Important Precautions to Take If You Are Bitten by a Tick
Lyme disease is one of the rises, especially on the east coast . The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expects the situation to worsen this year due to warming. Here’s what to do if a tick – the blood-sucking harbinger of illness – makes you a snack.
The first thing you should do when you find a tick is to carefully remove it, according to Dr. Brian Fallon of the Lyme and Tick-borne Disease Research Sect at Columbia University Medical Center . Use tweezers to walk under the tick’s head and pull it out of the mouth that has sunk into the skin. Be especially careful not to crush the tick’s body. After that, here’s what you do:
- Keep the box tick! If you start showing symptoms, the lab can test for Lyme. Can be put in a plastic bag.
- Check the CDC Lyme card or the local health department website. See if Lime is present in your area, or where you went hiking, camping, etc.
- Monitor your health and your bite wound. If you develop flu symptoms, unusual arthritis pain, or a red rash around the bite site, see your doctor right away.
Fortunately, most people who get Lyme disease from ticks make a full recovery after taking antibiotics. However, the sooner you catch it, the better it will be, so it’s important to take these precautions.
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