Expect Increase in Tick-Borne Powassan Virus, Experts Say

Potentially life-threatening Powassan virus, which is carried and transmitted by three types of ticks, including the deer tick that transmits Lyme disease, is on the rise. In the past decade, 75 cases have been reported in the northeastern states and the Great Lakes region, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Though no one can say how many infections will occur this year, warmer winters have led to an increased tick population, so experts predict rising tick-borne infections of many types.

Powassan virus puts all age groups at risk, from newborns to the elderly and the immunocompromised. As CNN reported, anyone bitten by an infected tick can get it, said Dr. Jennifer Lyons, chief of the Division of Neurological Infections and Inflammatory Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Infections are most likely during late spring, early summer and mid-fall, when ticks are most active. "About 15% of patients who are infected and have symptoms are not going survive," said Lyons, who is also an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School. "Of the survivors, at least 50% will have long-term neurological damage that is not going to resolve."

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Source: CNN.com