Lyme Disease in Ohio: Causes and Clinical Trials

Oct 11th, 2024

Lyme disease is on the rise in Ohio and its border states due to an increase in the population of adult blacklegged ticks, also known as deer ticks. While antibiotics can treat the infection, Lyme disease can still cause both short-term symptoms and potentially lingering complications, including inflammation and even nerve damage.

Learn more about Lyme disease, how to prevent and treat it, and what trials are in progress.

What Is Lyme Disease?

Lyme disease (borreliosis) is a bacterial infection caused by Borrelia burgdorferi, transmitted through the bite of blacklegged ticks.

The Ohio Department of Health reports that Lyme disease cases are increasing in Ohio due to expanding blacklegged tick populations. State data shows a 35-fold increase in cases since 2014, with cases affecting Ohioans aged 1 to 92 years old and present in 70 of Ohio’s 88 counties.

Blacklegged ticks are becoming more common due to accelerated community growth into their habitat: wooded areas with ample brush and moisture, which are common in eastern and southeastern Ohio along the Pennsylvania and West Virginia borders. Because of an increased interest in outdoors activities like camping and hiking, people may also be encountering ticks more frequently and not properly checking for them.

Lyme disease can cause fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic “bull’s-eye” rash, as well as joint pain and other symptoms if left untreated.

Tick Life Cycle and Habits

Ticks have a life cycle that includes eggs, six-legged larvae, eight-legged nymphs, and eight-legged adults. Adult ticks often have distinct characteristics and markings, while immature stages are tan or brown and difficult to identify.

Ticks must consume blood at every stage to develop, and most species feed on different hosts during the adult stage.

Adult female ticks greatly increase in size during feeding, while adult males do not.

High-Risk Areas and Activities

Blacklegged ticks are active throughout the year in Ohio, with adults active in spring, fall, and winter, nymphs in spring and summer, and larvae in late summer. The onset of human Lyme disease cases occurs year-round in Ohio, peaking in summer following the emergence of nymphs.

High-risk areas for Lyme disease include wooded, bushy, and grassy areas, as well as areas with leaf litter and weeds. Hiking, camping, hunting, and gardening increase the risk of being bitten by infected ticks.

Preventing Tick Bites

Preventing tick bites is key to preventing tickborne diseases, with most cases occurring between early spring and late fall when ticks are most active. Ohio residents can use tick repellent to decrease their chances of being bitten by a harmful tick.

The health department recommends using permethrin-based tick repellent throughout hunting season, typically from late September through the end of December.

Those active in the outdoors should wear protective clothing, including long-sleeved shirts and pants, and tuck their pant legs into socks to prevent tick bites. Check regularly for ticks on yourself, your children, and your pets after spending time outdoors in or around the tick’s natural habitat.

Tick Removal and Testing

If you are bitten by a tick, do not panic and carefully remove the tick, including its mouthparts, from your skin using tweezers. Monitor your health for several days after the bite, as disease transmission can occur within 36-48 hours, but may happen sooner. Remove the tick as soon as possible to reduce the risk of disease transmission.

Some private labs conduct disease testing of ticks, but there is no state agency in Ohio that offers this service at this time.

Symptoms and Diagnosis of Lyme Disease

Lyme disease symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle pain, and the characteristic rash, but it can also cause more serious problems if left untreated, according to the National Institutes of Health. More severe symptoms include facial paralysis, severe headaches, neck stiffness, heart palpitations, dizziness, and arthritis.

A diagnosis of Lyme disease is typically made based on symptoms, medical history, and laboratory tests.

Early treatment with antibiotics can help prevent long-term complications, but some patients still experience symptoms after treatment, including pain, fatigue, and memory loss.

Tick-Borne Diseases in Ohio

The Ohio Department of Health has seen an increase in tickborne diseases reported in the past decade, with Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever being the most common.

Other tickborne diseases such as anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and ehrlichiosis are also on the rise in Ohio.

Ohio Resources and Reporting

The Ohio Department of Health’s Zoonotic Disease Program tracks and responds to tickborne diseases, collecting and analyzing data to detect trends and investigate reported cases.

The C. Wayne Ellett Plant and Pest Diagnostic Clinic (PPDC) at The Ohio State University can identify tick species.

If you suspect you have been bitten by an infected tick, contact your healthcare professional and report the incident to the Department of Health.

Clinical Research on Lyme Disease Treatment

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is currently enrolling participants for several Lyme Disease clinical trials designed to learn more about how people respond to tick bites and whether bacteria from a Lyme disease infection remains active after antibiotics. Other hospitals and health centers are recruiting patients for similar clinical trials, and researchers at Tulane University recently discovered that fibroblast growth factor receptor inhibitors can reduce inflammation and cell death in people with Lyme disease.

Moderna is currently investigating mRNA-based vaccines to prevent Lyme disease through a clinical trial expected to last through 2026.

Why Choose Remington-Davis for Your Lyme Disease Clinical Study

If you are conducting a study on Lyme disease and need to recruit participants quickly, Remington-Davis can help. As an independent research site based in Columbus, Ohio, we offer the expertise and resources necessary to support rapid, large-scale, and high-quality enrollment. We're located just a few miles away from The Ohio State University and Wexner Medical Center, with access to a diverse group of patients and healthy adult volunteers, which helps us recruit quickly.

Our team can turn around contracts and submit studies to the IRB in just days, reliably tracking enrolled patients for Lyme disease symptoms or tick bite exposure, ensuring consistent and comprehensive study results.

We also provide up to $1,000 for physicians who refer patients who are randomized into one of our trials.