CAPITAL DISTRICT — Summer in upstate New York means barbecues, beaches, hikes and picnics. But it also means it’s tick season again.
While there are reports of this season being particularly bad for the insects that pack a nasty bite and are infamous for carrying serious germs that can lead to serious illnesses like Lyme disease, it’s hard to gauge how bad – or not so bad – ticks will be this year.
“It’s difficult to say one year is bad over another. It might be bad in one region of the state and not the other, but the New York state Health Department has actively monitored the deer tick season since 2008 and we have seen fluctuations up and down every year,” said Melissa Prusinski, a research scientist and laboratory supervisor with the DOH Bureau of Communicable Disease Control.
Anytime it’s more than 40 degrees outside and there is no snow on the ground, there is a chance of getting a tick bite. So, roughly, in upstate New York, the tick season runs from April through December. They are generally found in wooded areas and cling to leaves and other vegetation usually not more than a few feet off the ground.
Humans are most at risk of contracting Lyme from a blacklegged tick, better known as a deer tick, that is in its nymph stage, or the equivalent of a teenager. While adult ticks also can carry the disease, they are larger and easier to spot than the nymph, which is smaller than 2 millimeters, or a 16th of an inch.
Most ticks do not carry Lyme Disease, or the Borrelia bacteria disease that causes it, or any disease at all, and the bites won’t lead to anything more than some scratching. It’s impossible to put a firm number on the number of bites that do lead to more serious consequences since most bites are not reported, but most estimates are less than 5 percent of all tick bites.
And it takes a while for even an infected tick to transmit the disease to a human once it attaches itself. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the “tick must be attached for 36 to 48 hours of more before the Lyme disease bacterium can be transmitted.”
But, since there is no cure for Lyme disease in humans and New York is one of the top states with confirmed cases of Lyme disease – 3,252 in 2015, third behind Pennsylvania with 7,351 and New Jersey with 3,932, according to the CDC – officials urge common sense vigilance.
According to Jennifer White, deputy director of the DOH Vector-borne Disease Unit in the Bureau of Communicable Disease Control, one of the best protections is to simply cover your skin with light colored clothing – to better see the dark colored tick — if you are going to hang out outside. Wearing closed-toed shoes, using insect repellent and putting clothes worn outside in the dryer for an hour to kill ticks all help too.
If you are bitten, she said, early diagnosis is the key.
“Removing the tick as soon as possible lowers the risk exponentially,” she said. “And then look for signs and symptoms like the bull’s eye rash or flu-like symptoms.”
Prompt treatment can also prevent early Lyme from progressing to Chronic Lyme disease which can include such symptoms as severe fatigue, muscle aches, debilitating joint pain and depression.
To remove a tick, take a pair of tweezers with a narrow point, wet it with rubbing alcohol, grab the tick where it is attached to the skin and pull straight up. They do latch on with some authority so it will take a little bit to pull it out. If some parts remain, they can be left in or dug out like a splinter.
For more information, visit the DOH or the CDC websites at www.health.ny.gov or www.cdc. gov.