How you can fight the bite

I saw my first tick at a family reunion down near Effingham, Ill., back when I was about 10 or 11 or 12.

It had attached itself to one of my brother’s socks after he walked through some tall grass looking for intact clay pigeons, left to disintegrate near a local shooting club. Nobody was shooting at the time, thankfully.

One of my great aunts used a hot match to prompt the bug to release. And that was that. I didn’t see another tick for the next 30-some years.

Now, somebody in my family ends up with a tick whenever we walk anywhere.

Earlier this month, my oldest son had one on his shirt after walking on a gravel pathway. I had more than a dozen crawling up my legs after hiking the mowed paths of the Pickett’s Charge field at Gettysburg a couple of summers ago.

I don’t know if it’s because of increased populations of deer or other wildlife or something else, but whatever the reasons, ticks are now everywhere, waiting to strike and spread the diseases they carry.

Combine that with the ongoing threat of mosquito-borne ailments, including the Zika virus, and you’re left with a summer that may be best spent indoors.

State health officials aren’t taking things to that extreme, but they are urging Ohioans to “fight the bite” and take appropriate precautions to avoid mosquito and tick bites from now through September or October.

“You can take some simple precautions at home and when traveling to prevent potentially serious mosquito- borne and tick-borne diseases,” state Medical Director Mary DiOrio said in a rele ased statement. “Zika virus has received a lot of attention as a disease that can be transmitted by some mosquitoes, but there are other mosquito-borne diseases as well, including West Nile virus. Ticks also can transmit diseases like Lyme disease.”

TIPS TO BANISH BUGS

Along those lines, here are some tips for avoiding both types of bugs, courtesy of the Ohio Department of Health:

Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts and shoes and socks if you’re going to be outdoors when mosquitoes are most active. Light-colored clothing also apparently is less attractive to mosquitoes.

Use EPA-registered mosquito repellent, following the label instructions.

Repair window screens to keep mosquitoes out of your house. Eliminate any standing water outside your homes. Clean our your roof gutters.

For ticks, avoid wooded and bushy areas with high grass and leaf litter. Walk in the center of trails when you’re out for a hike.

If you find a tick on your body, use “fine-tipped tweezers to grasp the tick as close to the skin’s surface as possible.” Additionally, “Pull upward with steady, even pressure. Do not twist or jerk the tick, which can cause the mouth parts to break off and remain in the skin. If this happens, remove the mouth parts with tweezers. If you are unable to remove the mouth easily, leave it alone and let the skin heal.” Afterward, clean the spot with rubbing alcohol, an iodine scrub or soap and water.

“Dispose of a live tick by submersing it in alcohol, placing it in a sealed bag/container, wrapping it tightly in tape or flushing it down the toilet. Never crush a tick with your fingers.”

State health officials say you should “avoid folklore remedies such as “painting” a tick with nail polish or petroleum jelly or using heat to make the tick detach from your skin.”

I’ll have to let my great aunt know about the latter.

Marc Kovac is The Vindicator’s Statehouse correspondent. Email him at mkovac@dixcom.com or on Twitter at OhioCapitalBlog.