My last post about ticks established that Ioxdidae or the hard tick family spread most diseases to humans.  The main culprits are called the Dog tick, Deer tick and Lone Star tick.  Ticks have 4 stages of life, egg, larvae, nymph and adult.  Each stage except egg requires the individual tick to eat a blood meal before entering the next stage.

How do you keep ticks off of you?

Ticks are aggressive in looking for a blood meal.  The behavior of finding a host for blood is called “questing behavior”.  The individual tick climbs to the top of a plant.  It positions itself on the edge of the stalk or a leaf and holds on with its rear legs.  It will reach out with its front legs and grasp onto prey as it passes by.  This isn’t completely random as the tick has sensors in its front legs that detect changes in carbon dioxide made by the breathing of an approaching vertebrate.

Once on a host, the tick “burrows” its mouth-parts through the skin and actually secrets a glue to hold them in place.  The mouth parts are the largest part of the head or capitellum of the tick.  The tick has 3 mouth parts.  Two of these the stylets penetrate the skin.  The actual passageway for blood from the host is the hypostome.  This tube is barbed and like a fish hook is hard to extract.  It is the cement that makes it hard for us to pull them off.

Preventing ticks from attaching.

The DOD (Department of Defense) has a system of two chemicals it uses with good success to keep ticks off of US military personnel. The DOD uses an insecticide permethrin, and a repellent DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-tiluarnide).

Permethrin is used in various concentrations for use in yards, or as a shampoo for lice and for application to clothing (the way it is used for ticks).  Permethrin is sprayed on cloth, i.e. clothing, tents, etc.  This is done outside and the cloth must dry before being used.  It does not last on skin, but on cloth it withstands UV light and can remain bonded for multiple washings.  In tests on Air Force uniforms, the test had to be moved since the were so many treated uniforms in one place that mosquitoes were repelled by the total effect. 

In addition to permethrin, the DOD recommends the use of DEET.  DEET is not deactivated by skin and a formula of 33% DEET can last up to 20 hours with some insect species.  It can be applied directly to skin but consult the label before applying to children under 60 pounds (25-30 Kg.)  If you are working in an area where contact with ticks is likely, use of both permethrin and DEET will offer good but not perfect protection.

What if I find a tick?

If you find a tick attached to your skin try to apply the following principles.  First, do not apply Vaseline, nail polish, a match or squeeze the tick.  Doing these things may cause it to regurgitate (vomit) into the wound it created and transfer more micro-organisms.  Instead, find your most pointed pair of forceps (tweezers), and a needle.  Clean the forceps, needle and skin around the tick with soap and water.  Alcohol may be applied to the instruments also.  Wash your hands also.  Grasp the tick by the head as close to the skin as possible and lift until it comes off.  If mouth parts are left, use the needle to remove them like a splinter.  Rewash the area where the tick was removed.  An alternative is suggested here.  I intend to get a couple Pro removal instruments and try them in my office.  Return here for a PS update at the end of this post once this is accomplished.

Expect some erythema (intense pink color) around the site of the bite.  Our skin does not like the cement the tick uses to attach itself.  It is acceptable to use a little hydrocortisone 1% cream, available without a prescription, on the bite.  If the site is red, rough, a little raised it is probably infected.  Mupiracin 2% ointment can be applied to infected skin twice daily with good success.  Consult your Doctor for help with this.  If you are from North Carolina and were bitten by a tick from North Carolina west of Elizabeth City, the chance of Lyme disease if very low.  Especially if the tick was removed in less than 24 hours.  In 7-21 days you could begin to exhibit the signs of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (RMSF) or Ehrlichiosis.  RMSF always has a headache, fever and generalized body aches.  It does not always have the rash (up to 50% without it).  Ehrlichiosis manifests more in the abdominal area.  In both cases it is clear there is a problem.  Get medical evaluation as soon as symptoms begin.  I will discuss these and other tick associated diseases in future posts.

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