Ticks: Small, but dangerous

Ever since Catherine Tarzan was bitten by a tick, her life has changed forever. She suffers from Lyme disease, and like her, there are many people from the eastern townships.

“It’s annoying, because sometimes I have a desire to do things, but my body does not obey,” Estrian lamented in an interview with TVA Novels on Tuesday.

She did not see the tick at the time. When doctors found the mark left by the tick, Catherine was in the third stage of the disease. “It’s very small and it does a lot of damage. It’s very unhealthy for us,” Catherine Tarzan added.

Eastern townships suffering from Lyme disease

Last year, 149 out of a total of 273 people in Quebec tested positive for Lyme disease in Estre, the region being the most affected in the province.

Blackleg ticks are caused by a bacterium called Borrelia burgundorferi. A tick bite leaves a clear mark on the skin. “The tick leaves a red mark and a target around it,” explained pharmacist Elliott Goel.

The tick should be removed quickly from the skin, but this should not be done with your fingers or eyebrow tweezers. Specially designed forceps are preferred for picking ticks. “Eyebrow tweezers can leave the scalp inside the skin, and it is the scalp that spreads the disease,” Goel said.

There are also several preventative measures to reduce the risk of tick bites. How do you protect yourself? Stay on the sidewalk and do not brush the vegetation on the hike, apply DEET or icaridine based mosquito repellent, wear long clothing that covers the entire skin, should be light in color, and keep clothes at room temperature in the dryer before washing in hot water. And in addition to bathing, examining their body for possible eruptions.