Promoting Lyme Disease Prevention In The Schools

by Maggie Sabota – Miss Cumberland County 2007

As Miss Cumberland County, I am passionately committed to spreading the word about effective ways to prevent the contraction of Lyme Disease. This is because I have seen the devastation caused by the disease first hand. Both my mother and my brother Luke contracted Lyme Disease. With antibiotic treatment, Luke recovered, although he was unable to play soccer his Freshman year as planned.

Unfortunately, my mother was found to have an antibiotic resistant form of the disease. She has suffered from headaches, shooting pains, dizziness, severe joint pain and swelling and chronic neurological problems for 13 years. Her hands and feet frequently go numb and she has problems with concentration and short-term memory. Since the age of six, I have watched her struggle with pain and disability so severe that at times she uses a walker or wheelchair to get around.

Since being crowned, I have had numerous appearances throughout my county and the state of New Jersey. Recently I have chosen to place an emphasis on teaching elementary age children about Lyme. This spring, I gave presentations at several local elementary schools. As a future educator, I am aware that it is always best to emphasize a few main points to students rather than bombarding them with too many details.

In each presentation I used colorful charts to help emphasize four main points:

1) Protect

2) Do Tick Checks

3) Remove Ticks Properly

4) Call the Doctor.

I also taught them the importance of applying tick repellent and wearing long sleeves and pants when you are in tick infested areas. The students also learned about making their own tick removal kit, containing a small vial with a label, tweezers and antiseptic. The Lyme Disease Foundation (www.lyme.org ) has materials and coloring pages emphasizing these steps, which I gave to the students. This foundation, as well as and the Lyme Disease Association (www.lymediseaseassociation.org) provided me with informative pamphlets for the children to take home to their parents as well.

I was thrilled to find that there are many resources available to teach children how to protect themselves. One such helpful tool is a book called “No Time For Lyme” written and illustrated by Sarah DeMar, a woman who contracted Lyme Disease as a child. The book, available in PDF format from the Lyme Disease Foundation website, provides age appropriate information about what it is like to have Lyme Disease.

Also at each of my school visits, I made sure to stop and visit the school nurse and the librarian. I talked to them about the different resources there are available for Lyme Disease Prevention and also about ways to incorporate them into the school curriculum. Looking back on my presentations, I was astonished at the number of children who told me that they had found ticks on themselves, and at the amount of students who knew someone with Lyme Disease.

I am continually reminded of how prevalent this disease is, and how important it is to teach children prevention tips at a young age. My crown has afforded me valuable opportunities to teach children how to prevent this potentially devastating disease. I am surprised at the insightful questions being asked by young children about Lyme Disease. Questions range from, “Can my dog get Lyme Disease?” to “Can you die from Lyme Disease?” However, my favorite non- Lyme Disease related question so far has been, “Do you sleep in your crown?”