Doctors warn about ticks ahead of peak season in Connecticut

A beautiful weekend for Connecticut is coming up, but if you’re spending some time, watch out for ticks.

There are at least five tick species in the state, which means more pathogens and a wider spread, potentially increasing the risk of illness, according to experts at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

In a letter to families in the Avon school district, the superintendent warned about the high likelihood of a tick infestation, saying it’s a thread ot human health.

“It’s definitely warm enough to find ticks out,” Dr. Eleanor Reid, an assistant professor in Yale’s Emergency Medicine department, said. “People do come in with ticks. It’s not uncommon. I think on average for the state of Connecticut, for every 100,000 visits, about 160 of them are for tick-related concerns.”

Reid said most ticks can be managed at home by cleaning your skin, using tweezers to pull the insect off, and then cleaning the area again.

“If you have a worsening rash after a tick bite and specifically that typical bullseye rash that we hear about, with Lyme disease, if you have fever, if you are concerned there may be tick mouthparts embedded in the wound, those would be good reasons to get in touch with your doctor,” she said.

Prevention is key to staying healthy and preventing tick bites. Doctors advise wearing light colors and tucking pants into socks.

“Sometimes these ticks are hard to see before they’ve become engorged,” Dr. Ulysses Wu, with Hartford Hospital Infectious Disease, said. “I just tell everybody, jump in the shower, wash your hair, wash all the crevices in your body.”

At Stanley Quarter Park, visitors were well aware of ticks.

“I’m out here in long sleeves, a jacket, long pants,” Nick Maxwell said. “That’s my way of trying to prevent it while being out here trying to fish.”

Regina Grivovich, a mother of two young girls, said she uses essential oils like bergamot, lemongrass and rosemary to repel ticks.

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