Conference moira::parenting

My daughters' daycare in Merrimack is surrounded by a large field with
tall grass.  They get ticks every year.  They started showing up a
couple weeks ago, they say this is earlier than usual.  They spray the
field a couple times in the season, and they check all the kids when
they come in from playing.  I think the best thing is a hat to keep
them out of the hair as much as possible.

Jackie

>I think the best thing is a hat to keep them out of the hair as much as 
>possible.

    Boy.. I'm pretty sure ticks don't fly, but rather "hitchhike"
from tall grass.  They tend to travel *up* until they can't travel any 
further (or until they get too hungry, I guess ;-) ).

    You're best off wearing light-colored clothing, tucking your shirt in,
and wear long pants preferably tucked into your socks when walking out
in the fields/woods.  That way if they *do* hitchhike, they can't really
get under your clothes, and the light color means that someone might
be able to pick them out easier.

    This, of course, isn't practical for kids just playing out in the backyard,
so instead, after being outside, you should check yourself / your child
for ticks.  We always tell our girls to check "where your body bends",
figuring that that's where the tick will stop climbing.  This includes
armpits, groin, under their breasts, and just inside the hairline (where
I seem to get one every year ...).  Bathtime is a good time for this
(for obvious reasons).

		- Lorri

    Three extremely fat ones fell off my dog last night and I pulled
    a third from her eye-lid.  It was a very mild winter and I 
    suspected ticks would be bad this year.
    
    I found one on my fore-arm, I thought it was a new freckle and
    freaked when I inspected it closely.  I don't like being that
    type of host.
    
    Last year I gave my 7 and 9 year old lectures on ticks.  
    I was mentioning things to look for.  "Like this Mom?"
    ...and my son pulls one off him that is climbing up his neck
    and puts it in the palm of my hand.  I pulled the car over
    SO FAST!
    
    Only thing that really works is inspections.  I hear if you
    eat a lot of garlic you're not supposed to taste as good to
    ticks, whether that is a wives-tale or not ???

    
    Found one on my head just the other day...
    
    

    They do drop off from trees and bushes.
    

    Uuurghhhh, I hate the buggers.  Can they be found in grass in yards or
    are they only in fields and wooded areas.  Before I read these notes I
    let Alyssa crawl around the lawn over the weekend, thinking it was too
    early for ticks.
    
    Nancy

>    Only thing that really works is inspections.  I hear if you
>    eat a lot of garlic you're not supposed to taste as good to
>    ticks, whether that is a wives-tale or not ???

Hmmm, it may be... but it works for our dog :-)  Our dog is daily given
tablets of brewer's yeast with garlic.  While it doesn't eliminate the tick
problem, it certainly does seem to cut down on it.

Dan

    
    I heard that because of the mild winter, it will be a bad year for
    mosquitos, black flys etc.  Ahhh, the joys of summer.
    
    I guess we all have to be extra careful with ticks, especially the deer
    tick I believe as they are the carrier of lyme (lime?) disease.
    
    
    
    

The grass in the playground at daycare is kept really short, but they think
they come in from the tall grass outside the fenced area.  I mentioned hats
before because I think they have found most of them in the hair of kids.
There are no trees in the area, so I don't know how they get there besides
crawling all the way up, or if the kids roll in the grass.

They handed out this flyer today at daycare:

----------------------------------------------
We have spoken with "Ask-A-Nurse" and NH Dept. of Health to get more info.
regarding the ticks.  Here's what we came up with:

TICKS: Avoiding Them, Looking for them, Removing Them

	Avoiding Them
>Dress your child in long sleeves and long panths tucked into socks.
>Use a children's bug repellant such as "Skidaddle".  Be sure that it contains
an ingredient that is labeld as effective against ticks

	Looking for Them
>Check your child daily for ticks.  Pay special attention to warm areas 
(behind/inside ears, in the hair, etc)
>Dog ticks are about this size: [dot about 1mm diameter], Deer ticks (carriers
of Lyme Disease) are about this size: [much smaller dot, like this .]
They are difficult to tell apart when engorged with blood.

	Removing Them
>Do not use bare hands  
>Use tweezers to remove tick.  Grasp close to skin and pull straight back
(don't twist)  Be sure to remove all parts
>Dispose of tick in alcohol or flush down toilet
>Clean area with warm soapy water
>Apply an antibiotic ointment
>Mark the date on your calendar and watch for flu symptoms just in case!

<	Removing Them
<>Do not use bare hands  
<>Use tweezers to remove tick.  Grasp close to skin and pull straight back
<(don't twist)  Be sure to remove all parts


I thought you were supposed to put alcohol on the tick first, to see if it
would let go of the skin.  I remember doing this on a dog once, and seeing
the fully engorged ticks just dropping off.

Has the method changed?  What if the tick won't let go?

