Tick Season in Wisconsin

As we transition into the summer outdoor activities, we need to be on the lookout for the ever present tick in Wisconsin. Here we have gathered some information to keep you informed on ticks, what to look for and what to do.

  

 

It's all about the tick

Ticks are tiny and flat and they are not insects. They are the largest of all mites and have eight legs compared to the six legs of an insect.

Knowing something about the disease and how it spreads can help you take steps to prevent it. The disease is caused by a spiral bacterium and is transmitted to humans by the bite of an infected deer tick, Deer ticks, also called black-legged ticks, are about half the size of dog ticks. In the four stages of the tick's life cycle, they feed on various blood sources, including mice, birds, deer and humans. Humans are the only ones to contract the disease; wildlife hosts simply provide the blood source and suffer no harm.

Dog Ticks Female / Male      
Brown dog ticks seldom attach to humans  

Deer Tick

Clockwise from top: female, male, larval, nymph

American Dog Tick (aka: wood tick)    
Left to Right: female, male

By region United States Tick Identifier charts:

http://www.tickencounter.org/tick_identification

How do they find me???

In order for the immature nymphs and adults to get the blood they need, they climb blades of grass or other vegetation and wait for a host to walk by. When one comes near, the ticks can detect odors from the host – like carbon dioxide, ammonia and lactic acid – and assume a "questing position," clinging to the grass with two pairs of legs while holding their front pair outstretched. When the host brushes against the grass, the tick grabs hold and either attaches to the skin or wanders the body in search of a thin-skinned area to attach and feed. That's when the bacteria in their stomachs can be transmitted to a human host.

I found a tick on me!

What to do if bitten by a tick:

• If you removed the tick soon after it is attached, chances are very small of getting Lyme disease. Also, not every tick is infected with Lyme disease bacteria.
• At the tick bite site, watch for an expanding rash that occurs frequently in Lyme disease for up to 30 days. Call your doctor if this occurs.
• However, it is common to develop an area of inflammation and itching up to the size of a quarter immediately after the tick bite due to the irritation from tick saliva and is not a symptom of Lyme disease. If the tick is infected, the expanding rash will appear later. Not everyone develops a rash, or it may go unnoticed. It is important to be aware of other possible symptoms of Lyme disease if you spent time in tick habitat. 
  
  

Lyme Disease?

The disease is highly seasonal, with over 80 percent of Wisconsin cases reported from May through August. That's when most nymphs (which are about the size of a pinhead) are feeding and when most people are enjoying the outdoors.

signs and symptoms

Signs and symptoms of Lyme disease can vary among individuals and not everyone experiences all of the symptoms listed. It is important to remember that not all ticks are infected with Lyme disease and transmit disease. The tick usually needs to be attached for at least 24 to 48 hours and likely be engorged. 

Common symptoms of Lyme disease to watch for after the bite of a blacklegged tick are: 

Early Stage or approximately three to thirty days after exposure:

• A distinctive expanding rash occurs in 80% to 90% of cases, usually solid red or bull's-eye appearance at the site of the bite and persists for many weeks. Usually the rash is not painful or itchy
• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Muscle and joint pain
• Fatigue 
  
  

Early Disseminated Stage or approximately days to weeks after exposure:

• Multiple rashes, not just at the bite site
• Facial paralysis on one side of the face
• Fever
• Stiff aching neck
• Headache
• Weakness and numbness or pain in arms or legs
• Irregular heart beat
• Dizziness, light headed or heart palpitations
• Persistent weakness and fatigue
• Abnormal pulse 
  
  

Late Stage or weeks to months after exposure:

• Swelling and pain in one or more joints, usually the knee
• Problems with neurological or nervous system
• Persistent weakness or fatigue

Control steps

Here are some options to make your property less attractive to ticks and their hosts:

• Keep grass mowed.
• Remove leaf litter, brush and weeds at the edge of the lawn.
• Discourage rodent activity.
• Move firewood piles and bird feeders away from the house.
• Keep pets out of the woods to reduce ticks brought back home.
• Use plantings that don't attract deer or exclude deer through various types of fencing.
• Move children's swing sets and sand boxes away from the woodland edge and place them on a wood chip or mulch foundation.
• Trim tree branches and shrubs around the lawn edge to let in more sunlight.

From "Tick Management Handbook," Bulletin No. 1010, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station

State officials passed along a few steps that can help prevent tick bites and reduce the chance of getting tickborne diseases:

• Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter because ticks prefer these areas. Stay to the center of a trail to avoid contact with grass and brush.
   
• Use effective tick repellents and apply according to the label instructions. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends using repellents with 20% DEET on exposed skin and clothing to prevent tick bites. Adults should apply repellents to children, taking special care to avoid spraying in the hands, eyes, and mouth. Repellents that contain permethrin can also be applied to clothing.
   
• Wear clothes that will help shield you from ticks. Long-sleeved shirts and long pants are best. Tuck pants into the top of socks or boots, to create a "tick barrier." Light-colored clothing makes ticks easier to spot.
   
• Check your body frequently for ticks, and remove them promptly. Blacklegged ticks are small and may be difficult to find, so careful and thorough tick checks must be done on all parts of the body. It is important to pay special attention to areas where ticks tend to hide, such as the head, scalp, and body folds (armpit, behind the knee, groin). Take a shower or a bath as soon as possible to remove any ticks that may still be crawling on you.
   
• Remove attached ticks slowly and gently, using a pair of thin-bladed tweezers applied as close to the skin as possible. Folk remedies like petroleum jelly, nail polish remover, or burning matches are not safe or effective ways to remove ticks.
   
• Protect your pets from tick bites by checking your dog or cat for ticks before allowing them inside. While a vaccine may prevent Lyme disease in pets, it will not stop the animal from carrying infected ticks into the home. Speak to your veterinarian about topical tick repellants available for pets.
   
• Landscape homes and recreational areas to reduce the number of ticks and create tick-safe zones by using woodchips or gravel along the border between lawn and wooded area. Continue to remove leaf litter and clear tall grass and brush around houses throughout the summer.

diagnosis and treatment:

• Contact your health care provider if you suspect Lyme disease. Your health care provider may perform blood tests, a physical exam and check on your history of exposure. A blood test is not necessary for diagnosis of Lyme disease if the characteristic rash is present at the time of your visit. The blood tests are important if you have been ill for more than one month. The blood tests may be negative for two to three weeks after exposure. 
  
  

Treatment: Certain antibiotics are very effective in treating Lyme disease. If treated later in the illness, antibiotics are very effective, but symptoms tend to take longer to disappear even though the bacteria have been killed. A small percentage of people continue to have complaints after routine treatment, please discuss this with your medical professional. Long term use of antibiotics could be detrimental to your health due to adverse side effects.

The Indoor Allergy Season is Upon Us!

The end is in sight; it’s all down hill from here; we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

What is the Most Common Trigger for Allergies? 

We can use all the motivational quotes we want; but the fact is: Spring is just around the corner, but winter is still holding on here in Southern Wisconsin. When most people think of allergies, they think of late spring/early summer, not the winter season. However, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, dust mite droppings are the most common trigger of allergy and asthma symptoms.

<Photo Courtesy of thermapure.com>

During winter, most people habitually spend more time indoors – which puts them into close contact with dust, dust mites, mold, pet dander, and cockroaches. All of those are primary triggers for allergy and asthma symptoms.

How to Treat Indoor Allergies

First and foremost is avoidance. If you are allergic to pet dander – you might have to ban Fido from the bedroom. If you’re allergic to dust, simply increasing the frequency of cleaning can reduce the amount of dust present in your home – and serve to reduce the amount of dust mites present, if you are one who is allergic to dust mite droppings. In an extreme case, you can go as far as tearing out carpet and removing upholstered furniture – areas rich with human dander (dead skin flakes). 

You can also take other steps to minimize indoor allergies, including: lowering your home’s humidity or encasing pillows and mattresses in allergen-blocking bedding.

Medicinal Options

If you have taken the above steps and still are suffering from indoor allergy symptoms, you can seek medical therapy. Medical therapy can include medication, allergy shots, and over the counter drugs. Antihistamines (such as Allegra®), corticosteroids (such as Cortaid®), decongestants (such as Sudafed®), and nasal rinses – such as the use of a Neti Pot®, are all over the counter options in your battle against indoor allergies.

Stop in for a free consultation with your local Hometown pharmacist to develop a plan of attack to defeat your annoying & irritating allergy symptoms!

