Tick Bites

Summer is here so it's time for a warning for those people who enjoy country walks. This applies especially for people who walk in shorts and short sleeve tops. Watch out for Ticks.......check yourself when you get home or to your hotel room.

I remember some years back when visiting South Africa, walking through scrubland as tourists with some work colleagues. When we got back to the hotel we happened to mention it at the bar. (where else does one talk about ticks.)

Well.....we were pounced on by the Hotel Doctor who was called in by the barman who had overheard us and were asked to go to a room nearby were many ticks were found on our bodies. Ugh!

Here's a size comparison

Ticks are blood-feeding parasites that are often found in tall grass and shrubs where they will wait to attach to a passing host. Physical contact is the only method of transportation for ticks. Ticks do not jump or fly, although they may drop from their perch and fall onto a host. Some species stalk the host by foot.

Changes in temperature and day length are some of the factors signaling a tick to seek a host. Ticks can detect heat emitted or carbon dioxide respired from a nearby host. They will generally drop off the animal when full, but this may take several days. In some cases ticks will live for some time on the blood of an animal.

Ticks can be found in most wooded or forested regions throughout the world. They are especially common in areas where there are deer trails or human tracks

A tick magnified

When we think of tick bites - especially during summer months - we generally think first of Lyme disease. But there's more to ticks than Lyme.
 
An HSI member named Domenic writes: "I recently visited a farm of live stock, 3 days later I discover a tick lodged at the base of my spine.

 I removed the tick using a pair of tweezers and there wasn't any blood mark where the tick was lodged. Now I have a small lump were the tick was. Can you advise what course of action should I take?" 
 
First step: Save the tick. This advice may come too late for Domenic, but those who remove ticks should save them in a plastic bag or a small container.

That tick will come in handy if there's any question later on about a Lyme disease diagnosis. 
 
Although cases of disease other than Lyme being contracted by tick bite are relatively rare, they do occur. So in the days following a tick bite, be alert for these symptoms of Lyme and other diseases:

• Flu-like symptoms 

  See how they engorge themselves deep into the skin

  
  
• Rash
  
• Unusual muscle ache or joint pain
  
• Stiff neck
  
• Severe headache
  
• Confusion
  
• Heart palpitations
  
• Chest pain
  
• Swollen lymph nodes
  
• Fever 

Call you doctor immediately if any of these symptoms develop. 
 
You've probably heard that a red bulls-eye pattern around a tick bite indicates Lyme disease. So watch for that pattern, but keep in mind that the bulls- eye appears in less then half of all cases of the disease. 

Here's a couple more to help you sleep.