   Carol, who hasn't lived with ticks in YEARS

    Carol,
    
    We always used vaseline to smother them.  According to my lst first Aid
    course, this isn't effective if the tick is embedded deeply.  They
    recommend tweezers, but I still do you vaseline first.  
    
    meg

.10:

> Has the method changed?  What if the tick won't let go?


From what I've read in the last couple of years, the recommended method has
changed.  It used to be that you tried to convince the tick to let go (vaseline,
alcohol, heat, etc.), and used tweezers as a last resort if it wouldn't go
voluntarily.  They now seem to be saying to forget the irritants, and just to go
for the tick with tweezers, as close to the skin as possible.  (The rationale,
as I recall, is (1) you want to get the tick off asap, not wait around for it to
get sick of being smothered; and (2) the various irritants increase the
likelihood that the tick will discharge some of its stomach contents back into
the bite, which is the whole thing you're trying to avoid.)

I'll confess that I still go for the Vaseline, though.  I'm just too squeamish
to drag out an actively resisting tick. :-(

	-Neil

    But if you use tweezers, isn't it likely that you'll cut the thing in
    half?

This is apparently from an article in the June 1988 issue of _Self_ magazine:

Ways to Remove Ticks:

Do NOT use the following: "suffocating" a tick in nail polish, petroleum jelly
or alcohol; heating it with a match; soaking it in nail-polish remover or 
gasoline.  None of these methods is wise, though, since they allow the tick to
remain on the skin and are all likely to force the tick's stomach contents 
into your bloodstream.  If the tick **is** infected, you magnify your chances 
of picking up a disease.

Instead, most experts agree that the best way to safely remove a tick is to 
use a fine-tipped tweezers to grab hold of the tick as close as possible to 
its mouthparts -- the "feeders" actually stuck into your skin.  Since a tick
usually hangs on stubbornly, you may have to dig a bit into your skin to get a 
good grip.  Then gently but firmly pull it **straight** out, without twisting,
to make sure you get the mouthparts.  Left in, these may cause infection.

Wash the bite site and your hands thoroughly afterward.  Keep an eye on the 
bitten spot for any signs of infection or rash, and see your doctor if you 
develop flulike symptoms within a few days or even weeks.

(January, 1993)

	CHICAGO (UPI) -- Deer ticks, which transmit Lyme disease, seem to
prefer biting people wearing clothes, a Connecticut doctor reported
Tuesday.
	In a letter to the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr.
Henry Feder Jr. of the University of Connecticut Health Center in
Farmington, Conn., said he found that among more than 300 people at a
nudist camp, the only deer tick bites were reported by persons who were
wearing clothes.
	``What was surprising was that deer tick bites were very unusual
occurrences at the camp,'' Feder said. ``This was not because nudists
could not identify deer tick bites, as many of the nudists reported deer
tick bites that occurred at their permanent homes.''
	Experts generally recommend that people wear long-sleeve shirts and
long pants in deer tick areas to deter bites. However, Feder said the
deer ticks actually apparently prefer to get underneath clothing, such
as under long pants not tucked into socks.
	Only one case of Lyme disease-associated symptoms had been identified
by doctors treating the nudists, Feder said, even though the camp was in
the deer tick's ideal environment.
	``One explanation is that although deer are present, deer ticks are
not yet established. A second explanation is that deer ticks do not like
nudists, as ticks prefer to do their biting under cover,'' he said.
	A more formal study was being planned, he said.
	Lyme disease is a tick-borne illness that initially often causes a
rash and flu-like symptoms such as fever, fatigue and aches. These
symptoms may be followed weeks or months later by neurologic, heart or
joint abnormalities. The disease was first recognized in 1975 in Lyme,
Conn., but has been identified in at least 43 states and in other
countries.

    
    Or maybe they're just more evident if you're nude, and don't have the
    time/chance to bite before they're yanked off ??
    
    

    Or if you are nude and a tick is climbing on you.
    SOME ONE ELSE notices it before it gets a chance to attach.
    Who would that someone else be?  :-}
    
    Seriously
    When they are crawling on you (I found one crawling on my
    neck) they aren't lofty and hardly noticable.  They are 
    like storm troopers, they are heavy footed :-)
    I would imagine a nudist wouldn't poo-pah that sensation
    off as their clothing rubbing against them.  It would
    definately have to be an "intruder".

    Depends on the kind of tick you mean.  The brown dog tick is quite
    large.  The deer tick (carrying Lyme disease) is about the size of the
    head of a pin.  They do indeed look like a speck of dirt or a freckle
    that you don't remember having in that particular spot...
    Sarah

From the base noter:

Thanks for all the replies and advice. 

I found another tick yesterday, in my sons red hair
it was easy to spot, once you started looking.
The ones we've found are all of the larger size,
almost as big as the end (not the tip!) of a pencil.

