Tick-repelling clothing I lamented over in a post from 2020.
Last summer I asked if gardeners were remembering to worry about Lyme Disease while we’re all freaking out over covid, and reported the prediction that we’d have a vaccine for Lyme in 2025. Here’s an update.
The CDC’s website, updated in October of 2020, says that:
A vaccine for Lyme disease is not currently available. The only vaccine previously marketed in the United States, LYMERix®, was discontinued by the manufacturer in 2002, citing insufficient consumer demand. Protection provided by this vaccine decreases over time. Therefore, if you received this vaccine before 2002, you are probably no longer protected against Lyme disease.
Wait – insufficient demand? With the millions of gardeners, landscape workers, hikers, hunters, and others working or recreating outdoors in this country and the other 80+ countries where the disease is found?
The CDC goes on:
The University of Massachusetts Medical School’s MassBiologics has developed a human monoclonal antibody designed to be used as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for Lyme disease. Human trials are expected to begin soon. This approach would provide seasonal protection against Lyme disease. It would likely consist of a single shot that people would get each year at the beginning of tick season.
More about that from the NY Post:
The inoculation against the tick-borne disease…received federal approval last year and is now part of an initial clinical trial…The vaccine is being tested on 66 patients in Lincoln, Nebraska, and could be available to the public in the the spring of 2023.
Spring of 2023 – now just two years away! Or as one commenter wrote about the development: “So, two more years of white socks?…Two more years of fear in the forest?” Indeed.
This fully covid-vaccinated gardener is eagerly awaiting her pre-exposure shot (not the same as a a “vaccine”?) and finally happy to have found tick-repelling clothes that are more suitable to gardening than the ones in the image above.
I totally love the permethrin-soaked lightweight pants and long-sleeve shirt that just arrived and that I’m modeling in this photo taken yesterday. I bought them from Insect Shield (sales of which this blog doesn’t receive a commission), and I also pull my Insect Shield socks up over the pants and use a bit of Deet on my exposed skin. I also have a permethrin-soaked bandana I wear when I’m gardening among shoulder-height or taller plants.
(The fanny pack holds my phone and – when I’m gardening way from home, as in this photo – my car keys.)
Then when I get home I put everything I’ve worn (except the Crocs) in a plastic bag in my freezer for at least a few hours. I’m not actually sure that works to kill ticks that may be on my clothes, but it gives me some extra peace of mind.
Unfortunately, I can’t resist occasionally popping into the garden in my normal clothes to do something or other, thinking it’ll be too briefly to matter. Ha! So I do still get the occasional tick bite and when I do I take two doses of doxycycline, per my doctor’s recommendation, and hope for the best.
But like the freedom from fear I’m now enjoying after my J&J shot, I sure look forward to fear-free gardening in 2023 and thereafter.
I’ve been wearing Insect shield brand clothes for several years and I spray my own with permethrin in a spray bottle (let it dry over night, never wear wet clothes and never apply directly to your clothing while wearing). It’s a long hot summer of gardening but, worth it. Showering and washing hair after gardening also takes care of chiggers. I have to throw my clothes in the washer to get the chiggers off of them. I will gladly take the shot! gail
I had no idea there was previously a lyme disease vaccine! Maybe “insufficient demand” was from lack of marketing? I’d get a lyme-preventative shot every season for sure, but I hope it’s covered by insurance. It would need good marketing too!
I haven’t yet bought the clothing from your first picture; if I did, it’d be for mosquitoes, not ticks. I should probably be a lot more worried about ticks.
Ticks are so bad here in central Maine. Both the “dog” tick and the black legged “deer” tick are rampant. I would LOVE to see a vaccine for Lyme. My husband had the disease and it was awful. The doctor had to be convinced to test for Lyme but finally did and prescribed 3 weeks of doxycycline. Be careful taking doxycycline too often as I’m sure you’re aware.
Hi I too am worried about tics ever I had to go to dermatologist to have one dug out of my scalp, no doubt from my yard. I’ve done the permethrin spray of pants, long-sleeved shirt(s) and socks, directions say don’t spray hats. Just hang the clothes on the line in nice weather and spray, being careful not to get the stuff on the inside of the garments.
