Preventing Tick Borne Disease

We are officially in the full throes of summer. With the nice weather, many of us are spending much more time outside, which means that we are exposing ourselves to a new set of environmental hazards. Ticks are common in our area and may be found in areas outside of the woods such as lawns, gardens, and fields. As ticks are most active in the warmer months (April- September) it’s important that people be aware of how to protect themselves from their bites.

Ticks can carry a variety of diseases including, Anaplasmosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and perhaps the most relevant for our area, Lyme Disease. Lyme disease is common in the northeastern U.S., upper Midwest, and along the Pacific coast. Accordinag to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Lyme disease is characterized by its symptoms and physical findings. Symptoms include fatigue, fever, headache and is often discovered by a characteristic rash. The rash is called Erythema Migrans and is typified by is bulls-eye pattern around the bite, it may expand up to twelve inches around the bite over time. If left untreated the Lyme disease infection may spread to a person’s joints, heart and nervous system causing permanent damage.

The good news is, Lyme disease infections that are found early can be treated effectively with a few courses of antibiotics. However, public health professionals agree that preventing people from ever contracting the disease is best. Prevention methods are easy, according to the CDC. Prevention methods include avoiding areas where ticks are most likely to be including heavily wooded or bushy areas and areas with high grass or leaf litter. For those who enter these areas, light colored clothing can help people spot ticks more quickly and before they have the chance to bite and repellents such as DEET and Premethrin have shown to be effective as well.

The CDC recommends that those who have been in areas that are likely to harbor ticks bathe within two hours of returning home to wash off and more easily spot ticks that might be crawling on them and conducting a full body check to ensure that no ticks have bitten them. These full body checks should be sure to include a thorough check of the head, as ticks are often harder to spot when hidden in a person’s hair. Another helpful tip from the CDC is to check pets, backpacks and other gear upon returning home. Ticks can hitchhike on pets and other items and them have the opportunity to bite you later. Applying tick repellents or tick killing products (Acaricides) on pets, is especially helpful in preventing bites Lyme disease transmission to humans.

If a tick does bite you, use fine tipped tweezers to grab the parasite as close to the skin as possible and pull upwards with even pressure. Try to avoid twisting or jerking the tick as the head/mouthparts of the animal may break off and be left in the skin. After removing the tick, clean the area and your hands thoroughly with soap and water or rubbing alcohol to prevent infection. It’s helpful if you write down what day a tick was found on you and be mindful of how you feel for a few weeks after bitten. That way, if signs or symptoms do appear, you can more accurately recall details to your physician.

For more information on Lyme disease and other tick borne diseases, please check out, http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/ or http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002296/.