Taking
the Bite away from the Tick
By Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD, FAAP
Your Kids’
Health, The
Salem News
July
1, 2003
Your
child comes in from a day outdoors and shows
you a funny spot on his arm. You take a close
look and become panic-stricken: it’s
a tick – the size of a small lady bug.
Before you rush your child off to your pediatrician
or the nearest emergency room, take a deep
breath and grab a pair of tweezers. Grab the
tick and pull very slowly and gently and the
tick will come off. Don’t worry if the
mouth pincers or head stays in your child
– those parts are not infectious. Put
the tick in a baggie, call your pediatrician,
and read on. You have more time than you think
– even if this tick ends up being a
Deer tick.
Regardless of what
this tick ends up being identified as, all
of us worry about our kids getting Lyme Disease.
And, since Massachusetts is a high risk area
for Lyme Disease carrying ticks, we do need
to be vigilant but what we don’t need
to do is panic and put everyone who has a
tick bite on antibiotics.
Lyme Disease is caused
by a bacteria (Burrelia burgdorferi for those
of you that like big technical names) that
live in Deer ticks innocently but can be passed
along to humans when the Deer tick attaches
to our skin and has a little snack. Simple
attachment won’t pass along the bacteria
– the tick actually has to “feed”.
You’ll know if a tick has fed –
it will look very engorged like a small balloon.
Luckily, a tick has to be on a person for
at least 36-48 hours for the actual bite to
occur. And, not all Deer ticks carry the bacteria.
Deer ticks start of
their lives very, very small – the size
of a pin. Very, very young ticks, called larvae,
pick up B. burgdorferi when they bite infected
mice. These larvae mature into juveniles called
nymphs that are no bigger than a small freckle
or poppy seed. Turn out that the nymphs are
the ticks that most commonly bite people and
pass along Lyme Disease if they happen to
be carrying it. Once a tick becomes an adult,
they are very easy to see, usually the size
of a lady bug, and are not all that interested
in biting us humans.
So, the ticks to worry
about and remove are also the hard to see
one and keeping an eye out for certain symptoms
is what helps identify early Lyme Disease
more often than not. The big symptoms to watch
for are a circular rash that slowly expands,
flu-like symptoms, and joint complaints, especially
swelling and pain. Since many other infections
have symptoms similar to Lyme Disease and
since not every Deer Tick carries B. burgdorferi,
antibiotics are reserved until blood testing
confirms the diagnosis.
In the end, the best
way to not get Lyme Disease is prevention:
- Spray everyone
with insect repellent with DEET: 10-15%
for kids and 30-35% for adults. Don’t
forget to reapply every few hours, especially
after swimming or sports
- Wear protective clothing when walking
in woody and grassy areas – including
long sleeves and pants and tucking pants
into sock
- Check your entire family for ticks
daily and removing ticks if found
- Call your doctor if any of the above
symptoms occur in your kids so testing for
Lyme Disease can be arranged.
You can find more information
at www.cdc.gov, www.aap.org, and the Massachusetts
Department of Public Health. And, of course,
from your pediatrician.
Have a great, and hopefully
tick-less, week.
© 2005-2006 Pediatrics
Now.
All rights reserved. PEDIATRICS NOW is a trademark
of Pediatrics Now.
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