Tick-Borne Diseases
Bobbi Pritt, M.D., a Mayo Clinic parasitic diseases expert, says, as the last of the winter's snow melts, ticks start coming up from under the grass looking for a "blood meal." She says that this year, after a relatively mild winter, ticks got an early start. This means that tick season could be particularly busy. In this "Mayo Clinic Minute," Dr. Pritt explains an easy trick to remember the best ways to protect yourself from tick bites.
On the April 22 broadcast of Mayo Clinic Radio, co-hosts Tracy McCray and Tom Shives, M.D., spoke with Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory, about an update on Lyme disease predictions for 2017.
With tick season underway in parts of the United States, it's important to understand the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease to determine when to seek medical treatment. Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, identifies Lyme disease signs and symptoms at AccuWeather.com.
Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, discussed how to safety remove ticks from skin with AccuWeather.com.
On March 21, Bobbi Pritt, M.D., Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory in Mayo Clinic’s Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, presented “Advances in Diagnosing Tickborne Diseases” during a live webcast for the Centers for Disease Control Public Health Grand Rounds session.
In this “Hot Topic,” Bobbi Pritt, M.D., discusses how Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States and Europe and caused primarily by Borrelia burgdorferi in the United States, while B burgdorferi, B afzelii, and B garinii cause Lyme disease in Europe. We will also discuss using PCR and melting curve analysis to identify a new species of Borrelia.
During summer activities, it's bound to happen. But how dangerous is it to accidentally swallow a bug? Bobbi Pritt, M.D., a microbiologist, pathologist, and Director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, discusses when swallowing an insect is harmless and which ones can be dangerous in The Wall Street Journal column entitled, "Burning Question."