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Tick Bites



This weekend after a hike with my daughter I found a tick on her. I had a tick on myself before but it is different when it is your child I tried to remove it without her noticing what was going on. That did not work (The tick was attached pretty good) and when she realized that she had a bug on her she became upset. So the 1st thing I had to do was calm her down so that I could remove the tick in one piece.

Here are some tips for removing a tick.
Used a fine tipped tweezersgrasp the head of the tick close to the skin.
Firmly and Steadily pull the tick straight out of the skin. Do not twist the tick or rock it from side to side while removing it.
A great tool for tick removal can be found at: http://www.tickedoff.com/
After removal put the tick in Alcohol to kill it. Do not use petroleum Jelly or a hot match to kill and remove the tick.
Wash your hands and the site of the bite with Soap and Water
Swab the bite with Alcohol

Call the Doctor if:
The tick may have been on the skin for more than 24 hours
Part of the tick remains in the skin after attempted removal
The child develops a rash of any kind especially a red bulls-eye rash
The Bite site looks Infected (Red, Swelling, Warm, pain, or oozing Pus)
The Child develops symptoms like fever, headache, fatigue, chills, stiff neck, back, muscle, or joint pain.

Prevention:
When Playing in wooded areas Children should wear long sleeve shirt and pants. Having your child wear light color clothing can help you to identify ticks on your child. A insect repelent with Deet. Check your child after play outside especially on their scalp, neck, behind their ears, armpits, and groin.

Additional Information:
Ticks are important vectors of organisms causing disease in humans. Some common southeastern species are lone star tick, American dog tick, brown dog tick, and blacklegged tick. Among the diseases that are transmitted by ticks, Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), Lyme disease (LD), and ehrlichiosis are the most noted. Symptoms of RMSF include fever, headache and rash. The rash usually develops a few days after infection, around the wrist, ankles and on the back. Initial symptoms feign those of the common flu and many victims often delay going to a physician. A bacteria-like organism called a rickettsia causes RMSF. Not all ticks are infected with the organism but it only takes one infected tick bite to contract it.

Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete and is characterized by a distinctive skin lesion in about 65% of the cases. The skin lesion is called erythema migrans (EM) and appears from 3 days to 1 month after the bite. Victims usually suffer with headaches, fever, arthritic-like pain, and a stiff neck. Several tick species in the South can transmit RMSF and LD, but the blacklegged tick is most often associated with LD
Human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME), and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) are transmitted by ticks. Both types cause fever, headache, chills, sweating, muscle aches, nausea and vomiting. Antibiotic therapy is effective if started early in the course of infection. The lone star tick is suspected of being the primary vector in the southeastern U.S.
the following preventative measures to reduce their exposure to ticks:
(1) wear light colored clothing so that ticks can be seen crawling,
(2) keep clothes buttoned, tuck legs of pants in top of socks to prevent ticks from crawling underneath where they can’t be seen,
(3) use a repellent containing permethrin to spray on boots and outer clothing; repellents containing DEET can be applied to exposed skin areas (do not apply permethrin to the skin),
(4) inspect the outer clothing several times a day for ticks,
(5) once home remove clothing immediately and place directly into washer,
(6) if working out of town and staying in a hotel remove clothes and seal in a plastic bag,
(7) children who have been playing in tick infested areas or with pets should be inspected thoroughly all over for ticks (including hair and groin areas).
Ticks should be removed with tweezers or forceps. If parts of the mouth are left in the skin, local irritation can persist for weeks. The mouth is anchored in with barbs and cemented saliva. It is not an easy job to remove an imbedded tick. Unattached ticks can be lifted with adhesive tape. If a tick(s) is found on your body or a family member’s and you feel it has been attached for six or more hours, you need to be wary if any flu-like symptoms or rashes appear over the next few days. If so, call your physician and get an examination. Ticks are more likely to vector a disease organism after being attached for six or more hours (some experts argue 24 hours, but don’t take a chance). So quick detection and removal is very wise. Children often lose their appetites and are irritable if infected, so be a nosy parent and ask questions and always think tick in the active season.

for more information visit: http://www.forestpests.org/publichealth/ticks.html

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Mike!
Poor little one!
Ticks are not my most favorite of natures creatures..but I have found a product that makes removing them easy!I never leave home without it. It is called "Ticked Off".
I would HIGHLY recommend this simple tool.
http://www.tickedoff.com/

Anonymous said...

I am having a bit of trouble signing in but this last message is from...

"Miss" Hope

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