See also: Silent bites lead to Lyme disease — at home, at work, at play
http://www.temple.edu/hr/documents/Health_Safety/Silent_bites_lead_to_Lyme_disease_at_home_at_work_at_play.htm
Lyme disease is caused by bacteria that normally live in mice, squirrels and other small animals. It is transmitted among these animals and to humans through the bites of the blacklegged tick or deer tick in the northeastern and north central United States.
Symptoms of Lyme disease are a characteristic expanding rash or ring at the site of tick attachment, fever, arthritis and neurologic manifestations, including facial palsy.
Reducing exposure to ticks is the best way to guard against Lyme disease. The following tips can protect you and your family from Lyme disease:
- Whenever possible, you should avoid entering areas that are likely to be infested with ticks, particularly in spring and summer.
If you are in an area with ticks, you should wear light-colored clothing so that ticks stand out and can be removed before biting. You should wear long-sleeved shirts and pants. Tuck your shirt into your pants and tuck your pants into your socks. You may also want to wear high rubber boots because ticks are usually located close to the ground.
- Apply insect repellents containing DEET to clothes and exposed skin, as well as permethrin to clothes according to the label’s instructions, which should help reduce the risk of tick attachment. When going inside, wash off the repellent. Children should have an adult apply the repellent for them.
- Check for ticks daily and remove them promptly using fine-tipped tweezers. Make sure to remove the mouth parts of the tick from the skin. Cleanse the area with an antiseptic. Early removal of the tick can prevent infection. In general, transmission of the Lyme’s disease bacteria from an infected tick is unlikely to occur before 36 hours of tick attachment.
- Check your pets for tick bites. Not only are cats and dogs susceptible to Lyme disease, but their ticks may be transmitted to you.
- You can reduce the number of ticks around your home by removing leaf litter, and brush- and wood-piles around your house and at the edge of your yard. By clearing trees and brush in your yard, you can reduce the likelihood of deer, rodents and ticks that will live there.
Lyme disease is diagnosed based on symptoms, objective physical findings (such as rash, facial palsy or arthritis) and a history of possible exposure to infected ticks. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics. Patients with certain neurological or cardiac forms of illness may require intravenous treatment.
For further information, contact Environmental Health and Radiation Safety at 215-707-2520. If you have other health and safety questions, suggestions or concerns, e-mail the Health & Safety Committee at healthandsafety@temple.edu.