health insurance companies would be out of their minds to not cover.

Separately: Bay Area hikers beware -- change your clothes immediately after getting home, do complete body checks after hiking -- ideally, shower immediately.

We can't get reimbursed by health insurance because we aren't a medical facility, but rather a DNA lab. I'm sure in some regard, it's a downside. However, it does force us to compete intensely on price, value & service. And I'm happy with that because consumers win.

When the cost of prevention is higher than the cost of treatment, you know the system is truly messed up.

IMO health insurance should be paying for everything preventative. It's in their financial interest to stop fretting about what kind of lab you are, encourage early diagnosis and reduce long-term medical costs.

'reduce long-term medical costs'

the pharma companies won't be happy with that

> Both were within a few hours so I assumed based on CDC advice that I was still in the green zone.

I wouldn't trust the CDC data. Notice that there is no primary source on their webpage.

Here is a paper by someone who took an independent look into it: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4278789/

Thank you for this service! It has brought peace of mind to me after a number of tick bites (they are nearly impossible to avoid entirely if you spend a lot of time camping in the upper Midwest)

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