Ticks and children: What mother and father ought to know – CHOC

Methods to shield towards ticks – and what to do in case 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 illnesses, 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 checks 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 widespread questions on children and ticks.

How can I shield towards ticks?

Ticks don’t need to turn into an issue in case you observe some fundamental suggestions.

Wardrobe and equipment matter

• Put on light-colored clothes that will help you see ticks extra simply.
• Put on closed footwear or boots, long-sleeve shirts, and pants.
• Tuck pant legs into socks or footwear for further safety.
• Pull lengthy hair again or put on a hat.
• Garments additionally will be handled with a particular insecticide (like permethrin) to assist forestall bites.

Select places correctly

• When mountaineering, keep on trails and keep away from bushy areas with tall grass and leaf litter.

Take post-hike measures

• Wash children’ pores and skin with cleaning soap and water after they come again inside. In the event 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 children every day for ticks — look in and behind ears, within the groin space, behind the knees, in hair, in eyebrows and eyelashes, and beneath the arms.
• Additionally keep in mind to examine pets, clothes, and tenting gear, together with backpacks and sleeping luggage.
• In the event you discover a tick, take away it immediately.

Are bug sprays with DEET secure for teenagers?

Insect repellents containing DEET have been examined and authorized as secure for teenagers older than age 2 months. Along with ticks, DEET helps shield towards mosquitoes, biting flies, chiggers, and fleas.

Nevertheless, whereas DEET is authorized for infants 2 months and older,  mother and father ought to use sparingly in kids beneath 2  years of age as their pores and skin is totally different in comparison with older kids.

However make sure you learn all labels and take care if 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 children 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 will 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, beneath clothes, on cuts or irritated pores and skin, or on the palms of younger kids. Listed here are another suggestions 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 means of the pores and skin) in excessive quantities will be poisonous. Observe the instructions on the label.
• Don’t apply repellent to children’ palms as a result of they might swallow it in the event that they put their palms 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 children’ 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 a listing of authorized repellents. Their software might help you select the correct one for your loved ones.

What to do in case 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 USA. However your little one’s danger of creating Lyme illness after being bitten by a tick could be very low.

To be secure, although, you’ll wish to take away the tick as quickly as doable. The chance of an infection rises 24 to 48 hours after the tick attaches to the pores and skin.

Tick elimination 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 have 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 would ultimately come out by itself.
• Step 3: Launch the tick right into a jar or zip-locked bag.
• Step 4: Wash your palms 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 might make it burrow deeper and launch extra saliva, which makes it extra more likely to move a illness.

What are the indicators of tick-related illnesses?

Most tick bites are innocent and don’t want medical remedy – particularly in Orange County, CA. However some ticks (just like the deer tick, wooden tick and others) can carry dangerous germs that trigger illnesses like Rocky Mountain noticed fever and Lyme illness.

Listed here are some issues to search for:

• a pink bump ringed by an increasing pink rash, which seems like a bull’s-eye (Lyme illness);
• pink 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 might need been on the pores and skin for greater than 24 hours. Generally, docs prescribe a preventive dose of antibiotics for teenagers at excessive danger for Lyme illness.
• A part of the tick stays within the pores and skin.
• A rash of any sort develops (particularly a red-ringed bull’s-eye rash or pink dots on wrists and ankles).
• The chunk space seems 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 docs do when you have 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 take a look at.

If Lyme illness is confirmed, the physician will prescribe an antibiotic, a medication that kills the spirochetes, the micro organism carried by some ticks.