Tick Alert: Safeguarding your Summer Activities

Mosquitoes and ticks can quickly spoil summer fun. If you enjoy spending time in nature or have pets that go outdoors, you need to be aware of these pesky parasites and the dangers they can potentially pose. Ticks can easily get on you if you walk through areas where they live, such as tall grass, leaf litter, brush, or shrubs. They come in various shapes, sizes, and colors, ranging from light to reddish-brown or dark. Some, like deer ticks, have a distinctive circle on their back.

So, what makes ticks so worrisome? They feed on the blood of people and warm-blooded animals and can potentially pass on germs that cause different diseases when they bite, known as tickborne illnesses. These include:

• Lyme disease
• Alpha-gal syndrome (tick bite red meat allergy)
• Babesiosis
• Ehrlichiosis
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Tularemia

While some symptoms are mild, others can have long-lasting health complications. Unlike a pesky gnat or mosquito, you likely won’t feel a tick bite you. They can stay attached to your body for several days while feasting on your blood. If you can catch and remove it before it has filled up on your blood, you’re less likely to get infected by a potential disease. You can use a tick removal device or fine-tipped tweezers to help you grasp the parasite. Be sure to grab the tick as close as possible to your skin. Pull upward with steady, even pressure, ideally removing the whole tick in one piece, making sure to get the tick’s mouth parts so they don’t break off and stay in your skin. Thoroughly clean the bite area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water.

Many tickborne illnesses have similar signs and symptoms: fever, chills, aches and pains, and a rash. If you develop any of these symptoms within a few weeks of removing a tick, you should visit your primary care provider.

There are easy ways to ensure your summer plans aren’t interrupted by a tick bite:

• Wear insect repellent with DEET, picaridin, or another U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered repellent.
• Wear light-colored protective clothing.
• Treat your clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin.
• Tuck your pant legs into your socks and your shirt into your pants.
• Remove your clothing after being outdoors. Check your clothing for ticks and remove any ticks that you find. Wash and dry your clothes at high temperatures.
• Check yourself, your children, and your pets daily for ticks, and carefully remove any ticks you find.

If you don’t have a primary provider, you can easily make a same-day appointment with a CRMC provider at our Crosby Super One, Baxter, or Breezy Point Clinics.

Source: MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine