7 days ago
Tick-related emergency room visits have doubled: Cleveland Clinic
CLEVELAND (WJW) — Consecutive average-to-mild winters was expected to contribute to an increased population of ticks in Ohio, including Cuyahoga County this year, and at the peak of tick season, data from the Cleveland Clinic supports that.
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Dr. Chris Bazzoli, an emergency department physician with the Cleveland Clinic says texts and calls from family and friends about tick bites made him curious about the numbers of related emergency department visits.
What he found is those numbers seem to have increased dramatically.
'We are seeing certain clinical impressions and diagnosis about double the rate than we saw last year so that would certainly indicate that folks are getting bitten by ticks more frequently. It's not perfect data but even if it is off by a sizeable margin it definitely shows an increase this year,' Bazzoli told Fox 8 News.
That includes ticks that carry and transmit Lyme disease.
Ticks typically live in wooded areas or places where there is tall grass or vegetation.
But they can also be found along trails and can even be in backyards where they can easily latch onto unsuspecting hosts.
Experts say they are not a problem until they burrow themselves under your skin.
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'If a tick is just crawling on you, the risk of the virus isn't there. The trick is after you get done hiking you want to inspect yourself and your pets so that way the tick doesn't burrow into your skin,' said Gus Dria, of the City of Canton's Health Department.
Once they are imbedded it could take hours or days to actually transmit the bacteria that causes Lyme disease, so Bazzoli suggests inspecting yourself after doing yard work or if you are in tall grass.
If a disease-carrying tick does go undetected it could then be three to ten days before a host might experience symptoms.
'And those fall into three broad categories: rashes, we are on the lookout for rashes, fevers and chills, kind of feeling like you are coming down with the flu, and also aches and pains' said Bazzoli.
The best medicine is prevention.
Bazzoli recommends wearing long pants, a long sleeve shirt and maybe tall socks when hiking or doing yard work. Insect repellants can also be effective
'Keeping an eye out for DEET picaridin and IR 3535 are your best bets, those are all safe for pregnant women, children of all ages. They are not safe for your pets and we should be mindful too that our pets can bring in ticks to the house.'
If one is imbedded, experts say it can be removed by grabbing it near its head with a pair of tweezers and pulling it straight out without twisting, then thoroughly cleaning the area of the bite.
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While the number of bites and related emergency room visits appear to be up from last year, Ohio Department of Health statistics, thus far, do not reflect an increased number of confirmed cases of Lyme disease this year
You can find more information here about Lyme disease, identifying ticks and prevention.
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