Ticks help!

[BritNick]

I've discovered a few ticks stuck to my legs over the years, but they've been pretty rare (one per year at most) and always tiny (millimetre or less). I've only ever discovered them after a hot bath, and not necessarily soon after having caught them. By the time I find them they must have been well and truly dead (I like my baths HOT). To remove them I scrape a fingernail hard and deep past them to gouge/lever them out (imagine the satisfaction of removing a spot). That method's always worked for me.

[janeho]

I picked up several ticks last year- mostly when running in the south lakes. Don't know whether its true but one of the things I read was that they are increasing in prevalence because the farmers can't use organophosphates to sheep dip any more.
The longer a tick stays in the more risk you have of contracting Lymes disease. Don't smother the tick as it will then regurgitate its stomach contents into you, which as well as been really gross increases your risk of contracting nasties from it.
I purchased a small tick remover from pets are us for a couple of quid and these seems to work equally well on us non canines.
If you do get a tick and remove it keep an eye on the area for a couple of weeks after and if you get the tell tale rash see your GP for appropriate antibiotics.

[Boy Wonder]

Many fellrunners will know that LD is a threat - I have a friend who's sister is now seriously disabled as a result of a single tick bite in Wales - can happen to any of us. There is a petition on the No 10 website to petition the Prime Minister to put in place Clinical Guidelines, SPECIFIC to the United Kingdom, for the diagnosis and treatment of all patients, including children, who have acquired Lyme disease or associated Tick-borne diseases. These guidelines should be part of a national strategy to combat this increasingly common threat to health in the United Kingdom and should address the UK presentation of Lyme disease and other emerging Tick-borne Diseases.

The E-Petition will run until 7th April 2009. Anyone living in the UK can sign, so your friends, relations and colleagues can do it too!

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/Lyme-guidelines/#detail

[NirvanaBliss]

Consider it signed! x

[karen nash]

Are you aware that on the continent you can walk into many pharmacies and ask to be innoculated. I think the main effect of the innoculation was encephalitis ( spelling?)

[Epocian]

Done!

[BritNick]

Signed. This risk always scares me - like playing Russian Roulette every time we venture into the wilds sans leg covering.

[Big Compass]

Done,
Item on the One Show tonight, they said, should not be a problem if you can remove them within 12 hours of them attaching, so always check yourself after a run.

[Tussockface]

Signed.

[Oscar]

Done,
Item on the One Show tonight, they said, should not be a problem if you can remove them within 12 hours of them attaching, so always check yourself after a run.

Good news. If its on prime time BBC, then there must be some political momentum/will behind doing something about Lyme's disease and this petition might be more successful than others on the No 10 site.