Roark: The health issues of ticks

Used to early to mid-summer was considered tick season, but since here of late I have pulled them off me all 12 months, I no longer think there is a season. But warm weather gets more people outdoors, which ups the chance of contact with the little pests. I’ve also heard of several local folks that have gotten Rocky Mountain spotted fever, and they are other tick-borne diseases to be concerned about.

First some tick science: there are primarily three kinds of ticks found in our area: the brown dog, the lone star, and the American dog tick. The most common one I see is the American dog tick, which is reddish brown with silver streaks on its back. All ticks go through 4 life stages, starting with an egg produced by a female who can produce upwards of 3000 eggs. The other stages: larval, nymph, and adult, all require a blood meal before moving on, so a tick must feed on three different victims to complete its life. The larval and nymph stages look like the adult stage, only smaller and may have 6 legs instead of the normal 8. The American dog larvae don’t typically feed on humans, but the lone star will go for you at any stage, especially the larval stage (referred to as seed ticks), which can congregate in large numbers.

It’s usually during the larval feeding that ticks come in contact with diseases which can spread to humans. Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease are the most common problems, with the spotted fever being more prevalent locally.  Lyme disease is more in the northeast and is spread by the black legged tick that we thankfully don’t have yet.

The symptoms of RMSF mimic the flu, and can include fever, chills, bad headache, muscle aches, nausea, and restlessness. After a few days a red rash often appears on the wrists and ankles, which can spread over time. Not everybody gets the rash. The best course of action during the summer is to head for the doctor when symptoms show up, as left untreated the disease can become debilitating and even life threatening. Treatment of RMSF is normally strong antibiotics. With Lyme disease a circular, bulls-eye type red rash will appear at the bite site, but not always.  Another illness floating around is southern tick-associated rash illness, or STARI. Symptoms ae also flu-like and can include an expanding, bulls-eye rash like Lyme. This one normally doesn’t lead to arthritic or neurological problems that other tick diseases can cause.  One other new disease being watched is called Powassan, which also has flu-like symptoms that can lead to serious neurological damage and even death.  Right now, there is no treatment available. One other disease spread by ticks if Alpha-gal syndrome, which makes you allergic to red meat. Bummer for all you carnivores out there.

The best defense against ticks is the diligent use of insect repellents containing either DEET or permethrin, and diligent body checks.  Look especially in hair, armpits, groin, waistline, around the ears, and inside the belly button. It will take at least 24 hours before a tick can dig in and begin feeding, so catch them early and your chances of infection go way down. Body checks should be done at the end of each day if you’ve been around any vegetation. But please don’t let this restrict you or your kid’s enjoyment of the outdoors. Just exercise due caution and still get out there.

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