I rec'd the message below off-list from Richard Wood, up to his old tricks. 
I wanted to share my response with the list.

Mr. Wood, if you'd like, I'll give you my doctor's name and number and you 
can discuss with him the pros and cons of contributing to bacteria becoming 
resistant to antibiotics versus taking a prophylactic course of doxycycline 
when bitten by a tick to prevent coming down with a disease that can be 
profoundly debilitating - as this thread has shown. (I'm sure my doctor is 
well qualified to discuss this with you, and maybe even enlighten you.)

Of greater interest to the list:  I don't think that doxycycline poses a 
problem in connection with MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus 
aureus). Doxycycline is a tetracycline-type drug, whereas MRSA has most 
often been treated with glycopeptide antibiotics such as vancomycin. 
Vancomycin resistant MRSA strains are a big problem, but an even bigger 
problem with MRSA is unhygienic practices in hospitals. Better to 
concentrate on ensuring that health care professionals wash their hands than 
to worry about antibiotic resistant bugs. So far as I know, doxycycline is 
irrelevant to the MRSA problem. What I would like to ask the list in general 
is:  are there any diseases that are showing resistance to doxycycline, or 
are the concerns that have been raised on the list about resistant bugs just 
red herrings?

One more note: I found Wood's message very obnoxious as it's an unwarranted 
and unprovoked attack on my doctor's integrity and depth of knowledge. Norm: 
do you know how I can block messages from Wood on my computer?  I use 
Microsoft Outlook. (I'm posting this to the list rather than contacting you 
off list in case anyone else has had similar problems.) Thanks for any info 
you can give me.

Tom Stock
Silver Spring, Md.
altomomatic at verizon dot net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "RICHARD JILL WOOD" <>
Subject: Re: Lyme disease treatment recommendations


>
> Another doctor that has never heard of MRSA nor knows nothing about how 
> bacteria become resistant to antibiotics.
>
> RLW, Ph.D.
>
>>From: Thomas Stock <>
>>Subject: Re: Lyme disease treatment recommendations

>
>>This was basically my advice much earlier in this thread.  Having followed
>>the thread with great interest, I feel very fortunate to have a personal
>>doctor who, as I stated in an earlier post, treats 100% of tick bites with 
>>a
>>course of doxycycline (he told me this after I was bitten several times 
>>this
>>spring). When I told him how much time I spend in the field, he told me to
>>be careful, but if need be, he would keep me on doxycycline all summer -
>>whether I have symptoms or not!  And to think that some doctors out there
>>resist prescribing doxycycline therapy for tick bites! In my opinion, 
>>that's
>>malpractice.
>>
[snip]