People have mentioned in here that due to warm winter
etc, the season has started earlier. Does anyone know
when we can expect the season to end?

I know that in Sweden you can take a series of shots
in order to build up immunity against some of the  
diseases that ticks carry. Has anyone heard of that
in the US?


Thanks

/Malin

    One barrier between preventative shots,
    the Food and Drug Administrations testing procedure (time consuming).
    Sweden, no doubt, does not have that bureaucracy.
    I've never heard of the shot being available in the US.

    ...and I doubt that there *is* a shot yet for Lyme Disease.
    
    Leslie

    
    My cat had a tick attached to her end of March/early April.  Not only
    was I horrified because of how early this was, but because I don't ever
    remember her having one.  When I had a dog he would come home with several 
    but the cat had none. I had figured ticks don't like cats for some
    reason so I've been fearing the ticks are plentiful this year and 
    perhaps are desperate in going for the cats. I am surrounded by woods
    and tall grass so this is major bad news.  
    
    Kathy

    
    As well as checking the kids when they come in, its a good idea to
    check the pets (your other kids) everytime they come in.  I usually 
    rub my hand against the way the fur grows to feel for any lumps and for 
    some reason those little buggers love to attach themselves to the ears.
    
    

    If you happen to work at MRO, and like to walk during lunch, I'd
    suggest you stay out of the grass.  I walked this past Friday, and the
    only significant grass I traversed was coming from MRO3 across the
    helipad to MRO1.  For the rest of the afternoon, I kept feeling
    something, sort've like sweat trickling down my leg.  Finally I pulled
    up my trousers, and low and behold it was a tick!  Fortunately, he
    wasn't attached, and I just grabbed him with a tissue and crushed him.
    
    But it wasn't over.  I went home, showered, washed all my clothes, and
    felt better.  But this Monday morning, after I came to work, while
    typing, I felt something on my wrist, turned it over and there was
    another one!
    
    As far as I can tell, I haven't actually been bitten.  But they are all
    over the place from one walk.  I am planning on having facilities treat
    this area, but I am really concerned with how very tenacious and
    abundant these things are.
    
    Jim (who's never had a tick on his body in his life!)
    

   A couple of questions regarding ticks...
   
   o When is tick season over?  Is this an all-summer thing and the only
     variable is how early it starts?  Or does this have a relative
     end-date?  Maybe when it gets too hot outside?
   
   o Will a tick survive the laundry cycle?  What if one was stuck on the
     kids' clothes and ended up in the laundry?  Would it survive a
     cold-water wash cycle and then a run through the dryer?
   
   Thanks,
   
   - Tom

    
    Found two ticks on one of my cats last night and one crawling
    near the slider (where the cats come in). This is the first 
    incident in 11 years. The ticks were behind the cat's ears, 
    probably the only not-so-furry place the cat can't get to with 
    his sandpaper tongue. Had to shampoo all my cats, vacuum the 
    entire town and install the nuclear-strength cat collars from 
    the vet this morning. 
    
    When will the ticks go away? Too bad the birds don't eat them,
    or do they?
    
    
    Eva

    As a child, my sisters and I roamed in a field of tall grass next to
    our house and also in the woods all summer long.  Every evening my mother 
    would do a tick check.  Before we put our pajamas on we would stand in her
    bathroom in our underwear.  She would put alcohol on our mosquito
    bites and lotion on any sunburns.  She would give us a once over for
    ticks and then would check all our heads with her hands to make sure
    none had taken up residence there.
    
    Someone almost ALWAYS had a tick, usually on their head.  These things
    need to be taken off right away as they will firmly attach themselves
    and start taking in blood.  There is nothing more disgusting than a fat
    tick!!  I can remember pulling them off the dog.
    
    Ticks come out in the spring and last all summer long.  Some years
    there are more than other years, and I guess this looks to be a bad
    one.  They are not easy to kill.  Flushing them doesn't always work, 
    so I don't know if I would trust the washing machine.  My mother used 
    to burn them in an ashtray.    
    
    Kristen
    

    
    When we took them off our dog (they were usually full of blood), we
    would take the tick(s) outside cover them with a paper towel and smack
    them with the cast iron pan.  You can just imagine what happened to
    them.  Things you do as a kid!
    
    

    This string has been making me itchier and itchier every day!
    
    					cj *->

    
    >This string has been making me itchier and itchier every day!
    
    After I realized I had 2 ticks on my cat last night, I have been 
    feeling itchy. It was too late to scrub down my cat at 10 pm, I
    sent all the cats down the basement. My husband was away on business
    and I couldn't sleep, thinking about those critters most of the
    night. 
    
    I thought the tick shampoo would kill the bugs on contact, but
    it didn't. So, I had to pull them off with tweezers. To me, it
    was as pleasant as getting a splinter out of my daughter hand. 
    Fortunately, my cat was very patient and was not struggling.
    
