Ticks & Lyme disease
Lyme disease is a potentially serious bacterial disease. It is spread by infected ticks which are now common.
Check yourself for ticks and remove them properly. Removal tools are available at outdoor shops.
Do not simply pluck them off with your fingers.
Check yourself for ticks and remove them properly. Removal tools are available at outdoor shops.
Do not simply pluck them off with your fingers.
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The area should be disinfected before and after removal.
Prevention:
Ticks are at their most prolific in summer.
Long trousers should be worn.
Light coloured clothes make ticks easier to spot.
Clothes and skin can be sprayed with permethrin and DEET respectively.
Prevention:
Ticks are at their most prolific in summer.
Long trousers should be worn.
Light coloured clothes make ticks easier to spot.
Clothes and skin can be sprayed with permethrin and DEET respectively.
Many people with early symptoms of Lyme disease develop a circular red skin rash around a tick bite.
The rash can appear up to 3 months after being bitten by a tick and usually lasts for several weeks. Most rashes appear within the first 4 weeks.
Not everyone with Lyme disease gets the rash. Some people also have flu-like symptoms in the early stages, such as:
The risk of transmission of Lyme disease is thought to be very low in the first 24 hours.
Taking antibiotics "just in case", after a tick bite is not currently recommended.
The normal incubation period for Lyme disease is two to thirty days but bacteria can lie dormant in the body without causing disease straight away.
NHS information
stopthetick
The rash can appear up to 3 months after being bitten by a tick and usually lasts for several weeks. Most rashes appear within the first 4 weeks.
Not everyone with Lyme disease gets the rash. Some people also have flu-like symptoms in the early stages, such as:
- a high temperature, or feeling hot and shivery
- tiredness & loss of energy
- sensitivity to sound and light
- headaches
- muscle & joint pain
The risk of transmission of Lyme disease is thought to be very low in the first 24 hours.
Taking antibiotics "just in case", after a tick bite is not currently recommended.
The normal incubation period for Lyme disease is two to thirty days but bacteria can lie dormant in the body without causing disease straight away.
NHS information
stopthetick