With warmer temperatures come some of the most dreaded insects – ticks.
They creep, they crawl, they bite and most importantly, they can carry an assortment of pathogens that cause diseases. The disease most commonly transmitted by a tick bite is Lyme disease, with an estimated 476,000 Americans being diagnosed and treated for the disease each year.
Here are some tips from Dr. Andrew Handel, a pediatric infectious disease physician at Stony Brook Children’s Hospital, about how people can prevent and treat tick bites.
DOCTORS WARN OF INCREASE IN TICKS, LYME DISEASE AFTER MILD WINTER
Taking a few extra precautions can help keep you and your family stay safe from ticks while spending more time outdoors:
If you do find a tick has latched itself onto your skin, follow these instructions to safely remove the insect:
Handel noted that people can order a free tick removal kit online from the Stony Brook Tick-Borne Disease Resource Center.