Lyme Disease Precautions for Outdoor Summer Vacations
Outdoor summer vacations may increase your odds of contracting Lyme Disease.
According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), the best way to avoid Lyme Disease is to avoid Deer Ticks. The ticks live in wooded areas and shady grasslands, and are prevalent where the two types of areas meet. If you plan to spend time in the outdoors this summer, the following recommendations can reduce your exposure to the bugs and the harmful bacteria they spread:
- "To help prevent contact with ticks, walk in the center of trails to avoid picking ticks up from overhanging grass or brush.
- To minimize skin exposure to ticks, wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts that fit tightly at the ankles and wrists. As a further safeguard wear a hat, tuck pant legs into socks, and wear shoes that leave no part of the feet exposed.
- To make it easy to find ticks on clothes, wear light-colored clothing.
- To keep ticks away, spray clothing with the insecticide Permethrin, commonly found in lawn and garden stores.
- To repel ticks, spray clothing or the skin with insect repellents that contain a chemical called DEET (N, N-diethyl-M-toluamide)."
Additional information about Lyme Disease, its symptoms, and treatment can be found on the website of the American Academy of Family Physicians
Loudon County, Virginia officials advise that most cases of Lyme Disease in the U.S. occur in the Atlantic Coast states from Northern Virginia to Massachusetts, and that the incidence in Loudon County is 20 times greater than the Virginia average, due in part to rural preservation efforts.
This summer, take some precautions to protect your health and the health of those around you, and educate yourself about Lyme Disease.