Summer annually brings warnings for Americans to be vigilant of bugs that can bite and cause harmful consequences to their victims. This year’s newest villain is the mosquito spreading the Zika virus in South and Central America. Though most people who encounter the virus have mild complications that generally last for only a week, the virus can cause severe birth defects in pregnant women. AARP’s STRIVE newsletter (Spring 2016) tells us there is evidence the disease can be transmitted during sex as well. If you or your partner have been to a country where Zika is active, and if any of the following symptoms occur: fever, skin rash, joint pain, irritated eyes, headaches, or muscle pain, seek medical help at once!
Included with mosquitoes and also causing humans harm are wasps, hornets, bees, and, of course, ticks. Indeed, infected ticks are responsible for carrying Lyme disease, a chronic bacterial disorder that can lead to long-term attacks of pain in various parts of the patient’s body. WebMD informs us that while most ticks do not carry diseases or cause serious health issues, it is still important to check for ticks on oneself and one’s pets to avoid this illness and possible skin infections.
Here are some ways to protect yourself and your loved ones from unpleasant encounters with pesky, harmful bugs:
1. Remove any standing water to prevent the laying of mosquito eggs there.
2. Mend torn screens that may allow some of these bugs into your house.
3. Use enough insect repellent (with 20 to 30 percent DEET) to cover exposed skin and clothing and to ward off mosquitoes and ticks/use permethin for camping gear and clothing.
4. STRIVE and WebMD both suggest when you are outside, whether you are playing or working in a grassy environment, to wear a hat, long-sleeved shirt, and pants with pant legs tucked into your socks. Light-colored clothing also allows ticks to be spotted more quickly.
5. Avoid wooded areas near you where ticks and deer that might be carrying infected deer ticks are most commonly found.
6. Head indoors from dusk to dawn, when most mosquitoes do their biting.
7. When coming indoors, immediately check for ticks everywhere on your skin and on the skin of your pets (ticks falling off your animals might reattach themselves onto your skin), shower immediately, and run clothes/camping gear through a hot dryer to kill any still possibly attached ticks.
***A last word of WebMD advice: How to Correctly Remove Ticks from One’s Skin or the Skin of a Pet:
Ticks are not your ordinary bugs that simply bite. They burrow into their victim’s skin head-first where they remain drinking the host’s blood. It is pertinent, therefore, that the head of the vampire-sucking tick be removed in tact. This can be accomplished with the aid of clean surgical gloves or tissues and tweezers. First, “grasp the tick with the tweezers very close to the skin.” Second, “pull with gentle, constant pressure. Pulling too hard will tear the tick and leave some (of it) behind.” Third, “examine and make sure all of the tick has been removed. Look for the tick’s mouth parts to be intact.” It has angled jaws and an arrow-shaped head. Fourth, “if the head is still in the victim’s skin, it could (still) cause an infection” and will need quick medical assistance. Fifth, to prevent bacteria on the tick from spreading to anyone or any living thing in the area of removal, it is best to put the tick in an airtight container. Finally, “watch the bitten person or animal for several days to see if any Lyme disease symptoms occur, the first usually being a bulls eye rash.” Contact your health care provider immediately in diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease.
Remember: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!”
