Tick Prevention Strategies

By Dr. Jack Cornwell, Medical Director, CareWell Urgent Care

In a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), tick bites have more than tripled in the United States between 2004 and 2016. Massachusetts is one of the states with the most reported cases of tick-borne diseases with the most common being Lyme Disease, Babesiosis, and Anaplasmosis.

The best way to prevent a tick-borne illness is to be diligent about checking yourself after going outdoors. Deer ticks are one of the most common varieties in the Northeast and the kind that transmits Lyme disease, so it is crucial for you to know what to do should you find a tick on yourself or a loved one.

Even if you wore shoes and long pants, it is still important to double check your entire body. It may also help to have a friend or family member check any hard-to-see areas, like your back and scalp, to make sure there’s nothing that you missed.

If you do spot a tick on you, the best way to remove it is with a pair of tweezers. Grasp it by its head and pull slowly and steadily so that it doesn’t have a chance to leave behind pathogens. This is important because if you pull too aggressively, the head will likely remain stuck, but if you pull gently and gradually, the tick will let go, allowing you to remove the entire thing.

Once you have successfully removed the tick, thoroughly scrub your hands and the area where you found the tick. Then check to see if the tick is flat or engorged. If it’s flat, it usually means the tick hasn’t had ample time to infect your blood. If you can remove the whole tick it might be worth bringing with you to a doctor or urgent care clinic, because a doctor will be able to determine what kind of tick it is. If it is a deer tick, it can be tested for Lyme disease. Only whole ticks can be tested, however, so if you are unable to remove the tick in one piece, its best to put the tick in a small jar containing isopropyl alcohol to kill it. After a few hours, the dead tick can be safely flushed down the toilet. Flushing a live tick down the toilet will not kill it.

If you do find a tick on yourself or a family member, don’t panic. Ticks usually take two to three days to engorge themselves fully and infect their hosts, so most people emerge disease-free even if they do find one. The earlier you catch the tick, the better off you’ll be. That’s because, the window for taking prophylactic doxycycline, the medicine that decreases the likelihood that you develop Lyme disease, closes between 48 and 72 hours after infection.

There are other diseases, besides Lyme that ticks can carry, like anaplasmosis, babesiosis and Borrelia Miyamotoi. Unfortunately, there is no treatment to prevent these disease, so it is essential to be familiar with the symptoms. For anaplasmosis and Lyme disease, symptoms tend to be similar to the flu and include fever, headache, chills and muscle aches. Patients with Babesiosis can be asymptomatic, but many experience a gradual onset of fatigue and fever. If you or a family member is experiencing any of these symptoms during the spring and summer months, you should visit your doctor or an urgent care center immediately.