An Apple a DayTake precautions to beat the 'buzz' of summer

by Sharon Bagalio, RN

A registered nurse who also holds a master’s degree in public health, she is director of Risk & Emergency Management at Mercy Hospital, where she has worked for more than 10 years. She lives in Yarmouth. I hate bugs. I have lived in New England all my life, and I can honestly say that not one summer has gone by where I haven’t been bitten by a bug. Oh, you’d think I’d be used to it by now.

Some bugs don’t bother me. Some even bring a smile to my face, like dragonflies and ladybugs. I love seeing a colorful butterfly flitting around in my garden.

However, other bugs that just drive me over the top. You know them all mosquitoes, black flies, green backs, horse and deer flies, yellow hornets, spiders, no-see-ums, and those disgusting ticks.

Bugs have a lot of control over humans. For instance, I can be outside in my gardens enjoying the peace and solitude - until the mosquitoes hone in on the fact that there is fresh, Italian blood to suck on.

You hear the buzzing in your ears and you feel a light touch when one lands on your skin soon followed by a sharp, stinging itch. You know it’s got you as you slap at the bug, smearing blood all over your leg and your hand. You feel a sense of gratifi - cation that you killed the darn thing, but it’s quickly replaced by the realization that 10 more are buzzing around your head. You finally give up and go into the house. Round 1 goes to the mosquito.

It used to be that bugs were just aggravating. Now, these bugs are actually bringing the risk of serious diseases to the human population. Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne, viral disease that occurs in the eastern half of the United States, where it causes disease in humans, horses, and some bird species. Because of the high mortality rate, EEE is regarded as one of the most serious mosquito-borne diseases in the United States. It is transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito.

It generally takes from three to 10 days to develop symptoms after being bitten by an infected mosquito. Many infected with the virus have no apparent illness. In those persons who do develop illness, symptoms range from mild fl u-like, to coma and death. The mortality rate from EEE is approximately 33 percent.

Approximately half of those who survive EEE will have mild to severe, permanent neurological damage.

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne virus that can cause encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) or meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain and spinal cord). It, too, is spread to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. A mosquito becomes infected by biting a bird that carries the virus. Most people who are infected have no symptoms or mild illness with fever, headache and body aches before fully recovering.

In the elderly, it can cause serious disease that affects brain tissue. At its most serious, it can cause permanent neurological damage and can be fatal. Symptoms of encephalitis include the rapid onset of severe headache, high fever, stiff neck, confusion, loss of consciousness (coma) and muscle weakness.

Here are some recommendations that can help reduce the risk of becoming infected with either virus:

Stay indoors at dawn, dusk, and in the early evening.

Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants whenever you are outdoors. Apply insect repellent sparingly to exposed skin. Use 20-30 percent DEET. DEET in higher concentrations may cause side effects, particularly in children.

Spray clothing with repellents containing permethrin or DEET, since mosquitoes may bite through thin clothing.

Lyme disease is also on the rise. Lyme disease is caused by a bite from the wood tick, a blood-sucking parasite that normally lives on deer. A tick will settle anywhere on a human body, but prefers warm, moist and dark places like the crotch or armpits. When the tick has found a suitable place on the body, it sticks in its probe to draw up blood, exposing the host to the risk of infection Simply seeing a tick somewhere on your body does not mean that you have contracted Lyme disease.

Consult your physician and ask for a blood test if you detect a red spot around the location of the tick’s bite. Red spots can also appear at other places on the body where the tick has not bitten. Some people get many. Usually one to four weeks will pass between the bite and when the rash appears.

Like the rest of you, I wait eight long months for summer. I enjoy the outdoors too much to allow these pests from driving me inside. But playing it safe by preventing these demons from biting is imperative.

Take precautions and enjoy your summer.