A female deer tick.
With the summer upon us and a relatively prolonged, milder spring behind us, the tick season seems to have broken into full swing this year.
The history of Lyme disease had its inception in 1975 when a cluster of children and adults living in Lyme, Conn., reported unusual arthritic symptoms. Since then, the disease has been widely researched.
In 1982, Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacterium that causes the illness, was discovered.
For the past 30 years, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, Epidemiology, and Emerging Infections Program has maintained one of the most comprehensive Lyme disease surveillance systems in the country. With years of research and surveillance contributing to improved methods of control, the Centers of Disease Control and Conn. Department of Public Health emphasize the importance of prevention in containing the prevalence of Lyme disease in our state and country.
There are four simple ways that you can help prevent Lyme disease in your children and family.
Tick checks
Before bedtime, have your children take a bath or shower. Scrubbing them down with a soft sponge helps to dislodge any ticks that might be attached to the skin. Carefully check your child’s skin from top to bottom, looking for ticks. You may find using a mirror or magnifying glass helpful for seeing small ticks or ticks in places where it’s hard to see them.
If tick checks are done as a routine on a daily basis, they are a useful tool for spotting ticks attached since the day before. Prompt identification and removal of ticks is key to the prevention of Lyme disease. Ticks removed within 36 hours of attachment are much less likely to transmit Borrelia burgdorferi to their hosts.
The bull’s eye rash
Early in the course of Lyme disease (about three to 30 days after the tick bite; average seven days), a classic targetoid lesion or “bull’s eye rash” can be seen in up to 70-80% of those infected. The formal medical terminology for this rash is erythema chronicum migrans from the Latin.
A classic bull’s-eye rash.
This red, round rash, rarely itchy or painful, expands to become larger over several days, is usually bigger than 5 cm, and has a clear or dusky area in the middle.
If you spot this rash, your doctor can prescribe antibiotics to treat your child right away, and the chances are high that the Lyme disease will be completely cured.
The bull’s eye lesion can be anywhere on the body, so make sure to look all over.
Other early signs of Lyme disease include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint pains, and swollen lymph nodes.
Use insect repellent
The risk of tick bites can be further reduced by applying insect repellants. Repellents are sold in different forms and may be applied as an aerosol, spray, lotion, stick, cream, roll-on, or towelete.
DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) is the most common active ingredient in insect repellents; it is safe and effective if used properly according to instructions.
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports the use of DEET (up to a 30% concentration) in children and adolescents but cautions against its use in children younger than 2 months of age.
Picardin is a plant-derived compound also used in insect repellants; it is better tolerated on the skin than DEET.
Insect repellents made from natural materials are also available. Products containing PMD (para-Menthane-3, 8-diol, the active ingredient in oil of lemon eucalyptus) and IR3535 (3-[N-butyl-N-acetyl]-aminopropionic acid) have repellent durations similar to DEET.
Products containing oil of lemon eucalyptus should not be used on children younger than three years old. Also, products containing citronella and other botanical oils are in general less effective than DEET, picardin, PMD, or IR3535.
Ask your doctor
If you have found a tick on your child or see some lesions on your child that you would like your doctor to check, please do so. It is better to be safe than sorry.
Your doctor can help you remove the tick completely from your child’s skin using proven technique. In some cases, particularly if the tick has been attached to the skin longer than 48 to 72 hours, doctors can prescribe a very short course of antibiotics as a preventive measure to further reduce the chances of Lyme disease.
Your doctor can also answer any other questions that you may have.
The writer is a physician with Ridgefield Pediatric Associates on Grove Street.