Disease-Carrying Ticks Live Near California Beaches, New Study Shows
Expect a bad summer for ticks across the United States--but you can keep your family safe from Lyme disease and other tick borne ailments
Disease-carrying ticks aren’t just in woodlands in the Northeast, a new study shows, but also in places such as Northern Californian coastal scrubs and grasslands--and 2021 may be a severe year for Lyme Disease. While you may not be eager for new diseases to worry about, the good news is that a little knowledge can go a long way in protecting your family from this condition which affects nearly half a million Americans a year.
If you want the tl;dr version, know three things:
Lyme Disease can be effectively treated if diagnosed early, but its similarity to chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, and other conditions often thwarts this. So just know that Lyme Disease increasingly can occur across the United States and has symptoms such as a rash, fever, and fatigue.
Consider using this DEET-free insect repellant when going out into nature.
Other proven ways to reduce risk include bathing and/or checking your skin for ticks when you return home.
What do I need to know?
Lyme Disease can cause debilitating symptoms for years, especially if it’s diagnosed late. (Which often happens because the symptoms overlap with many other conditions.)
Although Lyme Disease is most prevalent in the Northeast and Midwest (and it’s not even close), the disease is becoming more common throughout the United States as the geographic range of ticks expands. Nationwide case counts have nearly doubled in under two decades, and ticks can be found in a wide range of outdoor areas.
Experts say that 2021 could be a severe year for Lyme Disease, given the effects of an unusually warm winter on both ticks and their mammalian hosts, and because people are still spending more time outdoors due to the pandemic.
There are simple steps you can take to reduce the risk of tick-borne illnesses for both adults and children.
What should I do?
Take a shower or bath within two hours of returning home from natural areas, to reduce your risk of Lyme Disease by 42%.
Check your body for ticks within 36h of coming home from a nature outing, to cut the risk of Lyme Disease by over half (55%). While Lyme disease takes about that long to be transferred from a tick to host, other tick borne diseases may be transmitted in as little as two hours, so check your body sooner if you can--and know that any checking is better than none.
When looking for ticks, know that young ticks are smaller and may resemble a poppy seed with legs, while adult ticks are larger and easier to see. Tick bites are usually painless and may or may not eventually result in a bulls-eye or other rash. If you’re checking yourself and don’t have a loved one to help, you can also run your hands over your body to feel for a small, hard nodule.
Experts recommend using tick and mosquito repellants, which provide a layer of protection if it’s not always feasible to shower or check your body when you come home. There are now effective insect repellants that are safer than DEET, such as REPEL, an EPA-registered repellant that uses 30% lemon eucalyptus oil and has been found to repel ticks for 8h and mosquitoes for 7h.
If applying repellent before each outing isn’t appealing, another option is to pre-treat your clothes and gear with permethrin to make it repel ticks (although note that permethrin is toxic to fish).
Covering exposed skin with long pants, socks and shoes, and hats also helps.
If you have a dog or cat, a flea and tick collar or other tick prevention device may help keep them and your family safe; check with your veterinarian.
If You Find a Tick
Remove it as soon as possible--but not before taking a minute to review the CDC’s instructions for how to do so without squashing the tick farther into your body. You’ll need a pair of fine-tipped tweezers--which is no problem because of course you keep a first aid kit in your bag, vehicle, or home. Clean the area and your hands with rubbing alcohol or soap and water afterwards to get rid of any bacteria.
If you’ve found a tick on your body, be alert during the next month for symptoms such as a rash, fever and chills, headache, fatigue, body aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Lyme Disease can be easily confused with chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, and even depression, which makes it hard to diagnose. But when Lyme Disease is identified and treated early, antibiotics can usually help people recover quickly and completely.
Luckily, Lyme Disease is not an emergency or new pandemic, but since it is a serious illness that’s on the rise and becoming more common in areas where it hasn’t been common in the past, it may be worth some precautions--and just being aware that it exists may help you recognize symptoms and get treated sooner.
About Littldata: My goal is to help parents figure out their family logistics by sharing calendars, maps, lists, and spreadsheets–as well as research-backed blog posts and data graphics. This post uses Amazon Affiliate and referral links.
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