Yale Bulletin and Calendar

August 26, 2005|Volume 34, Number 1

Lyme disease prevention program
launched in Connecticut

A Lyme disease prevention study is underway in 21 Connecticut communities by researchers at the Emerging Infections Program (EIP) at the School of Medicine, in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The goal of the program is to evaluate the effectiveness of personal protective measures and landscape modification practices on Lyme disease risk. The 21 communities are located in the Torrington area, Westport-Weston and Ledge Light health districts. To be eligible for the study, residents must have a yard and have been diagnosed with a Lyme disease rash within the past year.

"Results of the study will help us understand which prevention behaviors are most effective for preventing Lyme disease," says EIP researcher Neeta Pardanani, who is conducting the study with James Meek, associate director of the EIP in the medical school's Department of Epidemiology and Public Health. "We're hoping to have an impact on Lyme disease rates in Connecticut."

Personal protective measures include wearing insect repellent, performing bodily tick checks and tucking pants into socks when spending time in the yard. Landscape modifications refer to applying pesticides to a yard to reduce the tick population, installing fencing and planting deer-resistant plants to discourage them from entering the yard. Other measures include creating a dry barrier between a lawn and forested edge; and keeping recreational areas like swing sets and picnic tables a safe distance from woods.

The EIP staff will contact individuals with new cases of physician-diagnosed Lyme disease rash reported to the state and local health departments. These people will be asked to answer questions pertaining to their personal protective behaviors and landscape characteristics around their homes. The EIP staff will also ask the same questions of people without Lyme disease who are within similar age groups as cases and who live within a short distance of those who have contracted the disease.

For more information on the study, contact Pardanani at (203) 764-4365.

-- By Karen Peart

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Margaret Grey is named dean of School of Nursing

Benson to step down as dean of School of Art after this year

Team discovers new planet in the outer solar system

Grant will fund center for study of nervous system

Study: Alligator eggs show effect of oxygen on development

Yale Librarian Prochaska appointed to a second term

New master's program prepares nurses for leadership roles

Exhibit explores the 18th-century 'worlds' of Francis Wheatley

Private portrait miniatures showcase the faces of public figures

Gallery hosting festive open house . . .

Architecture gallery to feature traveling art show 'Ant Farm'

Sterling Library launches new academic year with two exhibits

Researchers create powerful tool for decoding gene functions

Galapagos tortoises more diverse than once believed, say scientists

Team identifies 'signatures' of protons in water

'Canary Database' shows animals offer health warnings for humans

Team digitally reconstructs long-extinct 'Lamp Shell'

'Gene trapping' reveals how flower development is controlled

Discovery may aid development of treatment for melanoma

Drinking alcohol may lower risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

Lyme disease prevention program launched in Connecticut

For 35 students, summer was a time of service in New Haven

IN MEMORIAM

John Ostrom: He revolutionized field of paleontology

Robert Abelson: Psychologist was adviser to presidential candidates

Greer Allen: University printer was inspiration to School of Art students