Family Living Focus: Season of Ticks

Do not let ticks take a bite out of the upcoming nice weather months for you and your family members.  With the blossoming of spring, it is time to lace up your hiking boots and head to the great outdoors but first, take note.  Every year thousands of adults, children, and pets across the country are exposed to Lyme disease and other diseases carried by ticks.  Simple precautions can help you avoid getting sick from these blood-feeding creatures.

 In 1975, 51 people came down with a mysterious arthritis-like ailment in Lyme, Connecticut. Researchers discovered that the disease was caused by small, coiled bacteria.  The bacteria spread to humans from the bite of a tiny deer tick.  The tick can be as small as a pinhead.

 Lyme disease is now the most common tick-borne disease in the United States, with many thousands of cases reported each year.  Most were in the Northeast and Midwest, but people in all 50 states are at risk.  Peak tick season is in June, July, and August.

 A deer tick can live on a variety of warm-blooded animals.  Immature ticks favor small mammals, while adult ticks tend to feed on white-tailed deer.  After a tick takes a blood meal from an infected animal, or host, the bacteria remain in the tick’s gut throughout its life.  The tick can then infect any new creature it feeds upon, including humans.

 That is why it is important to carefully check your body and clothing for ticks after being outdoors in woody and grassy areas.  If you see a tick, you can lessen the chance of infection by removing it from your body early, even if it is already begun to feed.

 A bull’s-eye shaped rash at the site of the tick bite is the most reliable early symptom of Lyme disease.  It appears 3 to 32 days after a tick bite in 70-80% of cases.  The rash has a dark spot in the center where the bite was, with a lighter color ring around the spot.

 Other early symptoms of Lyme disease resemble those of the flu.  Warning signs include fatigue, headache, joint stiffness, stiff or painful muscles, fever, and swollen joints.  If the disease progresses, symptoms such as irregular heartbeat, heart palpitations, or neurological abnormalities can develop.  In its most advanced stages, Lyme disease can be debilitating.

Early treatment is the most effective way to clear the infection from the body.  The key is to consult a health care provider as soon as you recognize any symptoms.

 Gardening, camping, hiking and just playing outdoors are all great spring and summertime activities but make tick prevention a part of your routine.