This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Prevention of tick bites

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

An important step in preventing tick bites is to educate the people about ticks and the risks of tick infested areas.

  • a theory based educational randomised controlled trial have shown that Borrelia infections are reduced in people who receive education about ticks

The following methods can be used in preventing tick bites:

  • use of repellents against ticks
    • trans-p-methane-3,8-diol (PMD) containing repellents
      • Corymbia citriodora oil and a commercial repellent (MyggA Natural) which contains PMD had a repellency of 74-85% when dragged over a tick infested area. This rate was reduced to 42-45% after three to six days
      • since PMD has little to no demonstrated toxicity, it can be reapplied several times if necessary
      • there is lack of data on the toxic effects of PMD in children under the age of 3 years

    • N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) and other synthetic repellents
      • laboratory studies have shown that DEET used in high concentration can be effective at preventing tick attachment, but efficacy is variable and short.
      • other synthetic repellents (e.g. - Picaridin and IR3535) have demonstrated a lower efficacy than DEET in laboratory trials

  • avoid contact with tall vegetation where ticks are likely to be questing

  • walk on the paths or centre of tracks where possible rather than in the long grass or verges

  • protective clothing
    • although it does not provide full protection, wearing boots, long trousers tucked into socks, and long sleeved shirts tucked into trousers will provide protection against tick bites
    • when in tick infested areas, clothing should be checked for ticks every two to three hours and also up to one week after returning back home
    • wear light coloured clothing to easily see ticks and brush them off before they attach to skin

  • permethrin or DEET impregnated clothing
    • use of permethrin treated clothing has been shown to have high repellency against ticks
      • clothing must be retreated every 20 washes to achieve 100% knockdown after 15 minutes of contact time or more often to achieve 100% knockdown in under 15 minutes

  • regular use of tick treatment on companion animals and regular checking and removal of ticks from pets

Reference:


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page

The content herein is provided for informational purposes and does not replace the need to apply professional clinical judgement when diagnosing or treating any medical condition. A licensed medical practitioner should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Connect

Copyright 2024 Oxbridge Solutions Limited, a subsidiary of OmniaMed Communications Limited. All rights reserved. Any distribution or duplication of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited. Oxbridge Solutions receives funding from advertising but maintains editorial independence.