Who, What, Why: How dangerous are tick bites in the UK?

[Bonefishblues]

I read that and was shocked at its severity - multiple heart operations and still recouperating.

[mercalia]

yes and also a London park. aint safe to go out anywhere

[Randy_Butternubs]

Yikes. I didn't think lyme disease was much of a thing in the UK. A friend of mine got it a couple of years ago in the Czech Republic and, knowing the symptoms and that he had been bitten, had to convince a GP to refer him to a specialist hospital for exotic diseases where they confirmed it. Apparently even there a lot of doctors had never seen it and he got quite a lot of interest.

There seem to be tons of ticks here in Devon. Where I last lived I would get them regularly just from walking along paths and from (presumably) the brambles and odd bit of grass brushing my legs. I never thought I was at risk of disease though. Perhaps I was wrong.

Some tips for dealing with them:
- If you get one on you you don't want to squish its contents into your blood. Don't try burning it off, or pulling it off with your fingers. You can potentially grab the mouthparts at the base with tweezers to remove but I find this very hard to do cleanly. Messing it up even with a disease-free tick can lead to a lot of itchy swelling.
- I've used a bunch of tick removal tools. Best I've tried is the O'tom tick twister.
- You can help prevent them from biting in the first place by tucking your trousers into your socks and your shirt into your trousers. Ticks apparently tend to travel upwards so overlapping like that stops them reaching skin. Also you can treat your clothes with permethrin which kills them.
- I've seen recommendations to keep removed ticks so that you can give it to a doctor if you suspect infection.
- I've also seen recommendations to mark tick bites on your body to check for the characteristic rash. What most people don't say is that the rash doesn't occur in many cases.

[Username]

says the Evening Standard today in a double page spread, and gives some interesting stats -

3000 a year infected incl John Caudwell the founder of Phones 4U

Seems like the royal parks with the deer a place to be careful in.

I wonder why mention now at this time of the year? Should have been at the start of summer? Unless the papers wants to send fear thru all the people who went around bare armed and legs int he royal parks over the summer?

astonishing has this gotta do with road cycling?

[mercalia]

says the Evening Standard today in a double page spread, and gives some interesting stats -

3000 a year infected incl John Caudwell the founder of Phones 4U

Seems like the royal parks with the deer a place to be careful in.

I wonder why mention now at this time of the year? Should have been at the start of summer? Unless the papers wants to send fear thru all the people who went around bare armed and legs int he royal parks over the summer?

astonishing has this gotta do with road cycling?

"On the Road" covers daytrips that arent full on touring so yes it does: "On the Road" is not just for lycra clad riders who dont set foot off road any where - the original post was some time ago, so was just adding another story to it.

[PRL]

yes and also a London park. aint safe to go out anywhere

Richmond Park, with deer , one could understand. There isn't any park called "Chiswick Park " so it is not clear where the bite occurred.

[mercalia]

The Guardians take


https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/aug/22/ticks-lyme-disease-matt-dawson-harm?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=240557&subid=23601318&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2

[geomannie]

We take our bikes to far NW Scotland most years camping and cycling. Ticks are a common hazzard. Luckily no Lyme disease yet. These are the best tweezers we have found for removing them, even getting the tiny b*ggers.
http://www.cotswoldoutdoor.com/lifesyst ... colour=180

[Abradable Chin]

I've had the usual ticks in Scotland, but I got a bunch of them on me when walking in the marshy area north east of Clevedon, so I'm left wondering whether deer and livestock are the only vector? Sheep don't like swimming, do they? Hmm, I've just looked at the map, and there is a place nearby called Tickenham, so maybe they've always been there?

[ambodach]

There seems to be no such thing as a tick season nowadays. In the west of Scotland we still get ticks in winter probably due to a series of mild winters. My sister in law who lives in Denmark has been quite ill for several months now following a bite from what she describes as a wood tick.

[hamster]

I've had the usual ticks in Scotland, but I got a bunch of them on me when walking in the marshy area north east of Clevedon, so I'm left wondering whether deer and livestock are the only vector? Sheep don't like swimming, do they? Hmm, I've just looked at the map, and there is a place nearby called Tickenham, so maybe they've always been there?

Lyme's is usually from deer ticks. There are plenty of deer ticks here in the New Forest...and Lymes.
I picked up one from a roadside puncture repair - and even one on my upper arm after an overnight bivi in a hammock with built-in mosquito net.

[geomannie]

Sheep don't like swimming, do they?

For sure deer swim. The tickiest place I have ever camped on is Inchcailloch Island about 200m offshore in Loch Lomond. I found about 8 of the critters on my return from a single night's stay. Deer are common visitors to the island.

[mercalia]

seems like there is a new fly on the wall - eye worms

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41304536

I am starting to think that woods and forests should have large health warning signs

Beware of the Ticks, Eye Worms and Adders

[ianrobo]

reading the guardian report I wonder if the increase is because we are getting milder and wetter.

Oh our local councillor raised this at a council meeting saying the cuts in grass cutting would cause more. He was a tory of course !! but there is a serious point that climate and other things are changing and we are not prepared for it.

[mercalia]

A woman suffered severe facial paralysis- and could only eat through a straw - after being bitten by a tick in her garden.

lymes.JPG (16.04 KiB) Viewed 602 times

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-44369721