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Home › Articles › Toddler Health › Nervous About Ticks?

Nervous About Ticks?

Keeping Young Explorers Safe Outdoors

By Laurie L. Dove

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Regardless of the region, one thing is for certain: children are at risk, says Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology at NYU Medical Center and author of The Secret Life of Germs: Observations and Lessons from a Microbe Hunter (Atria, 2001). "They are fearless and more apt to explore tick-infested areas," Dr. Tierno says. And because children are more likely to sit, crawl or roll on the ground, walk through tall grass or play near wooded areas, they are ideal targets for hungry ticks.

What's a Tick?
Ticks are tiny brown mites that bite into the skin to feed on the blood of a human, animal or reptile. On the arachnid family tree, ticks and spiders are cousins, and like spiders, there are many different types of ticks. When it comes to tick-borne illnesses, however, dog ticks and deer ticks are most often to blame.

The deer tick is as small as the tip of a ballpoint pen and calls most of the contiguous United States home. The two types of deer ticks hogging all the bad press are the blacklegged tick and western blacklegged tick because they transmit Lyme disease. Lyme disease, if left untreated, can affect the heart, nervous system and joints, causing infection, painful symptoms and, eventually, death. It is particularly prevalent in New England and parts of the Midwest.

Dog ticks, which include the American dog tick and the Rocky Mountain wood tick, frequently take up residence on the family pet, attaching themselves to ears and other easily acessible areas. The dog tick can reach up to a half inch in length, making it easier to spot than the smaller deer tick. Dog ticks also carry diseases, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever.


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