I took doxy after the tick bite, but have lyme antibodies, however not enough to have a diagnoses of lyme(?) so I was told.
Thanks for this advice. I pulled off another tick this week and have asked my doctor about the doxycycline. I have pulled out my no fly zone pants and shirt from LL Bean to wear on the regular. Also looking forward to availability of the pre-exposure shot!
I’ve had Lyme three times with no lasting trouble, but a friend, who is not a gardener had it last summer, with a Bell’s Palsy complication and other difficulties too. I’d line up immediately for a vaccine! I pulled off a tick in February and took a big dose of doxycycline, which I was fortunate to have prescribed. I’ve heard of doctors who will not prescribe doxycycline without a tick that tests positive. I’m in the Cape Cod area and ticks are terrible here.
I buy an insect shield hat and spray the long shirt I wear buttoned up. The socks limit ticks climbing up!
Interesting that research is being done in Nebraska where we have a group of tick specialists. However, there is no where near the number of Lyme disease infections as found in the northeast. Here’s some info on the situation in Nebraska. https://mediahub.unl.edu/media/16741
To my mind, “insufficient demand” translates to “it’s mostly women that get Lyme disease, so we don’t need to bother with it”. But then, I’m old and cynical.
After having had Lyme disease several times, and always finding ticks on me, I designed and manufactured TheTickSuit (theticksuit.com). It’s one-piece (yes, so your clothes don’t separate as you bend), breathable, and easy on and off. You can spray it with permethrin (I do), or just wear it as a mechanical barrier. Made in USA, it’s a bit pricey, but you take it off outside, put it in its own bag, and wash and dry it over and over. While I wait for that vaccine, I would never garden without it.
I was excited at the news last year that a Lyme disease vaccine was in the making- can’t believe that it was determined there wasn’t enough demand. Lyme disease is very high where I live- I would go get that shot immediately if it was available!
So happy to hear about a future vaccine! Thank you.
I have found Natrapel, available on Amazon, to be very effective at repelling ticks and mosquitoes. I spray my shoes, socks, cuffs, and I have never then found a tick. If I forget to apply and go to the community garden, ticks are almost guaranteed. I was told Natrapel has been recommended to US Dept. of the Interior employees. It is safer for use by children as it contains picaridin, not having the toxicity of DEET.
I wear a beekeeper’s overall which is all cotton and protects very well against mosquito bites and ticks. Every day after use, I wash it and dry it on high for 40 minutes. The heat will kill ticks. (To be a bit more environmentally friendly, I bought a second overall, and now have to use the washer and drier only every other day.)
There are good organic products to keep mosquitoes away, and prevention is always the best defense. But if I get stung, I use a battery-driven heat device (looks like a fat pen, various manufacturers) that you put directly on the bite site, and the heat will reliably reduce the itching and swelling that usually develop within days or hours. The bite will just disappear – indicating that the poison has “denaturalized,” as one of the manufacturers of these products puts it. Could not live without my overall and my mosquito pen! And yes, I would take the preventive vaccine once it is available. Thanks for letting us know, Susan!
Thanks for this timely post. I’m in Lanark County, Ontario, hotspot for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses. Permethrin spray cannot be sold in Canada but we can purchase permethrin-treated clothing. With folks getting outdoors more than ever due to covid restrictions it is important to use a repellent and learn how to check for ticks at least twice daily.
I had no clue there was already a Lyme sickness antibody! Perhaps “inadequate interest” was from absence of showcasing? I’d get a Lyme-protection shot each season without a doubt, yet I trust it’s covered by protection. It would require great advertising as well!
I haven’t yet purchased the attire from your first picture; on the off chance that I did, it’d be for mosquitoes, not ticks. I ought to likely be much more stressed over ticks.
Alas, any vaccine or antibody for Lyme will not also target Babesiosis, Anaplasmosis, or (get ready to be truly terrified) Powassan disease, all of which are even worse than Lyme and carried by the same ticks.
Permethrin treated clothing and DEET for me as long as I can still get out in the garden and woods.