Why Sterling VA Residents Should Listen To The Warnings About Tick Bites

The tick awareness campaign in Loudoun County is one that should never end. One of the reasons is because ticks are the primary transmitters of Lyme disease. The condition has adverse effects on the human body. It may begin with mild symptoms like fever, rash, and even facial paralysis. Conversely, the infection can be dormant within the body. Unfortunately, this may end up causing more serious conditions like Lyme’s brain, which comes with severe memory loss.

Presently, most people are not expecting to encounter tick bites. This is primarily due to the seasonal changes taking place. The question is, are we out of the woods?

When the temperature starts to dip in the fall, many lower their guard to bug bites. According to area doctors, however, this could be a risky mistake.

Infectious disease specialists with MercyHealth say the risk of a tick bite can still be high when venturing into the woods, even if it is a bit chilly.

Lyme disease is a lifelong illness spread by ticks. If you’re planning a hiking trip, advanced prevention like tucking in your jeans and wearing bug repellent can save you years of discomfort.

“Your children, you should try to give them a bath at night and do a tick check every night. Your children might get Lyme disease and not show any symptoms and it could lead to a chronic illness on their part,” Dr. Bob Tiballi of MercyHealth said. Read more at WIFR Newsroom…

Taking all the necessary precautions is not a waste of energy. You are better safe than sorry, any day.

So do you know what you should be looking for when checking for ticks? It’s important, for instance, to know how a tick bite looks. This will go a long way in ensuring success against tick-related illnesses.

What does a tick bite look like, exactly?
The signs of a tick bite actually vary from person to person, since everyone’s immune system reacts differently to them, explains Thomas Mather, Ph. D., director of the University of Rhode Island’s Center for Vector-Borne Disease and Tick Encounter Resource Center. While someone may have a small, red bump after the tick detaches, others may develop an area of redness and itchiness.

Your best bet is to find the tick while it’s still on your skin. “Ticks are designed to linger when they attach and bite,” said Mather. The mouth of a tick contains a bunch of backward-pointing barbs that they use to stay put, meaning they are “designed to lock and load,” as Mather put it. The biters also secrete a cement-like substance around their mouths to keep them stuck even if they were to be, say, absentmindedly scratched.

Depending on where the tick is in its life cycle — larva (baby, six legs), nymph (eight legs) or adult stage (full-sized) — it can stick around anywhere from three to six days, Mather says. The longer they’re feeding, the bigger they get — and the greater the risk of transmitting disease. Read more at Chron…

These annoying bugs are sure to make a good meal out of you or your children’s blood. Extra vigilance will go a long way in keeping you safe from tick-related illnesses.

Not only do ticks cause illness, but they can also change your diet preferences. Tick bites can alter your response to different food types, as explained in the following post.

Tick bites are nothing new, but since about 2008, researchers have been studying a red meat allergy that comes from a lone star tick bite.

“It became increasingly clear that ticks and tick bites were going to be an explanation for why you could all of a sudden have people who their whole life could eat red meat, or in some cases dairy, and not have any problems,” said Dr. Jeffrey Wilson, an assistant professor of allergy and immunology at the University of Virginia.

Wilson says the tick bite is the sensitizing event. It’s this bite that changes your relationship with a sugar called alpha-gal. He says this sugar is present in meat and dairy.

“All of a sudden you start making a different kind of immune response to this sugar,” he said. Read more at Wavy…

Information, as the saying goes, is power. Armed with it, you can succeed in protecting your family from ticks. Moreover, in the event that you encounter a tick bite, you’ll know exactly what to do.

Going the extra mile to ensure your home is tick-free is highly recommended. This is why Backyard Bug Patrol exists; to help you protect the people you love most. We offer two basic barrier spray services to ensure your home is safe for family and pets too. Call us today for excellent tick prevention services.