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?

We live rurally. We walk every single day through long grass, including all the children. I’ve personally had ticks quite a few times, as have dh. Dds only a couple of times. Only a tiny percentage of ticks can make you ill so don’t panic if you do get one. As others have said, check each other over after a walk.

Have a lovely holiday!

I’d be more worried about chigger bites in long grass to be honest, we’ve got a meadow/common at the end of the road and I needed to walk through the long grass with DDog to avoid the cows on the pathway and only had a dress on…. Got bitten and it was soooo itchy and painful for days. Always wear long trousers etc in long grass

I understand the concern. I had tick-borne encephalitis when I was a child (in Australia). Here in the U.K. I hadn’t encountered any, though, until my most recent holiday in the Lake District. I walked through some shoulder high vegetation to get to a hill path, I was leery about it and an hour or so after I got back I found the little blighters all over me. No Lyme to report though.

Enjoy your holiday. Just avoid walking or sitting in overgrown type areas and you’ll likely be very safe.

I live in the country. Some of us do. We live here all of the time, not just a week’s holiday. I don’t have Lyme disease. HTH.

We live in a city and our dog who will stick her head in anything, has previously picked up ticks from parks and bushes at the side of pavements (admittedly we then changed to a better tick product), but it shows they’re everywhere. However no member of our family has ever had one and that includes from camping out with scouts etc. Just check yourselves. Know the signs in case anything untoward happens (bullseye rash), enjoy your holiday and don’t think you won’t get them in built up areas!

I spend my life romping around in the countryside but have not had a tic bite yet.

keep legs covered on walks and buy one of the little gadgets for removing them for peace of mind.

You're definitely worrying too much about this! Hope you enjoy your holiday!

Oh this has reminded me of something. I live in the south in a very popular holiday destination. I was in hospital with my baby after he’d collapsed and we’d been bluelighted in.

While we were waiting quietly, along with several other children and their parents, a townie visiting parent came in having brought their child to A&E because the kid had a tick on her leg. The parent was beside themselves, demanding all staff stop seeing all patients to tend to their precious little Princess because LYME DISEASE! The nurse was furious with them for wasting the hospital’s time, flicked the tick off in about two seconds and sent the parent out with a flea in their ear (😏) and with directions to the local pet shop to get a tick flicker. She did not hold back after they’d gone.

So yeah, it’s not a problem. And even if you do get a tick, it’s not a-given that you’ll get Lyme disease. And even if you do get Lyme disease, it can be treated promptly and successfully.

Where we are adders are more of a worry.

Here's the tick map

www.msd-animal-health-hub.co.uk/KBPH/pet-advice/parasites/map-of-tick-risk

Are u actually sleeping in a field on the grass?

I'm in Cornwall and ticks are more common down here. Have had 3 ticks this year, haven't died yet.

I work outside for the record!

When school used to take the kids out to meadows and forests where wild deer were known to be, the rules were arms and legs completely covered for tick prevention.

Get a tick removal tool and check for ticks every day. I personally wouldn't have little kids rolling around in long grass in a tick hotspot. I do live rurally and am careful. It's usually my dog that gets ticks, but at least he is on the meds that kill the buggers.

[quote justasking111]Where we are adders are more of a worry.

Here's the tick map

www.msd-animal-health-hub.co.uk/KBPH/pet-advice/parasites/map-of-tick-risk[/quote]
Interesting.

What do the Welsh do to keep them out? 🤣

That map is interesting. We've been holidaying in the Isle of Skye - a high risk area - for years and never had a tick and neither did our dog.

In all seriousness please do get some help for your anxiety because this is way over the top and 100% will pass the stress onto your kids. It isn’t normal to be like this, and I say this as someone who gets very anxious about things!

@Samanabanana

I grew up in the New Forest where there are lots of ticks. Despite spending my days messing around with dogs and ponies and running through heather and long grass, I never once got bitten by a tick! You'll be absolutely fine.

Me too!

Ticks are just there! Like leeches lol

@Onairjunkie

Oh this has reminded me of something. I live in the south in a very popular holiday destination. I was in hospital with my baby after he’d collapsed and we’d been bluelighted in.

While we were waiting quietly, along with several other children and their parents, a townie visiting parent came in having brought their child to A&E because the kid had a tick on her leg. The parent was beside themselves, demanding all staff stop seeing all patients to tend to their precious little Princess because LYME DISEASE! The nurse was furious with them for wasting the hospital’s time, flicked the tick off in about two seconds and sent the parent out with a flea in their ear (😏) and with directions to the local pet shop to get a tick flicker. She did not hold back after they’d gone.

So yeah, it’s not a problem. And even if you do get a tick, it’s not a-given that you’ll get Lyme disease. And even if you do get Lyme disease, it can be treated promptly and successfully.

This is not true. If you don’t get the rash, or see the tick, then lyme cannot be treated promptly and successfully. Treatment is only successful in the early stages, and not all infected bites cause a rash. Lyme disease is often missed and misdiagnosed as it can have many different effects. Most of us who spent our Summers romping in grass tick-free grew up when there were far fewer ticks around. We all need to be more aware of the risks now as there are more ticks, and Lyme disease is an issue in many parts of the country where before there wasn’t much of a risk.

Hello, OP, I have lived in the epicenter of Lyme disease territory for many years. Just check for ticks at the end of the day. It takes 24 hours for them to do any damage. You can't run away from insects--they are everywhere.

Just buy a tick remover and get on with it. What are you going to do, never visit the countryside?!

I'm another that grew up in the countryside and haven't so much as heard of an instance of someone being bitten by a tick.

You're about 10 times more likely to die in a car crash than you are to contract lyme disease in the UK.

As others have said OP you need urgent help with your anxiety. I’m not even going to answer about ticks.

DD goes camping with her scouting group and it never occurred to me to check for ticks until they explained their tick protocol. I understand your concerns, follow @LemonRoses and you’ll be fine. Enjoy your holiday!

I also live rurally in an area with a large population of deer, never taken a tick off. I am always walking in the long grass with dogs. For dogs we use strong anti-tick protection which covers them (never taken a tick off them here either).

As a family we get dozens of ticks every summer. DS is at forest nursery and comes home with them almost daily. We’ve only once had to use antibiotics for a tick bite (and that was on holiday in France).
Yes, some of them are tiny, but you would notice them. Just make sure you check places like behind the ears, the scalp, under the chin etc where they wouldn’t be obvious.

Ticks like the soft fleshy bits. Make sure these are covered up. Where I'm from we get green ticks about the size of a large grain of wheat but also the tiny spider like ticks thats are small and black like a poppy seed.
For the first any commercial tick remover will be fine. But for the second you need a needle threader as the opening on this is small enough to go through the eye of a needle and it's the perfect size to remove one of the tiny black ticks. Even when they have fed they are sill only 1-2mm in diameter.
These are the ones that get into softer fleshy places.

Wear long trousers and a proper T shirt not a vest top when in grass or woodland.

Inspect yourself in the evening by using your hands to feel for bumps as the tiny ones often get missed visually.

Having had an infestation of ticks (we edge onto woodland and local deer like to eat my plants) I understands the reluctance for a holiday in high tick area. But generally I've not caught them out and about often, even in the wood. Id say we've had 20 ticks from our gardens when the deer get in and feed, compared with 2-3 over the last 20 years when out and about in a higher risk area where we live.