shield towards ticks – and what to do when you spot one in your little one
Benefit from the nice open air, 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 assessments 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 frequent questions on youngsters and ticks.
How can I shield towards ticks?
Ticks don’t must turn out to be an issue when you observe some fundamental ideas.
Wardrobe and equipment matter
- Put on light-colored clothes that can assist you see ticks extra simply.
- Put on closed footwear or boots, long-sleeve shirts, and pants.
- Tuck pant legs into socks or footwear for additional safety.
- Pull lengthy hair again or put on a hat.
- Garments additionally might be handled with a particular insecticide (like permethrin) to assist stop bites.
Select places properly
- When climbing, 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 after they come again inside. When you’ve been in an space with ticks, wash all garments in sizzling water and tumble dry on excessive warmth earlier than they’re worn once more.
- Verify 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 underneath the arms.
- Additionally bear in mind to examine pets, clothes, and tenting gear, together with backpacks and sleeping baggage.
- When you discover a tick, take away it immediately.
Are bug sprays with DEET secure for youths?
Insect repellents containing DEET have been examined and permitted as secure for youths older than age 2 months. Along with ticks, DEET helps shield towards mosquitoes, biting flies, chiggers, and fleas.
Nevertheless, whereas DEET is permitted for infants 2 months and older, dad and mom ought to use sparingly in youngsters underneath 2 years of age as their pores and skin is totally different in comparison with older youngsters.
However be 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 might be placed on uncovered pores and skin, in addition to clothes, socks and footwear. However don’t apply it to your little one’s face, underneath clothes, on cuts or irritated pores and skin, or on the fingers of younger youngsters. Listed here are another ideas for making use of DEET:
- Don’t use a single product containing each sunscreen and DEET. Sunscreen must be reapplied typically, whereas DEET shouldn’t be used greater than as soon as a day.
- DEET concentrations greater than 30% aren’t simpler and the chemical (which is absorbed by the pores and skin) in excessive quantities might be poisonous. Observe the instructions on the label.
- Don’t apply repellent to youngsters’ fingers as a result of they might swallow it in the event that they put their fingers of their mouth. It can also irritate the eyes in the event that they contact them.
- Don’t spray the repellent anyplace close to the mouth.
- Apply the repellent in an open space so that you just and your little one don’t breathe it in.
- Wash youngsters’ pores and skin with cleaning soap and water after 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 permitted repellents. Their software can assist you select the proper one for your loved ones.
What to do when you discover a tick in your little one
First, don’t panic. It’s true that Lyme illness is the commonest tick-borne illness in the US. However your little one’s danger of creating Lyme illness after being bitten by a tick may be very low.
To be secure, 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 removing steps
- Step 1: Use tweezers to understand the tick firmly at its head or mouth, subsequent to the pores and skin. Use a magnifying glass, when you’ve got 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 is going to ultimately come out by itself.
- Step 3: Launch the tick right into a jar or zip-locked bag.
- Step 4: Wash your fingers and the location of the chunk with cleaning soap and water.
By no means use petroleum jelly or a sizzling match to kill and take away a tick. These strategies don’t get the tick off the pores and skin, and may make it burrow deeper and launch extra saliva, which makes it extra prone to cross 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 similar 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 little one has had a tick chunk, particularly if the tick may need been on the pores and skin for greater than 24 hours. Generally, medical doctors prescribe a preventive dose of antibiotics for youths at excessive danger for Lyme illness.
- A part of the tick stays within the pores and skin.
- A rash of any form develops (particularly a red-ringed bull’s-eye rash or purple dots on wrists and ankles).
- The chunk space appears to be like contaminated (rising heat, swelling, ache, or oozing pus).
- Your little one will get signs like a fever, headache, tiredness, stiff neck or again, joint swelling, or muscle or joint aches.
- Your little one has facial paralysis (can’t transfer areas of the face).
What do medical doctors do when you’ve got Lyme illness?
A pediatrician could possibly diagnose Lyme illness based mostly on a toddler’s bull’s-eye rash, or they may order a blood check.
If Lyme illness is confirmed, the physician will prescribe an antibiotic, a drugs that kills the spirochetes, the micro organism carried by some ticks.
