Tick Alert
Your child takes part in outdoor activities in areas that ticks may inhabit. While we will take every precaution to prevent unnecessary exposure, you should thoroughly check your child's body when s/he returns home. Below are suggestions on how to protect your child from tick-borne diseases and what you should do if your child is bitten. Lyme disease can be serious!
REDUCE CHANCES OF A TICK BITE:
- Avoid tick-infested areas, such as leaf litter under trees. Avoid brushing against long grasses on edges of paths. Don't sit on fallen logs.
- Wear light-colored long pants and long sleeves so you can easily see any ticks.
- Tuck shirt into pants and tuck pants into socks.
- Use DEET on skin and treat clothing with spray containing permethrin. (Wash off repellent after child returns.)
- Do a thorough tick check upon returning inside and for several days following exposure.
- Ticks, especially nymphal ticks, are tiny. Try to find and remove them before they bite.
WHAT TO DO IF BITTEN:
- Use fine-point tweezers or a special tick-removing tool. Grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible.
- Pull the tick straight out with steady, even pressure.
- Place the tick in a small plastic bag or vial with blades of grass, leaf, or moist (not wet) piece of tissue.
- Note the child's name, date, site of bite and how long tick was attached.
- Have the tick identified & tested by a lab, health department or veterinarian.
- Wash your hands, disinfect the tweezers & bite site.
- Educate yourself about tick-bome diseases and consult a doctor to see if treatment is warranted.
- Visit our website for more information: www.lymedisease.org.
CAUTION:
Children should be taught to seek adult help for tick removal. Improper removal can increase risk of disease transmission. Do not prick, crush, burn or try to smother the tick as it may release infected fluids. Children can be bitten anywhere on their body, but are more often bitten around the head and neck. Check for several days for ticks you may have missed earlier.