Protecting Your Kids From Lyme Disease: Four Steps That Parents Must Take to Keep Children Safe
According to Deb Siciliano, co-president and co-founder of Time for Lyme, Inc., a research, education and advocacy group, "Lyme strikes most often in two groups of people: children ages five to 14 and adults between 45 and 54. Children are particularly vulnerable for two reasons. They often play in tick habitats during peak tick season. And if they are infected, children often find it difficult to explain the subtleties of how they are feeling. Lyme disease can be devastating in children. Most people with Lyme disease experience a rash, headaches, fatigue and flu-like symptoms, but if left untreated, the disease can also involve learning and behavioral problems, depression, nerve damage, memory loss and other cognitive, psychiatric and neurological complications. Children with serious Lyme infections have developed symptoms very similar to those of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and even autism.
Greenwich, CT (PRWEB) September 10, 2007 -- With approximately 20,000 new cases reported each year to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Lyme disease is the most common insect-borne disease in the United States. And while it's most often seen in the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central sections of the country, Lyme disease has been found all over the U.S. -- and the world.
Lyme strikes most often in two groups of people: children ages five to 14 and adults between 45 and 54, says Deb Siciliano, co-president and co-founder of Time for Lyme, Inc., a research, education and advocacy group that recently endowed the first Lyme and Tick-Borne Diseases Research Center at Columbia University Medical in New York City dedicated to the study of chronic Lyme disease.
"Children are particularly vulnerable for two reasons," she explains. "They often play in tick habitats during peak tick season, which is May through July, so they're more likely to be bitten. And if they are infected, children often find it difficult to explain the subtleties of how they are feeling, and may often appear well and remain physically active even if they're sick," Siciliano adds.
As in adults, Lyme disease can be devastating in children. Most people with Lyme disease experience a rash, headaches, fatigue and flu-like symptoms, but if left untreated, the disease can also involve learning and behavioral problems, depression, nerve damage, memory loss and other cognitive, psychiatric and neurological complications. Children with serious Lyme infections have developed symptoms very similar to those of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and even autism.
To protect your children from Lyme disease, Siciliano recommends these steps:
Mind Your Environment
Experts caution both children and adults to avoid tick-infested recreational areas, but this can difficult in many areas, especially the northeastern United States, where ticks infest many residential properties. In fact, a recent study found that small wooded areas have more Lyme-carrying ticks than larger forests.
When your children will be playing or hiking in tick-heavy areas, instruct them to stay on marked trails and avoid walking through grass and brush, where ticks generally hide. To reduce ticks on your own property, get rid of the moist, dark areas where they thrive. Mow the lawn, clear brush and leaf litter, keep the ground under bird feeders clean and keep wood stacked neatly in dry areas. You also can lay down wood chips or gravel in spots where lawns butt up against wooded areas, which will create a dry, tick-unfriendly barrier between the woods and the grass.
Keep play areas and playground equipment away from away from shrubs, bushes and other vegetation, and use a chemical insecticide where appropriate. And to keep away deer, which often carry Lyme-infected ticks, construct physical barriers and remove the types of plants that attract them.
Arm Your Children
When you send your children outside during tick season (any time ground temperatures are above 35 degrees), dress them in light-colored clothing, which makes it easier to spot ticks, and have them wear long pants with the cuffs tucked under the socks whenever possible.
Apply an insect repellent containing DEET to exposed skin and clothing. The CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend using a product with a DEET concentration of 20 to 30 percent, although the AAP cautions against using DEET on children younger than two months.
Don't use a product that combines DEET with a sunscreen. Sunscreens often are applied repeatedly, but DEET is not water-soluble and will last up to 8 hours. Thus, repeated application may increase its potential toxic effects of DEET. Use a separate sunscreen instead.
Before applying the repellant, read the label instructions carefully. Apply the product to a small area first, to be sure it won't cause a reaction. Then, use just enough repellent to cover exposed skin and/or clothing. Apply it to your own hands and then rub them on your child, avoiding his eyes and mouth and using it sparingly around his ears. Do not apply repellent to a young child's hands, as little kids tend to put their hands in their mouths, and don't apply to cuts or irritated skin. Finally, do not apply repellent to skin under clothing -- it can cause irritation. Be sure wash treated clothing before having your kids wear it again.
Another insecticide, permethrin, may be applied to clothing, not to the skin, to help keep ticks off kids. Be sure to follow label instructions carefully and never put permethrin directly onto the skin. After spraying clothing, be sure to let it dry completely before putting it on your child.
Check Your Kids Daily
All summer long, make it a daily habit to examine your children's clothing and skin for ticks. Carefully go over their clothing before they come inside, and wash their clothes with hot water and dry them using high heat for at least an hour. This will kill any ticks that may have made it past your inspection.
When checking your child's body, pay special attention to the areas under the arms, in and around the ears, the belly button, the back of the knees, the groin and waist. You also should carefully check your child's scalp. If you feel a bump, don't squeeze or press on it, but gently part the child's hair and look for a tick. "Ticks love to hide in warm, moist places," says Deb Siciliano. "They're particularly fond of spots like the skin under the waistband of your pants, or under your hair or your hat."
If you find any ticks, remove them right away. Studies show that getting rid of a tick within 24 hours greatly reduces the risk of infection. To do so, use fine-point tweezers to grasp the tick as close as possible to the place of attachment so that you can remove all parts of the tick, including the head. Time for Lyme offers Red Cross tick removal kits that include tweezers with an attached magnifying glass that offer even better precision when removing ticks.
Don't Forget Fido (and Fluffy)
Most people think about protecting themselves and their kids from disease and also should think about safeguarding the family pet -- or making sure that the family pet doesn't inadvertently make them sick. But the truth is that dogs and cats can pick up ticks, as well, says Siciliano. If the tick bites your pet, the animal might develop Lyme disease or another tick-borne illness, which carries the same risks for animals as it does for people. But your pet might also bring ticks into the house -- and those ticks might find their way to your child.
To keep your pets tick-free, talk to your veterinarian about appropriate tick repellants and check the animals for stow-aways every day during tick season.
About Time for Lyme
Time For Lyme is an organization dedicated to eliminating the devastating effects of Lyme disease and other tick-borne illness. Our mission is to prevent the spread of disease, develop definitive diagnostic tools and effective treatments, and to ultimately find a cure for tick-borne illness by supporting research, education, and the acquisition and dissemination of information. In addition, we will continue to act as advocates for Lyme disease sufferers and their families through support of legislative reform on the federal, state and local levels. For more information on our organization, please visit www.timeforlyme.org.
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