    The vet recommended dumping the critters in a bottle of alcohol.
    
    
    Eva

    There is a lyme disease vaccine for dogs, my two labs got it.
    But I have no idea if there is one for people!

re: pulling off ticks and killing them.

The best way I've found to do this is to use a small pair of needle-nose
pliers.  It has a small tip so that you can grab them with accuracy, but then 
once you have it pulled out, you can also *squeeze* the pliers tightly to 
crush the tick...  just make sure to put a paper towel or something around 
the tick before crushing it.

Fwiw: ticks apply a little anesthetic (sp?) to numb the area where
they're going to bite.  That's why you don't realize they're there, and why
it doesn't hurt to yank them out.

Dan

Are ticks more prevalent in certain parts of the country?

I'm from Michigan and have never seen a tick, although I'm
sure we have them here in our state.  I have heard of deer
ticks because MI has a large deer population.

Where do ticks habitate?
    
    Thanks,
    Terry

    This is not based on fact, but a friend of mine was 
    chatting about ticks and he stated that they prefer
    juniper/pine areas.  They crawl out on the branches
    and drop off.  
    
    In other countries (South America) they are heat-
    sensative and drop off onto heated objects (mammals)
    passing by below them.  I don't think our North
    American tick has that trait (dah!).
    
    And since this note has started anytime a dust particle
    brushes against a hair follicle I get the shivers.

    The Lyme Disease ticks are small.  This size of this period  .  
    
    The big fact ones are not Lyme Disease ticks.  So disgusting as they
    are you don't have to fear Lyme from the big ticks.
    
    Jeff

    Would it be possible for someone in NE to have contacted Lyme's
    Disease already this season?

    A friend sure has all the symptoms...aching joints, tired, etc.
    but he thinks its impossible
    bob

    Twice in the last week Lindsey has come home from day care with ticks
    on her.  One was in her hair and last one night I found one crawling on
    her arm.  Gives me the willies just thinking about them.  The daycare
    does not have any grass around it, mostly dirt.  I'm going to question
    the teachers as to where the kids go for walks though. 
    
    These, I would guess, are dog ticks, they are the larger size, about
    the size of a pencil eraser.  Not dangerous, just anoying right?
    
    Lisa

    Not generally dangerous, as long as you fully remove any imbedded
    ticks and wash the area well.  Ticks just crawling along are not a
    problem, although definitely yucky!  They do drop from trees, so if
    the kids take walks near the woods or are in contact with any family 
    pets, they could crawl on over.  They don't hop, by the way, just drop 
    or crawl (brush up against a blade of grass or a tree branch for contact).
       Sarah

<    A friend sure has all the symptoms...aching joints, tired, etc.
<    but he thinks its impossible

Have him see a doctor, just in case.  Better safe than sorry.

   Carol

    I had to pull one of these things off my sons head this weekend.  Yuck. 
    I could hear it's hold being broken.  

    As it happened, he mentioned a "scab" on his scalp when I was in the
    middle of something, and I said I'd take a look later.  It wasn't until
    I was on my way to bed and he was sound asleep that I remembered.  So,
    knowing what a heavy sleeper he is, I went and looked right then.  When
    I saw what it was, I got the tweezers and rubbing alcohol and off it
    came.  I got it whole and it was still wiggling.  He's shown no signs
    of fever or any of the other symptoms I've read about, and there is no
    sign of infection, so I think we're OK.

    But this got me wondering - do these things ever let go on their own?

yes, when they are finished eating they let go on their own.  

If it was big enough for him to think it was a scab, and you to see it 
and work with it like that, chances are it was a dog tick.   These are 
not the ones that give you Lyme disease (the fever and stuff you 
referred to).   Deer tick do that, and they are the size of the period 
at the end of this sentence   .   

    I saw on CNN yesterday about them doing testing on people for the Lyme
    shots.  They said maybe avaiable by '97.
    
    - Jim

    I saw a few minutes of a news story on ticks this morning.  Basically
    everything in here was said except two things.
    
    .  It is a common mistake to believe that only the small ticks are
    the lyme carrying ones.  The ones that carry that disease have 
    black legs and can be big or small.  They say the saying everyone
    seems to be following "if you can see it, it's ok", is wrong.
    
    .  Vaseline has no effect, is of no use when removing the ticks.
    
    							cj *->

...with the hot weather coming on fast, we should start seeing less and less
of these nasty little critters -- they don't thrive well in the heat.

Dan

    Hi,
    
    I'm a former city-girl just learning about these creatures (Yech!)
     -- thanks to my twin daughters!
    
    Has anyone ever used a repellent spray on their children?  I've also 
    heard that Avon's Skin So Soft may keep them away -- true?
    
    Any information would be great!
    
    Thanks.
    
    Lisa