What do you guys think of this?  Do you worry about Lyme disease regularly?   

(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)

That would be a really good vaccine if it gets approved and can treat the deisease effectively.  I can't say I worry about Lyme disease, but I frankly don't worry about any disease.  I do what I can to take care of myself and try to help mitigate any factors which could be a contributor (bug spray when riding in this case).

This is awesome! I definitely worry about it, especially when I find a tick on my socks or other articles of clothing when out riding. Hopefully it's safe, effective and comes out soon!

A little perspective from a doc from a hyper-endemic area of Connecticut regarding Lyme vaccination, just FYI   

We used to give a Lyme vaccine that was 80% effective back in the late 1990's. I practiced in Connecticut and took the vaccine myself for 3 years and my wife and I were the only people in our neighborhood near the shoreline who never got Lyme. Literally every single person in the neighborhood got the disease. The vaccine was pulled from the market in 2002 due to lack of interest and claims of arthritis caused by the vaccine (occurring with the same incidence as it did with placebo, however), resulting in bad press. It also didn't protect against HGE, a common co-infection we used to see with Lyme. Also didn't protect against babesiosis but that wasn't particularly prevalent in CT back then, more of a problem on Long Island.

Lyme is treatable. Much more so where I was when people would suspect it immediately and come to the office. I saw about 5 cases or more per week. I can't say I've see a true case of Lyme in NC in the 15 years I've been here. There were only 134 confirmed cases over the period of 2009-2014 here. Not much reason for widespread vaccination although folks like us who are in the woods a lot would be considered candidates for it, I would think. 

Here we have the Southern Tick Associated Rash Illness, which mimics Lyme with the rash and similar symptoms, but is much milder. People with real Lyme are really sick, crawling into the waiting room, especially if they are co-infected with one of the other tick borne diseases.

Glad to see someone trying to introduce a vaccine again.

Master Shake wrote on 08/25/17 at 3:43pm:


Well I learned something today. I've thought for nearly 20 years that I had contracted Lyme disease. I was bitten by an extremely small tick, which is why I didn't find it right away, got the bulls-eye rash, came down with flu-like symptoms, the whole bit. Lyme titer test was negative, but they're not all that dependable anyway. I've not had any long term lyme-type of issues other than arthritis. In reading about STARI, I'm now confident that this is what I had. Thank you for your insight.