Another Reason to Protect Yourself from Lyme Disease

In Pennsylvania, 25 different tick species have been identified, four of the species commonly found in the Pittsburgh region: The American dog tick, the black-legged tick, the lone star tick, and the groundhog tick. The Pittsburgh area has a particularly high population of black-legged ticks (also known as deer ticks), especially during the spring, summer, and early fall months, which typically run from April to October.

The Penn State Department of Entomology is an excellent resource for learning about ticks and Lyme disease. www.ento.psu.edu

Black-legged ticks are the main carriers of Lyme disease and can bite humans at any stage of their life cycle. It is important to remove a tick within 24 hours of attachment to prevent the transmission of the bacteria responsible for Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi. Therefore, finding and removing ticks from the body promptly is crucial.

Tips to Prevent Tick Bites:

 

1. Create a Tick-Free Zone Around Your House

• Keep your lawn well-manicured.
• Establish a tick barrier between your lawn and taller grass or brush.
• Have a mulch barrier.
• Discourage Tick-Friendly Habitats

2. Enjoy the Outdoors Safely: 

• Avoid wooded or overgrown areas.
• Stay on marked trails when hiking.
• Keep away from tall grass and uncleared regions of the forest floor.

3. Protect Yourself, Your Children, and Your Pets: 

• Wear protective clothing. Long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks.  It may help to wrap a heavy tape like masking or duct tape at the bottom of pant leg opening backward so the ticks stick to the tape. 
• Wear closed-toe shoes; avoid going barefoot or wearing sandals.
• Use insect repellents such as DEET on your skin and Permethrin on your clothes.  Review safety information and assess the risks and benefits of these products. Certain repellents are considered to be unsafe for young children, so use discretion and consult your doctor before using them. Do not use these products on children under 3 years of age.

4. Perform Tick Checks After Being Outdoors: 

• The risk of contracting Lyme disease increases the longer a tick remains attached to the skin. Therefore, it is important to conduct tick checks to remove them before they can transmit the disease.
• Shower daily and look for ticks in common attachment areas, including behind the knees, underarms, scalp, navel, groin, buttocks, and back.

5. Remove Ticks Immediately:

• If you find a tick, use tweezers to grasp it and pull it straight out of the skin, ensuring that the entire tick is removed. In the first few days to about a month after infection, a person may experience the initial symptoms of Lyme disease, which include:

1. Erythema migrant (a target-like rash) at the bite site
2. Fever and chills
3. Headache
4. Muscle and joint aches
5. Enlarged lymph nodes
6. Fatigue

If Lyme disease is not treated promptly, a person may experience more severe symptoms, such as:

1. Headache & stiff neck
2. Erythema migrants spreading to other parts of the body
3. Facial drooping on one or both sides of the face
4. musculoskeletal pain
5. Dizziness
6.  Heart Palpitations
7. Shooting pain, numbness, and tingling in hands and feet
8. If pregnant Lyme can damage the fetus

Some patients with Lyme disease may experience a range of eye symptoms, which can vary depending on the stage of the disease. Approximately 11% of patients may develop conjunctivitis, commonly known as "pink eye." Other symptoms can include inflammation of the eye tissue, pain in the eyes, swelling of the optic nerve, and an increase in floaters.

An eye doctor can detect signs of Lyme disease during a comprehensive eye exam. If the eye doctor suspects Lyme disease, they will recommend consulting your primary care provider.  Lyme can be detected through a combination of symptom evaluation, medical history, and blood tests and can be treated effectively with antibiotics such as doxycycline, amoxicillin, or cefuroxime, are crucial for a complete recovery. In some cases, intravenous antibiotics like ceftriaxone or penicillin may be necessary for more severe cases. 

Sources:

www.hopkinslyme.org

www.VSP.com

www.pittsburghbotanicgarden.org

www.pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

www.mayoclinic.org

Photo source:

www.cdc.gov

www.commons.wikimedia.org

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