How to Prevent Tick Bites
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Health Tip of the WeekPublished on
Health Tip of the Week Family hikes, camping and other outdoor activities are great ways to stay active and spend time as a family, especially now, when physical distancing measures mean many favorite indoor activities are still off-limits. When spending time outside in the summer, however, it’s important to protect yourself against another significant health threat: ticks.
Ticks are tiny insects that instill big fears in both kids and adults — and for good reason. Blacklegged ticks (also called deer ticks) carry Lyme disease, the most commonly reported insect-borne illness in the United States.
Ticks attach onto a human or animal host and suck blood over several days. Preferring hairy areas, ticks often hide on the scalp, behind the ears, in the armpit and groin or between fingers and toes. Most people are infected by baby ticks. Abundant in the summer months in wooded and grassy areas, baby ticks are less than 2 millimeters long — about the size of a poppy seed — making them extremely difficult to spot on the body.
Lyme disease can be treated with antibiotics, but it’s best to avoid getting bitten by a tick in the first place. Here are a few ways to protect yourself and your child from tick bites:
Regardless of how many precautions you take, ticks are sometimes unavoidable. If you do find a tick on your child, there’s no need to panic. Follow these steps to safely remove the tick and treat the bite:
Contributed by: Naline Lai, MD, FAAP, Julie Kardos, MD, FAAP