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How Can Tick-borne Diseases Be Prevented?

Posted on Sat, 4 Jun 2016

Question: 6 year old girl had tic removed from back of her head, a knot was present for 3 days. 8 days later she developed a fever of 103. Doctor was made aware of the tic bite and tested her for flu. No flu was found and was told it was a viral infection and to take motrin for the fever. 3 days later no more fever but does have watery red eyes, which she had before onset of the fever. My question to you is do I need to worry about a Disease caused by the tic or am I just worrying for nothing. Shouldn't she have been put on an antibiotic as a precaution. We live in the Southeast US.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Albana Sejdini (39 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Following steps for proper diagnosis of tickborne diseases

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

I understand your concern.

To your information, the diagnosis of tickborne diseases is made through:
- a good physical examination of signs and symptoms for the first 2 weeks after biting and rash
- after 2-4 ,weeks after rash, if flu like symptoms will persist (especially when it comes to headaches or muscle aches), serologic tests are advised.

It is also important to provide the tick to your doctor for further evaluation by specialists and to determine the level of risk.

All the best!
Dr.Albana

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar