To cancel holiday due to ticks

[worrier7]

Myself, DH and our two young sons are going on holiday this month. We'll be staying in the UK, in a very rural, self-catering cottage. We're hoping to enjoy some country walks and also spend time at the local beach.

However, I recently read an article about Lyme Disease and how it's caught from ticks living in long grass. I'm now terrified that one or more of us could get a tick on our skin and catch Lyme Disease, which sounds terrible.

I'm wondering whether to cancel the holiday altogether and book somewhere in a town instead. We were really looking forward to our countryside holiday but I'm now hugely anxious about the ticks - especially as my sons are very active and will no doubt want to play in the long grass. What would you do?

I've lived in the countryside all my life - I've never been bitten by a tick. Not all ticks carry Lyme disease. Ticks will be in areas which are used by deer, cattle or sheep. Ticks don't just hang around waiting for humans - they are reliant on livestock. Your journey to Dorset is far more dangerous than any potential ticks.

All of the ticks me and my dog ever picked were in the city so I would say you are in no more danger on your holiday than in your local green. I understand it's easy to feel anxious after reading about it, though. If I wasn't from the country where we would have hundreds of mosquito, tick and horsefly bites every year, I'd feel the same. None is really dangerous but if it's rare it feels scary.
Hope you won't cancel and that you will enjoy your holiday OP.

Also, some towns / cities are Lyme hotspots. A family at our school have been affected after developing Lymes, caught in West London, where it is apparently rife in the big park with deer!

Omg I hope this is a wind up. Just pulled a tick off my daughter that I spotted while I the bath, her brother is now upset that he doesn’t have one 🙄 We live ‘in the country’ wait until you hear about the wasps, ants and rats!

Sorry but this is ott and yabu I live in countryside wear leggings!! Socks turned up over them! My dad always wears shorts hes 67 and once had limes tick a few years ago,he got the classic bullseye rash, so he went to the local hospital and they said it was the first case they had seen in twenty years and gave him antibiotics-end of!!
I have had one tick but it did not mean I got limes I had no after effects

Si my DC got Lyme disease after walking in the woods and playing in a den a kid had built. Got the back of the neck. Must have been on no more than 5 hours. I took the tick off then two days later he had a weird all over body rash. Took him to the docs who put him on full antibiotics. Lucky because two weeks later he had two full bullseye rashes, one on the knee one on the elbow. Moral of the story, wrap up, and use an insect repellant anywhere that can't be wrapped up.

A famous footballer was walking in a London park a few years ago, think Greenwich or somewhere. He got Lyme's. Can happen anywhere, even in a garden. Must always try to exercise vigilence.

If your not aware of this you might not be aware of giant hogsweed (google it and avoid it)

But no need to cancel your holiday. How do you think people that live in the countryside manage? Like everyone says. Just check for the at the end of the day but highly unlikely you will get one

Just wear trousers? And just check for ticks at the end of the day.

Bit of an overreaction to insects?

I have found a tick on me before. I didn’t get Lyme disease. I do know one person who died from Lyme disease. She got it from Richmond Park. Not exactly the countryside.

Do you not normally go on holiday? You do realise there are tics in many many countries all over the world? I've grown up in the countryside and never had a tic bite!

@worrier7

Thank you for the replies - yes I am a big worrier.

I will get one of those tick remover tools that someone linked to before we go.

I did read that the nymph ticks can be absolutely tiny (about 1mm) so worry that I could miss one on my sons.

On the whole I would get a tick remover from Boots rather than the one on Amazon: cheaper, and made of metal rather than plastic so less likely to get broken.

Yes.

If you are worried, wear boots and put double sided sticky tape around the top of the boots and over the bottom of the visible trouser.

a. you will be protected
b. you can see if there are any ticks in the grass you walk through as they will be caught on the sticky tape.

My youngest got lymes whilst on holidays in a rural area. We didn’t realise he’d he’d had a tick till he was v Ill weeks later (it had detached itself, so never saw it)
Having said that we have holidayed in the same area for 30 years and none of my other 3 have ever had a tick.

I've had three tick bites this summer. One got infected but a round of antibiotics and steroid cream sorted it out. Just keep yourself covered as possible, check for bites in the evening and bring insect spray and antihistamines with you.

