- Experts are expecting an increase in Lyme disease cases this year as people return to the outdoors.
- They note that ticks generally live in grassy and bushy areas, so they recommend people stay in the middle of trails when hiking.
- They also advise doing a full-body check for ticks when you return home and carefully remove any you see on your skin.
Dr. Neal Shipley warns the United States will see an uptick in Lyme disease this year.
Yes, he did mean to make that pun.
That’s because experts are expecting an increase in tick-borne illness this summer for many reasons.
“First, people have spent the last 12 to 15 months staying indoors and the negative psychological effects of social isolation on adults and children are very real,” Shipley, the medical director at GoHealth Urgent Care in New York, told Healthline. “The ‘cure’ is right in front of us: getting outdoors and doing all the things we couldn’t do last summer, such as camping, gardening, hiking, going to the beach with friends, and having a picnic in the park.”
However, Shipley warns that “all of these activities could put you at risk for a tick bite if you don’t take the proper precautions.”
Source: healthline