 |
| Surprisingly, not a place to find wood ticks |
My youngest daughter has finally come
into contact with the dreaded wood tick. It was on the back of her
hand while she was in her Kindergarten forest class this morning when
her little friend saw it and pointed it out (luckily the children
here are incredibly clued up on them) A teacher immediately plucked
it off and then sprayed the infected area. The red mark has
disappeared now (a few hours later) but I will be vigilant, checking
the site on her hand for the next couple of weeks.
Ticks are really nasty little creatures
which can cause Lyme disease (affecting the nervous system) and a
form of meningitis - encephalitis (TBE) Worst of all it seems that
the Canton of Zurich is in the centre of an endemic - see map
here.
After my eldest daughter had a
tick episode early on after our arrival in Switzerland (I'm convinced it
was by the stepping stones at Zurichhorn Park) I took both of my
girls to the local doctor to receive the TBE vaccination – which
involves three – yes, three – injections. The first two are given
within three months of each other and then the third is followed up a
year later. The vaccination is of the child-friendly kind and can be
given to any child over the age of one.
So my girls are now pretty safe from
tick-borne encephalitis - but there is no vaccination for Lyme
disease, although – if caught quickly – it can be remedied with
antibiotics.
Which for me has dampened my enthusiasm
for our many pursuits 'im Wald' but as most of life centres around
the woods here I have to grit my teeth and desperately try not to
shriek at my dear children each time they lunge into the undergrowth,
which is teeming with diseased ticks (in my mind anyway)
You see, not only do we live in the
middle of a Tick-Attack in the middle of Zurich, they love deciduous
woods with abundant undergrowth (which surrounds our village) and
hang out a the edge of the forest and on forest paths lying in wait
on low growing plants until some poor unsuspecting warm-blooded host
(person or animal) brushes against the plant. However, they do not
fall from trees.
You can take precautions by covering
legs and arms and using repellent. But of course this does not
entirely protect against them, especially when you have little ones
running willy-nilly though the forest. Always check
for them after a trip to the woods (they especially like to hide in
arm pits, the creases of legs and behind ears – so a thorough body
check is required)
It is important to remove a tick as
soon as you find it. Use fine-tipped tweezers or a tick removal
device to grab the tick and pull it straight out (we have also been
advised to stick it to a piece of sellotape and keep it as it
provides valuable information for the doctor in any event of
infection) After the tick has been removed, disinfect the area and
make a mental note of it. If the victim has a fever or other symptoms
after being bitten by a tick, call a doctor.
So here I am once again, watching
daughter no.2 with bated breath, desperately hoping any dodgy 'bullseye' looking
rashes will fail to develop. And fighting against the compelling
instinct to avoid woods and other wild vegetation until Winter...
