How you can shield towards ticks – and what to do for those who spot one in your youngster
Benefit from the nice outside, however don’t neglect about the specter of ticks. Ticks can carry ailments, together with Lyme illness.
The excellent news is that, based on the Orange County Mosquito and Vector Management District, the county has not had a confirmed case of Lyme illness acquired from native ticks. The district additionally routinely exams for Lyme illness in native tick populations.
Simply the identical, it’s good to stay vigilant – particularly when touring to locations with extra danger. Right here, Dr. Olga Guijon, a CHOC pediatrician, solutions widespread questions on youngsters and ticks.
How can I shield towards ticks?
Ticks don’t should grow to be an issue for those who comply with some fundamental suggestions.
Wardrobe and equipment matter
- Put on light-colored clothes that can assist you see ticks extra simply.
- Put on closed sneakers or boots, long-sleeve shirts, and pants.
- Tuck pant legs into socks or sneakers for additional safety.
- Pull lengthy hair again or put on a hat.
- Garments additionally could be handled with a particular insecticide (like permethrin) to assist forestall bites.
Select places correctly
- When mountaineering, keep on trails and keep away from bushy areas with tall grass and leaf litter.
Take post-hike measures
- Wash youngsters’ pores and skin with cleaning soap and water once they come again inside. In the event you’ve been in an space with ticks, wash all garments in scorching water and tumble dry on excessive warmth earlier than they’re worn once more.
- Test your youngsters every day for ticks — look in and behind ears, within the groin space, behind the knees, in hair, in eyebrows and eyelashes, and beneath the arms.
- Additionally keep in mind to examine pets, clothes, and tenting gear, together with backpacks and sleeping baggage.
- In the event you discover a tick, take away it instantly.
Are bug sprays with DEET protected for teenagers?
Insect repellents containing DEET have been examined and authorised as protected for teenagers older than age 2 months. Along with ticks, DEET helps shield towards mosquitoes, biting flies, chiggers, and fleas.
Nevertheless, whereas DEET is authorised for infants 2 months and older, dad and mom ought to use sparingly in kids beneath 2 years of age as their pores and skin is totally different in comparison with older kids.
However make sure you learn all labels and take care while you use them:
- Select a repellent with a ten% to 30% focus of DEET (search for N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide on the label). The upper the focus, the longer it lasts.
- Use decrease concentrations (10%) if youngsters will probably be outdoors just for an hour or two.
- In the event that they’re outdoors longer, think about using a repellent with as much as 30% DEET, which lasts round 5 hours.
- Don’t apply a repellent with DEET greater than as soon as a day.
DEET could be placed on uncovered pores and skin, in addition to clothes, socks and sneakers. However don’t apply it to your youngster’s face, beneath clothes, on cuts or irritated pores and skin, or on the arms of younger kids. Listed here are another suggestions for making use of DEET:
- Don’t use a single product containing each sunscreen and DEET. Sunscreen must be reapplied usually, whereas DEET shouldn’t be used greater than as soon as a day.
- DEET concentrations increased than 30% aren’t more practical and the chemical (which is absorbed by way of the pores and skin) in excessive quantities could be poisonous. Observe the instructions on the label.
- Don’t apply repellent to youngsters’ arms as a result of they may swallow it in the event that they put their arms of their mouth. It can also irritate the eyes in the event that they contact them.
- Don’t spray the repellent wherever close to the mouth.
- Apply the repellent in an open space so that you simply and your youngster don’t breathe it in.
- Wash youngsters’ pores and skin with cleaning soap and water once they come again inside, and wash all garments earlier than they’re worn once more.
Different bug repellents don’t comprise DEET. The US Environmental Safety Company has an inventory of authorised repellents. Their instrument can assist you select the suitable one for your loved ones.
What to do for those who discover a tick in your youngster
First, don’t panic. It’s true that Lyme illness is the commonest tick-borne illness in the US. However your youngster’s danger of creating Lyme illness after being bitten by a tick could be very low.
To be protected, although, you’ll need to take away the tick as quickly as potential. The danger of an infection rises 24 to 48 hours after the tick attaches to the pores and skin.
Tick elimination steps
- Step 1: Use tweezers to know the tick firmly at its head or mouth, subsequent to the pores and skin. Use a magnifying glass, you probably have one, to see the tick clearly.
- Step 2: Pull firmly and steadily till the tick lets go of the pores and skin. Don’t twist the tick or rock it backward and forward. Watch out to not compress the ticks physique. If a part of the tick stays within the pores and skin, don’t fear. It’ll finally come out by itself.
- Step 3: Launch the tick right into a jar or zip-locked bag.
- Step 4: Wash your arms and the location of the chew with cleaning soap and water.
By no means use petroleum jelly or a scorching match to kill and take away a tick. These strategies don’t get the tick off the pores and skin, and might make it burrow deeper and launch extra saliva, which makes it extra prone to go a illness.
What are the indicators of tick-related ailments?
Most tick bites are innocent and don’t want medical therapy – particularly in Orange County, CA. However some ticks (just like the deer tick, wooden tick and others) can carry dangerous germs that trigger ailments like Rocky Mountain noticed fever and Lyme illness.
Listed here are some issues to search for:
- a purple bump ringed by an increasing purple rash, which appears to be like like a bull’s-eye (Lyme illness);
- purple dots on the ankles and wrists (Rocky Mountain noticed fever); or
- flu-like signs corresponding to fever, headache, tiredness, vomiting and muscle and joint aches.
When ought to I name the physician about tick bites?
Name your physician if:
- Your youngster has had a tick chew, particularly if the tick might need been on the pores and skin for greater than 24 hours. Typically, docs prescribe a preventive dose of antibiotics for teenagers at excessive danger for Lyme illness.
- A part of the tick stays within the pores and skin.
- A rash of any variety develops (particularly a red-ringed bull’s-eye rash or purple dots on wrists and ankles).
- The chew space appears to be like contaminated (rising heat, swelling, ache, or oozing pus).
- Your youngster will get signs like a fever, headache, tiredness, stiff neck or again, joint swelling, or muscle or joint aches.
- Your youngster has facial paralysis (can’t transfer areas of the face).
What do docs do you probably have Lyme illness?
A pediatrician could possibly diagnose Lyme illness based mostly on a baby’s bull’s-eye rash, or they could order a blood take a look at.
If Lyme illness is confirmed, the physician will prescribe an antibiotic, a medication that kills the spirochetes, the micro organism carried by some ticks.