Lots of people minimising Lyme Disease here. I wish there was more awareness about it. Yes it is unlikely anyone will get bitten and yes if bitten it is unlikely that the tick will be a Lyme carrier but that doesn't help you if you discover a tick on your child after a day out and in that scenario, it is a credible risk. Just like tetanus from a rusty nail. Plenty of people suffer with lifelong complications as a result so it's worth being informed and knowing what to watch out for.

It's definitely worth having a tick remover tool with you. If anyone picks up a tick, the tick remover tool will remove it whole without squeezing it's bodily fluids into the bite site.

You can buy a test kit for a tenner from Pyramid which includes a tick remover tool. If you find a tick you then pop it in the test tube provided (or just a plastic bag will do) and then for an additional £30 they will test it for the Borrelia bacteria which causes Lyme Disease. It's s kit worth having in my opinion, even if just for peace of mind (but then I have a friend with complications from Lyme Disease so more aware of this risk then perhaps other risks that are more likely).

Definitely avoid giant hogweed. And also don't let the kids handle common hogweed either as the sap can cause burns when exposed to the sun. My children learnt that the hard way.

The more informed you are about the risks the easier it is to manage them. Ignore people who are mocking you for trying to educate yourself. There's no such thing as a stupid question.

As others have said though, in the big picture the biggest risk you take is your journey there. Enjoy your holiday, it sounds amazing!

Do you think those of us who live in the countryside wander round in a permanent state of fear or as Lyme Diseased Zombies?

Actually, that sounds about right for me at the moment.

I know someone who contracted Lyme’s living in a big city! He has no idea how. So nowhere is safe from the little sods,
On that note, go on holiday. Let your children run free. Just check them over at night,

I found a tick following a walk in a national trust place, we had been sitting on short manicured grass for a picnic. I've also found ticks on my children - we live in a rural area, they are outside a lot. We have a tick remover in the medicine cupboard for precisely this reason.

Yes people get tick bites. Yes people get Lyme disease. But the proportion of people who get tick bites and go on to get Lyme is tiny. People also get horsefly bites and develop cellulitis, go for a bike ride and get hit by cars, take a holiday and drown in the sea. We don't hide in our homes forever because of these things. My point is that the level of worry you are experiencing is not proportionate to the risk. Take a full first aid kit, buy some insect repellent and a tick remover and enjoy your holiday.

I’m guessing that you don’t often visit the countryside so are therefore imagining getting ticks being very common. The risk is really very low. I’ve lived very rurally for 50 years and have had to remove two ticks on one occasion. I had no health problems from this.

A tick removal tool is a good idea if you are very worried.

Lyme Disease is very rare despite the recent publicity. I can understand you being aware of it, but you're overreacting a tad. I think lockdown has got us all too wary of new things tbh

I live in the heart of of the Welsh countryside and walk my dogs three times a day in long grass. In all my (nearly) 60 years I, or my 10 dogs (most have passed through cancer) have never had a tick.

Don’t cancel your UK holiday because of the very faint chance you contract Lyme Disease.

The likelihood of getting a tick bite on holiday are slim. I’m 32 and have lived in rural areas all my life and never gotten a tick despite growing up on a farm rolling and running about in the fields. The cats and dogs got them but rarely the humans. My kids are 9 and 12 and the 12 year old has never had a tick and the 9 year old has had one.

However if you are so concerned about ticks that you’re thinking of cancelling your holiday maybe the countryside isn’t for you 😂

Even if you pick up a tick, they don't all carry Lyme's disease

I once came back from a hike on Dartmoor with 8 (EIGHT!!) ticks on me and being a dumb fully urban 19 year old didn't know I was supposed to remove them carefully re: the heads so pretty much just ripped them out leaving the bloody heads in. Didn't get Lyme - DID thank my lucky stars when I found out though! Don't cancel - that's way ott - Get a proper remover from a pet place and give everyone the once over after a wander!

I live in an area with ticks and only ever seen them on the dog very occasionally. Try to keep the kids on established paths/tracks and avoid brushing up against fern.

If you know the kids are likely to stray off paths make sure they wear trousers and closed shoes to be extra safe. Our local forest school swear by 'skin so soft' by Avon.

Personally I'd be more worried about the snakes...

But Smidge (fab stuff). Buy tick removers. Check everyone each night - including belly buttons and all crevices.

I live very rurally. We live with this. It's not a problem if you have a routine.