Prevention-The best weapon against Lyme disease

SUSSEX COUNTY-When it comes to Lyme disease, the adage of "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" is good advice to follow. In fact, these five five tips for prevention are better than a month of antibiotics. The following guidelines will decrease the risk of contracting Lyme disease: 1. Wear appropriate clothing - Socks, long sleeved shirts, and pants should be worn, especially if playing in wooded or tall grass areas. 2. Use insect repellent- Use a spray repellant containing DEET on cuffs of pants, taking care not to spray bare skin. 3. Nightly tick searches - Before putting your child to bed, search his or her unclothed body for deer ticks. Look carefully in strong light; deer ticks are very small. 4. If you find a deer tick - Remove an attached deer tick by grasping the head of the tick as close as possible to the skin. Use clean tweezers to pull tick off, then wash the bite area with soap and water. 5. Deer tick embedded over 24 hours - call the pediatrician in the morning. Medical studies have shown that a short course of antibiotics decreases the risk of contracting Lyme disease. TIPS TO PREVENT LYME DISEASE 1. Wear appropriate clothing 2. Use insect repellent 3. Nightly tick search 4. Remove tick with tweezers 5. Tick embedded over24 hours: Call pediatricianin the morning. Courtesy of Sussex County Pediatric Associates.