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SIDEBAR: What To Watch For With Lyme

According to Kathy Urrea, who has worked for the Lyme Care Center in New

Jersey for five years, when temperatures start to cool off, people become more

susceptible to tick bites, because they do not think ticks are active in

colder weather.

Unless it is below freezing, she says, ticks are still active. During the fall

months, ticks are at their adult size and therefore require a greater amount

of blood to survive.

Deer ticks prefer to live in wooded areas, and underneath piles of leaves,

where temperatures are cool and conditions are moist.

Experts encourage everyone who spends prolonged time outside to check for

ticks upon return from areas of high risk.

Symptoms of Lyme disease include, but are not limited to, the following:

A bull's-eye rash either at the site of the tick bite or on other parts of the

body,

Extreme or unusual fatigue,

Malaise,

Fevers and chronic headaches,

Short and long term memory loss,

Overall muscle pain, joint pain and swelling,

Numbness in parts of the body,

Mood swings and irritability,

New onsets of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD),

Unusual depression.

Children are the most likely to be bitten, experts say. Newtown Director of

Health Mark Cooper encourages parents to pay close attention to extreme

changes in their child's behavior, especially if a tick has been pulled off

their body.

Some warning signs in children include difficulty concentrating, chronic

headaches, and extreme changes in scholastic performance (for example a good

student suddenly developing ADD).

All experts agree, early detection and treatment is the best combatant against

Lyme.

For anyone seeking information, there will be a Lyme disease booth at this

year's Health Fair at the Middle School, on Saturday, September 18, from 10 am

to 2 pm.