BACKGROUND: In the northeastern United States, tick-borne diseases are a major public health concern. In controlled studies, a single springtime application of acaricide has been shown to kill 68%-100% of ticks. Although public health authorities recommend use of acaricides to control tick populations in yards, the effectiveness of these pesticides to prevent tick bites or human tick-borne diseases is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a 2-year, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial among 2727 households in 3 northeastern states. Households received a single springtime barrier application of bifenthrin or water according to recommended practices. Tick drags were conducted 3-4 weeks after treatment on 10% of properties. Information on human-tick encounters and tick-borne diseases was collected through monthly surveys; reports of illness were validated by medical record review. RESULTS: Although the abundance of questing ticks was significantly lower (63%) on acaricide-treated properties, there was no difference between treatment groups in human-tick encounters, self-reported tick-borne diseases, or medical-record-validated tick-borne diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Used as recommended, acaricide barrier sprays do not significantly reduce the household risk of tick exposure or incidence of tick-borne disease. Measures for preventing tick-borne diseases should be evaluated against human outcomes to confirm effectiveness. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND: In the northeastern United States, tick-borne diseases are a major public health concern. In controlled studies, a single springtime application of acaricide has been shown to kill 68%-100% of ticks. Although public health authorities recommend use of acaricides to control tick populations in yards, the effectiveness of these pesticides to prevent tick bites or humantick-borne diseases is unknown. METHODS: We conducted a 2-year, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial among 2727 households in 3 northeastern states. Households received a single springtime barrier application of bifenthrin or water according to recommended practices. Tick drags were conducted 3-4 weeks after treatment on 10% of properties. Information on human-tick encounters and tick-borne diseases was collected through monthly surveys; reports of illness were validated by medical record review. RESULTS: Although the abundance of questing ticks was significantly lower (63%) on acaricide-treated properties, there was no difference between treatment groups in human-tick encounters, self-reported tick-borne diseases, or medical-record-validated tick-borne diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Used as recommended, acaricide barrier sprays do not significantly reduce the household risk of tick exposure or incidence of tick-borne disease. Measures for preventing tick-borne diseases should be evaluated against human outcomes to confirm effectiveness. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America 2016. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.
Authors: E H Jones; A F Hinckley; S A Hook; J I Meek; B Backenson; K J Kugeler; K A Feldman Journal: Zoonoses Public Health Date: 2017-06-19 Impact factor: 2.702
Authors: Allen C Steere; Franc Strle; Gary P Wormser; Linden T Hu; John A Branda; Joppe W R Hovius; Xin Li; Paul S Mead Journal: Nat Rev Dis Primers Date: 2016-12-15 Impact factor: 52.329
Authors: A Marm Kilpatrick; Andrew D M Dobson; Taal Levi; Daniel J Salkeld; Andrea Swei; Howard S Ginsberg; Anne Kjemtrup; Kerry A Padgett; Per M Jensen; Durland Fish; Nick H Ogden; Maria A Diuk-Wasser Journal: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci Date: 2017-06-05 Impact factor: 6.237