Trial reportThe Journal of infectious diseases2016
Effectiveness of Residential Acaricides to Prevent Lyme and Other Tick-borne Diseases in Humans.
Trial report in The Journal of infectious diseases, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 134 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic review and meta-analysis of tick-borne disease risk factors in residential yards, neighborhoods, and beyond.BMC infectious diseases · 2019Pooled it
- Risk Factors for Bites and Diseases Associated With Black-Legged Ticks: A Meta-Analysis.American journal of epidemiology · 2019Pooled it
- Why are the ticks winning, and what can we do about it?Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2026Review
- Epidemiology, diagnosis and emerging therapies for Lyme disease of the Northern Hemisphere.International journal of emergency medicine · 2026Review
- Ecological and Epidemiological Consequences of Tick-Control Interventions in Residential Neighborhoods: A Synthesis of The Tick Project.Transboundary and emerging diseases · 2026Review
- Project ITCH: cross-sectional surveys to understand residential vector control attitudes and practices across New England.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Review
- Willingness to pay for residential property-based and community-based tick control methods in Lyme disease-endemic areas of the Upper Midwest, United States.Ticks and tick-borne diseases · 2025Article
- A scoping review of applied tick control research in North America: funding, implementation, and advancement.Journal of medical entomology · 2025Article
- Alarming implications: severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome and its biological vectors in the context of climate change.Frontiers in microbiology · 2025Review
- Contrasting Perceptions, Knowledge, and Actions around Lyme Disease in an Urban Area of Emerging Lyme Disease and an Area of Endemic Lyme Disease in the Northeastern United States.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2024Article
- Lyme Disease Prophylaxis by Single-Dose Doxycycline in the United States, 2010-2020.Open forum infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Fipronil prevents transmission of Lyme disease spirochetes.Parasitology · 2024Article
- Effects of residential acaricide treatments on patterns of pathogen coinfection in blacklegged ticks.Parasitology · 2024Article
- Willingness and capacity of publicly-funded vector control programs in the USA to engage in tick management.Parasites & vectors · 2024Article
- Ixodes scapularis density and Borrelia burgdorferi prevalence along a residential-woodland gradient in a region of emerging Lyme disease risk.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Efficacy of Unregulated Minimum Risk Products to Kill and Repel Ticks.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Review
- Assessing the Influence of Climate Change and Environmental Factors on the Top Tick-Borne Diseases in the United States: A Systematic Review.Microorganisms · 2023Review
- From Tick to Test: A Comprehensive Review of Tick-Borne Disease Diagnostics and Surveillance Methods in the United States.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Community-based integrated tick management programs: cost and feasibility scenarios.Journal of medical entomology · 2023Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundIn 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.
methodsWe 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.
resultsAlthough 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.
conclusionsUsed 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.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.