Nurse's Corner

May Healthy Hints

Welcome spring!  This is a great time to enjoy outdoor activities after a long winter.  Unfortunately, ticks are part of the picture. Since New Jersey has the second highest incidence of tick borne illness in the United States, the New Jersey Department of Health has created an awareness campaign called “Fight the Bite NJ” to educate the public.

Lyme disease, the most common and well known, is caused by a bacteria that is transmitted from the bite of a deer tick. In order to transmit disease, the tick typically needs to be attached to a human host for 36 hours. Prevention and detection are key to lowering your risk of developing Lyme or any tick borne illness.

Prevention Includes:                                   

* Wearing pants tucked into socks and long-sleeve shirts with collars.

* Using repellents containing 20 - 30% DEET on skin and clothes. The effects last several hours. 

* Products containing Permethrin should be used on clothing only, not skin      

Detection requires diligence:                                                                                                                 

Check your skin, your clothing, and gear that you carried when returning from a high risk area. Inspect using a mirror to observe the back of your body and pay close attention to the waistband of your pants, behind your ears, inside your belly button, behind your knees, between your legs, under your arms, and in your hair. Deer ticks are only 2 mm in size, so look closely. Change your clothes and shower or bathe within two hours of returning home. Tumble drying clothes on high heat for one hour to kill any ticks. 

If you do discover a tick, remove with a fine-tipped tweezer and clean the area with soap and water. When using the tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and firmly pull upward from the skin. Do not twist or squeeze.                                                                                    

Be aware of symptoms and always call your doctor with concerns.  Symptoms occur 3 - 30 days after the bite and may include:                                  

Rash: Most people do not develop the bull’s eye rash, but 70% of cases do develop a uniform expanding red rash with round or oval lesions. Only a minority develop the bull’s eye rash which is red with a clear center. It is important to note that the rash may appear in an area that was not bitten and there may be multiple circles.

Other symptoms include fatigue, chills, fever, headache, muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes. Most often the symptoms will resolve with or without treatment. However, treatment with prescribed antibiotics is highly recommended because 60% of untreated cases will develop more serious complications.

There are many other tick borne illnesses in New Jersey; please go to the link below for more information. New Jersey Department of Health Communicable Diseases