General information, not medical advice. In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000). The NSW Poisons Information Centre gives advice on bites, stings and poisons on 13 11 26.
The animal in the tray
Ticks are parasites that feed on animal and human blood. They live in humid, moist, bushy areas and are not very mobile, NSW Health explains: they rely on passing animals to feed on and to carry them about. The Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network describes them waiting on grass, twigs or leaves for an animal or a person to pass by.
In eastern Australia, most tick bites come from one species, the paralysis tick, Ixodes holocyclus. The Australian Centre for Disease Control notes that Australia’s advice on removing ticks differs from the rest of the world’s because this tick “causes specific challenges”.
A bite can be painless at first. You may only notice the tick once it has grown from feeding.
If the person has an allergic reaction, has trouble breathing or collapses, call Triple Zero (000).
Two paths, depending on one question
Before anything is done to the tick, the question is whether the person has ever been allergic to ticks. Both the Australian CDC and the children’s hospitals’ factsheet split their first aid on that question.
No known tick allergy
The Poisons Information Centre’s steps:
- Leave the tick in place: don’t pull on it or try to remove it with tweezers.
- Kill it where it is with an ether spray (a wart-freezing spray is one kind) or a permethrin cream, both available from pharmacies.
- Give it 10 minutes to die, then brush it away carefully.
- Wash the bite with soap and warm water, then keep it clean and dry.
- If symptoms appear, ring the Poisons Information Centre on 13 11 26 for advice.
A known tick allergy, or a first reaction
Tick bites can cause anaphylaxis, which is a medical emergency. The Australian Centre for Disease Control says to get urgent medical help as soon as you spot an attached tick, and not to disturb it or try to remove it.
The Poisons Information Centre says that for people with a known tick allergy, killing the tick should be done in a hospital emergency department.
A first reaction counts too: the children’s hospitals’ factsheet says children who show signs of a tick allergy for the first time need urgent medical treatment.
For a child with a tick allergy, the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network’s factsheet says to follow the child’s ASCIA action plan for anaphylaxis if there is one, use an EpiPen or Anapen if one is available, and call Triple Zero (000) for an ambulance.
The factsheet’s signs of anaphylaxis, grouped here by where they show:
- Breathing: wheezing, or breathing that is difficult or noisy.
- Mouth and throat: a swollen tongue; a throat that is swollen or tight; a persistent cough; a hoarse voice or trouble talking.
- The whole body: dizziness; collapse; and in young children, turning pale and floppy.
A child at risk of anaphylaxis may also vomit.
What not to do
The Australian Centre for Disease Control lists the things people reach for that make a bite worse. Don’t:
- scratch at the tick or disturb it
- try to pull it out, whether with household tweezers, your fingernails or a tick-removal gadget
- squeeze its body
- put methylated spirits, kerosene, petroleum jelly, nail polish, oil or alcohol on it: none of them work, and they make the tick burrow deeper.
Each of these may make the tick inject its saliva, which can cause an allergic reaction or raise the chance of disease.
Afterwards: what to watch for
Most tick bites cause little or no symptoms, NSW Health says, but tick-borne diseases, tick paralysis and severe allergic reactions can be serious.
Tick paralysis. Early signs can include rashes, headache, fever, flu-like symptoms, tender lymph nodes, an unsteady walk, intolerance to bright light, growing weakness in the limbs and partial paralysis of the face. They may get worse as the tick feeds, and even after it has been removed. The Australian CDC calls paralysis rare in people, and says it happens only once a tick has stayed attached for 4 to 5 days.
Swelling of the face and throat. If it causes breathing difficulties, NSW Health says to seek urgent medical attention.
Mammalian meat allergy. An allergy to meat and other products from mammals can develop weeks after a tick bite, with symptoms that may appear 4 to 6 hours after eating them. The children’s hospitals’ factsheet advises seeing a doctor as soon as possible if the signs appear.
Spotted fever. Australian tick typhus, or spotted fever, is found on the east coast, in a coastal band running from North Queensland down to Victoria. It is treatable with antibiotics, although NSW Health notes that deaths have been known to occur.
Around the house and the yard
The Australian Centre for Disease Control’s suggestions for keeping ticks away from a home read like a description of a bush-edge garden:
- cut back overhanging plants and clear leaf litter
- keep the lawn mown
- fence out the animals ticks travel on, such as bandicoots and rabbits
- get rid of rats
- if you use an insecticide where ticks occur, check that its label says it is suitable for controlling ticks
- call in a professional pest controller where needed.
After time in long grass or bush, the same page suggests putting clothes in the dryer for 20 minutes and checking the whole body for ticks. The places it names are the hair and around the ears, the armpits, the belly button, the waistline, the groin and the backs of the knees. It also suggests tick prevention treatments for pets.