Community Corner
Tick Tip: Preventing Lyme Disease After a Bite
Did you get outside over Memorial Day weekend? Did you find a tick on yourself afterward? Here's some timely information from the the Martha's Vineyard Boards of Health in this week's Tick Season Survival Guide tip.
We're heading into a peak season for tick activity on Martha's Vineyard, with newly-hatched and hungry deer tick nymphs seeking meals of blood both human and animal.
If your Memorial Day fun included any time in the Island's great outdoors, and you haven't checked yourself for ticks yet, it's a good idea to do so as soon as you can to prevent yourself from contracting a serious tick-borne illness like Lyme disease.
If you do find a tick on your body, you should contact a doctor or go to the emergency room, "to ensure you're seen by someone," says Dr. Dave Caron in this video from the Martha's Vineyard Boards of Health.
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Promptly beginning antibiotic treatment with doxycycline, within 72 hours of a bite from an infected tick, can reduce the risk of contracting Lyme disease to a minuscule .4 percent, according to Dr. Bruce Stelle.
Lyme disease may not show up in a blood test until a week after someone begins to suffer from its symptoms, of which Dr. Caron says the "most telling" is the "bullseye rash" that can develop around a tick bite (see the video for a real-life example).
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Other Lyme symptoms can include:
- fever
- flu like
- joint pain
- arthritic pain
For more about ticks and how to avoid tick-borne illnesses like Lyme and babesiosis, visit MVBOH.org. You may also be interested in:
- Tick-Borne Illness on Martha's Vineyard
- Tick Season Survival Guide
- Tick Tip: How to Check Your Dog for Ticks
- Tick Tip: Dress Defensively
Are you worried about ticks? Tell us in the comments.
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