As the back-to-school season begins, many families assume the threat of tick bites fades with summer vacation. However, health experts say that this assumption could leave children at greater risk. The start of the school year brings some of the most common opportunities for tick exposure, including bus stops bordered by tall grass, outdoor recess, sports practices, and after-school play.

Tick Prevention is Key

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), emergency department visits for tick bites reached their highest level in more than a decade this spring. The CDC recommends applying an EPA-registered insect repellent containing ingredients such as DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 to exposed skin to prevent tick bites. Clothing provides another layer of defense, and shoes, socks, backpacks, and other gear can be treated with permethrin, an insecticide that kills ticks on contact.

Simple clothing choices can also make a difference. Light-colored clothing makes crawling ticks easier to spot before they attach, while long pants tucked into socks reduce the amount of exposed skin when children are playing in grassy or wooded areas. After-school tick checks can also help prevent tick bites, and the CDC recommends checking the entire body, paying close attention to the scalp, behind the ears, under the arms, around the waist, inside the belly button, and behind the knees.

Understanding Tick-Borne Diseases

Tick bites can spread illnesses ranging from Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever to ehrlichiosis. Some can also trigger alpha-gal syndrome, a condition that can permanently change what a child can eat and, in some cases, the medications or medical products they can safely receive. Unlike Lyme disease, alpha-gal syndrome often doesn’t become obvious until weeks or even months after the tick bite.

Health experts emphasize that children don’t need to avoid outdoor play, but rather make tick prevention as routine as packing a lunch, filling a water bottle, or fastening a bike helmet before heading out the door. By taking these simple steps, families can reduce the risk of tick bites and the diseases they can spread.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.