Is your flu really the flu? Flu-like symptoms describe a variety of illnesses, because really, they’re an immune response as your body shuts down to fight off a pathogen. Besides cold, flu, and other airborne diseases, time outside can give you something else to worry about: a tick bite that spreads one of the many diseases ticks carry, which can often mimic flu-like symptoms!
With milder weather and a longer, warmer tick season, some experts suspect we’re seeing two rounds of ticks, and that’s causing tick-borne illness to spread. Meaning those flu-like symptoms may actually be the result of ticks. The big new one to worry about? Anaplasmosis. It doesn’t yet have the foothold that Lyme Disease has, but a longer tick season is sure giving it time to catch up.
If you live in Lyme Disease country, (and with more than half of US counties positive for ticks carrying Lyme Disease, that’s a good portion of people) you probably know all about checking for ticks after being outside and watching for Lyme Disease symptoms (which often don’t start with a bull’s eye rash!). Now, you have to watch for Anaplasmosis symptoms, which resemble the flu. More severe than Lyme Disease symptoms, Anaplasmosis causes aches, fatigue, and discomfort often focused in the upper body/head. One of the clues is to watch for flu-like symptoms outside of winter, but what happens when tick season and flu season overlap?
Anaplasmosis is far more likely to cause hospitalization, in fact, about a third of those infected end up in the hospital. Tick prevention is the best first step: keep your skin covered, and check yourself and pets for ticks (if you’re in a heavily wooded area, a quick wipe down should already be a habit). Immune support is the second best thing, if you get bit, you want to take care of yourself and minimize your risk for severe symptoms. If your body is tired, sleep. Be sure to provide it with lots of nutrients. And remember that you can get immune support from colloidal silver each day, to help against all the illnesses we come into contact with on a regular basis.
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