Southampton Hospital Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center's Panel Discussion

Last week, I attended the Southampton Hospital Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center’s first panel discussion. It was a packed house with people standing in the back of the room.

The panel included Dr. Rajeev S. Fernando, director of infectious disease at Southampton Hospital, Dr. George P. Dempsey and Gerald T. Simons, both of East Hampton Family Medicine and Dr. Anthony F. Knott of Meeting House Lane Medical Practice in Montauk.

Overall, I found it to be a very informative discussion that covered topics ranging from the different types of ticks found in our area to the diseases ticks carry. In addition, it touched on the life cycle of these parasites and where they are most likely to be found.

The duration was about two hours, and it concluded with questions from attendees. This new resource center will be a great asset to our community, giving people the knowledge they need if bitten by a tick. We hope to work with the resource center to help further educate the community on how to avoid tick bites.