Climate change could cause spike in ticks – and drive up Lyme disease cases
Climate change is “likely” to increase the activity and distribution of ticks in the UK, which could lead to a rise in Lyme disease cases, according to the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).
A potentially warmer and more humid climate is expected to result in ticks – which can infect humans with Lyme disease – being more active.
In most, but not all cases, a circular or oval “bullseye” shaped rash can be an early symptom of the bacterial infection, usually appearing within one to four weeks.
Reported cases have been rising, with a nearly 40% increase in acute cases of Lyme disease last summer.
The UKHSA says warmer, more humid temperatures are creating “favourable conditions” for ticks to thrive.
It’s expected that mild winters and warmer springs will lengthen the period that ticks are active – increasing the likelihood of tick bites.
The latest UKHSA data shows that in England, there were 882 acute cases of the disease between April and September last year, when ticks are most active.
That’s compared to 635 cases in 2022.
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Jolyon Medlock, head of medical entomology at the UKHSA, told Sky News that ticks from “other parts of Europe” could appear in the UK.
He said “as climate warms in the UK in the coming decades, species that are not normally found in the UK might suddenly appear”.
“If there are more people exposed to ticks, we are likely to see more cases of Lyme disease in the future,” he added.
Pic: Associated Press
Laura Edwards, 34, was diagnosed with the disease in late 2019, after being “very very sick”.
With no memory of being bitten, she saw doctors over a period of seven years prior, looking for a diagnosis to explain her aches and pains, brain fog, oedema and sore joints.
She told Sky News she thought she was bitten by a tick as a child, but the symptoms did not appear until over a decade later.
Ms Edwards said: “Not only was I getting the physical symptoms, severe brain fog, severe fatigue, I was struggling to even get up in the mornings. Not knowing, forgetting things.”
She added her nerves were also affected “so I was falling over a lot”.
Her diagnosis resulted in four years of treatment, first with antibiotics via an IV drip, five hours a day for three weeks, before moving to oral antibiotics for a year and a half.
Ms Edwards’ diagnosis resulted in four years of treatment
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Raising awareness of the disease is Lyme Disease UK, a charity providing patient support.
Chair Natasha Metcalf has urged people “not to panic” if bitten by a tick, and to “learn how to remove a tick safely”.
She told Sky News it “involves using fine nose tweezers or a proper tick removal tool, not burning off with a match, not using Vaseline or anything else not designed to do the job”.
Ms Metcalf said people must remove the whole tick, not leaving any parts of its body in the skin.
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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