Re: Question on a Tick Bite I received
- From: the 3rd Man <sir_der05@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:27:58 -0700
On Oct 31, 11:58 am, "Gary" <jabadoo...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
#1: I've read that if you pull the tick out within 24 hours your chance of
getting lyme is down to almost 0%. Does that apply if any of the head was
left in you?
#2: From my indications (below) should I see a doctor / start treatment?
Thanks,
Gary
Four days ago my dog came inside and about 30 minutes leter I found a tick
attached to my abdomin. I'm sure he wasnt' there before.
I have pulled ticks from the dog and know to try to pull them straight out
and not leave any parts. But when I pulled on this tick I'm pretty certain I
didn't get it all.
It hurts just a little, even now 4 days later. Doesn't hurt in general, but
if I touch that spot I can feel a light "pain".
Two days after pulling the tick the spot looked like:
* A black spot about the size of if I've pressed a "sharpie" pen there.
Maybe 2 mm.
* A small band of white/normal skin around the black spot
* A small red circle/line around that. This circle was about 5 mm in
diameter.
I do not believe the circle is the "rash". It was not like that. It was just
a very thin red line.
Tick Bites and Prophylaxis of Lyme Disease
The best currently available method for preventing infection with
B. burgdorferi and other Ixodes species-transmitted pathogens is to
avoid exposure to vector ticks. If exposure to I. scapularis or I.
pacificus ticks is unavoidable, measures recommended to reduce the
risk of infection include the use of both protective clothing and tick
repellents, checking the entire body for ticks daily, and prompt
removal of attached ticks before transmission of these microorganisms
can occur (B-III) (see table 1 for recommendation categories, which
are indicated in parentheses throughout this text).
Table 1. Infectious Diseases Society of America-US Public
Health Service Grading System for ranking recommendations in clinical
guidelines.
For prevention of Lyme disease after a recognized tick bite,
routine use of antimicrobial prophylaxis or serologic testing is not
recommended (E-III). A single dose of doxycycline may be offered to
adult patients (200 mg dose) and to children 8 years of age (4 mg/kg
up to a maximum dose of 200 mg) (B-I) when all of the following
circumstances exist: (a) the attached tick can be reliably identified
as an adult or nymphal I. scapularis tick that is estimated to have
been attached for 36 h on the basis of the degree of engorgement of
the tick with blood or of certainty about the time of exposure to the
tick; (b) prophylaxis can be started within 72 h of the time that the
tick was removed; (c) ecologic information indicates that the local
rate of infection of these ticks with B. burgdorferi is 20%; and (d)
doxycycline treatment is not contraindicated. The time limit of 72 h
is suggested because of the absence of data on the efficacy of
chemoprophylaxis for tick bites following tick removal after longer
time intervals. Infection of 20% of ticks with B. burgdorferi
generally occurs in parts of New England, in parts of the mid-Atlantic
States, and in parts of Minnesota and Wisconsin, but not in most other
locations in the United States. Whether use of antibiotic prophylaxis
after a tick bite will reduce the incidence of HGA or babesiosis is
unknown.
Doxycycline is relatively contraindicated in pregnant women and
children <8 years old. The panel does not believe that amoxicillin
should be substituted for doxycycline in persons for whom doxycycline
prophylaxis is contraindicated because of the absence of data on an
effective short-course regimen for prophylaxis, the likely need for a
multiday regimen (and its associated adverse effects), the excellent
efficacy of antibiotic treatment of Lyme disease if infection were to
develop, and the extremely low risk that a person with a recognized
bite will develop a serious complication of Lyme disease (D-III).
Prophylaxis after I. pacificus bites is generally not necessary,
because rates of infection with B. burgdorferi in these ticks are low
in almost the entire region in which the tick is endemic. However, if
a higher infection rate were documented in specific local areas (20%),
prophylaxis with single-dose doxycycline would be justified if the
other criteria mentioned above are met.
.
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