Prevention of tick bites

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:

• (1) Due C et al. Tick bite prevention and tick removal. BMJ. 2013;347:f7123
• (2) Public Health England. Tick Prevention and Removal