Vitamin C...a Cure for the Common Cold?

Arrrrrgggghhhh, Matey!

I don’t know about you, but I don’t personally know anyone who has suffered from scurvy. Scurvy is now pretty rare, but it once ran rampant among sailors, pirates, and others who spent long periods of time on board ships. When voyages lasted longer then the supply of fruits and vegetables, they began to suffer from vitamin C deficiency – which led to scurvy.

Fortunately, we don’t have to deal much with scurvy these days, as most people have sufficient access to sources of vitamin C. Vitamin C has been associated with the treatment of a myriad of ailments, ranging from wrinkled skin to reducing the risk of certain cancers of the mouth and breast. This time of year, specifically, vitamin C dosing is associated with treatment of the common cold and sore throats. However, it has been found that vitamin C is not likely to prevent the common cold. Surprisingly, vitamin C has been shown to only minimally help treat symptoms.

An excerpt from BBC on the issue

“Researchers at the Australian National University and the University of Helsinki concluded that, for most people, the benefits of taking vitamin C daily were so slight that they were not worth the effort or expense. Although they found it could reduce the duration of colds by up to 8% in adults and 13.6% in children, as most people only have two or three colds every year, this benefit is only very small. Author Professor Harri Hemilä said: It doesn’t make sense to take vitamin C 365 days a year to lesson the chance of catching a cold. However, they say it may be justified in those exposed to severe cold (sub-arctic) or physical stress (marathon runners, etc.).”

What this means to the typical adult is a cold may be reduced in length from, say, twelve days to eleven days. For the typical child, who suffers from cold symptoms twenty-eight days a year, taking daily vitamin C supplements all year long would shave off about four days of cold symptoms.

How much vitamin C do I need?

Most people can get sufficient levels of vitamin C from eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, but if you would like to take supplemental vitamin C dosing, your local Hometown Pharmacy has a variety of types in stock, including our own private-label vitamin line!

*Some experts recommend limiting your vitamin C intake to the following thresholds:

            400mg per day for children, ages 1-3 years

            650mg per day for children, ages 4-8 years

            1200mg per day for children, ages 9-13 years

            1800mg per day for adolescents and pregnant and breast-feeding women, ages 14-18                           years

            2000mg per day for adults and pregnant and lactating women

<Photo courtesy of huffinesinstitute.org>

New Hometown Sharps Disposal Program

Starting earlier this month, Hometown Pharmacies is proud to announce a new sharps disposal program at all of its pharmacies, with the exception of those located in Wausau, Merrill, and Columbia County. Below is a excerpt explaining the program, in detail:

Sharps Disposal Program

Where can I get a sharps container?

·        You can purchase a sharps container from any Hometown Pharmacy, the added bonus is you can return it to any Hometown Pharmacy for free disposal

·        You can purchase a designated sharps container from another business and bring it in to any Hometown Pharmacy for disposal *

·        You can recycle a used laundry detergent bottle or bleach bottle by putting your used sharps in it and then writing the word “Sharps” on the outside in permanent marker and bringing it in to any Hometown Pharmacy for disposal *

What qualifies as a sharps container?

·        A designated sharps container purchased from any Hometown Pharmacy, or a designated sharps container purchased elsewhere

·        An old laundry detergent bottle

·        An old bleach bottle

·        We CANNOT accept sharps in milk jugs or any other type of container

How do I dispose of my full sharps containers?

·        If purchased from any Hometown Pharmacy, simply bring back the full container, with the “Hometown” sticker attached and hand it to any member of the pharmacy staff, we will dispose of it for free

·        If purchased elsewhere, or if it is a recycled laundry detergent or bleach bottle, simply write the word “Sharps” on the outside of the container with a permanent marker and take to any Hometown Pharmacy *

Disposal of Hometown-issued container – with Hometown sticker still intact	Free
Disposal of Hometown-issued container – with Hometown sticker missing	$10
Disposal of non-Hometown issued container (other sharps containers, laundry detergent bottle, bleach bottles)	$10
Hometown 1-gallon container (sticker included) *Free disposal included	$8
Hometown 2-gallon container (sticker included) *Free disposal included	$12

If you have sharps disposal needs, be sure to stop in and talk to your local Hometown Pharmacist, they are ready and willing to discuss any questions you might have!