Health
What you need to do if a tick bites you during a spring cleaning
I was working outside in early spring and was cleaning up my brushes. Late in the afternoon, I noticed a small hump on my neck and didn’t pay attention. However, when I took a shower, I noticed black spots. Probably one-fourth the size of rice with wiggle legs. I removed it, mangled it in the process, put it in a ziplock bag and rubbed the place with alcohol.
Did I do the right thing? Was it a tick that carries Lyme disease or other species? Do I need to be tested and see my doctor to take doxycycline?
l reviewed current medical recommendations and spoke with Jim Dill, a former head of the University of Maine’s tick lab and an active tick expert in the state. The lab has a great information website. ticks.umaine.edu..
Although 15 species of mites have been reported in Maine, only Ixodes scapularis (formerly known as the deer tick) carries Lyme disease.
They hang out in bushes, grass and other vegetation of shrubs that begin in spring, and patiently wait to grab passers-by, people and animals. They adhere with small nails and a kind of superglue, injecting both anesthetics and anticoagulants, so you don’t feel inhaling blood. Anyone who works or plays in a wooded area, or in an area where grassy and wooded areas meet, is at risk.
Nymphs, which begin their activity in the spring, are small round black spots. They are 1/16 inch in diameter (the size of Ben Franklin’s pupil on a $ 100 bill), are highly infectious, and are often overlooked. By autumn, they grow up in adulthood and are still infectious, but more easily recognized and eliminated.
Prevention has always been the best option, Dill said.
When going out, wear light-colored clothing, spray permethrin and other repellents, and push your pants into your socks. The most important thing is to look carefully at yourself at the end of the day. Check yourself again the next morning as the nymph may have become red and more noticeable. Ask for help if necessary. It’s not a humble time now. Be sure to check your hair, groin, and armpits.
Things to consider if you are bitten
— — Is it a tick, a dog tick, or something else? Identifying anything other than dog ticks is very difficult for amateurs.You can try and have great pictures UMaine tick website And elsewhere. However, if you have any doubts, put the ticks in a minigrip bag and send them to Dani Lab for free identification. Testing for tick pathogens costs $ 15 and can take 3-7 days, with no change in initial treatment.
— — Is it firmly attached? If not, it’s just crawling, the mites haven’t started feeding and you won’t get infected.
— — If so, how long can it be installed? This is often difficult to determine, but it helps to remember the last time you were in a forest or grass area. Infectious substances are not released from the tick’s intestine until the tick begins feeding. The time it takes for mites to infect a disease varies. Very rare in less than 12 hours, rare in less than 24 hours, and rare in less than 48 hours. In other words, mites generally have to attach to you for some time before they are most likely to infect you.
What to do next
Use tweezers, a tick spoon, or other commercially available tick extractor to grab the tick as close to the skin as possible and remove the tick. If any of these tools are not available, use paper or cloth to protect your hands during extraction as the mite’s mouth may contain infectious agents.
Pull straight up, gently but firmly, and do not squeeze or puncture your body. be patient. It may take a few minutes to convince the tick that you are not happy with its existence. If you happen to have any leftovers on your skin, wait for them to fall off naturally. Excavating them can cause soft tissue infections.
Dill advises not to use petrolatum, finger manicure, ethyl alcohol, hot matches, etc. These strategies increase the likelihood that mites will vomit and leave the infection.
Please wash your hands when you are done.
Prophylactic or prophylactic treatment is recommended if: (1) mites are likely to be ticks, (2) live in areas where mites are reported (everywhere in Maine), (3) Time when ticks are attached for more than 12 (based on degree of hyperemia or exposure time) and (4) When treatment can be started within 72 hours.
Health care providers need to balance the risk of a single dose of doxycycline with the risk of potential Lyme disease. The side effects of a single dose of doxycycline are rare and mild (nausea and vomiting), but children and pregnant women require special attention.
Lab testing is not useful in this early stage.
Of course, the problem is that life is never simple. You can get rid of one tick, but another tick may be hiding elsewhere in your body. Undiscovered mites can be fed for 4-5 days and fall unnoticed. In addition to Lyme disease, other tick-borne diseases are becoming more common.
Of the 6,499 specimens submitted to the UMaineTickLab in 2021, 42% were positive for Lyme disease, 12% for anaplasmosis, and 10% for Babesiosis. The lab does not regularly test for the less common Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Miyamoto virus, and Powassan virus.
If the tick is unnoticed, 70% of people, or for some reason only 50% in Maine are the first signs of Lyme disease, with a “eyeball” rash that appears everywhere in the body within the first 30 days. There may be. .. In contrast to prophylactic treatment, established treatment for Lyme disease can be complex and is best addressed by a doctor as soon as possible. be careful!
So did I properly treat the tick bite?
It would have been milder to get rid of the ticks. Some body parts that stuck to me are just starting to fall. The ticks had been on me for only a short time, so I decided not to take doxycycline.
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