CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Ticks are making their presence known across Virginia this year, with a UVA Health expert reporting increased tick-related emergency room visits earlier this spring and continuing into summer compared to previous years.
Jeffrey Wilson, an associate professor in allergy and immunology at UVA Health, said ticks can cause problems in multiple ways. “One of the big ones people think about is tick-borne infections,” Wilson said.
Ticks have also been linked to alpha-gal syndrome, a red meat allergy that can develop after a tick bite. “You can develop a tick-acquired red meat allergy that these days we more commonly know it as the alpha-gal syndrome,” Wilson said. “So ,all of these are potential bad things that can happen if you get a tick bite.”
Wilson said tick season peaks during spring and summer months but extends into fall. “There’s definitely an uptick as you get into tick season. And so, unfortunately, it’s not just summer, but it’s going to be spring and summer is probably the worst. Still extending into fall a little bit,” Wilson said.
Winter tends to be quieter for ticks, though some species remain active on mild days. “Lone Star ticks, in particular, are pretty quiet in the winter,” Wilson said. “But even if it’s in the winter, but it’s a mild day and it’s in the 40s or 50s, you can still sometimes have active ticks.”
Wilson recommends using deterrents to prevent tick bites. “We talk about using deterrents. So you can apply things like DEET directly to your skin,” Wilson said.
He also recommends treating outdoor clothing with permethrin. “There’s a deterrent called permethrin. And permethrin spray doesn’t go directly in your skin, but it can go on your outdoor clothes. So if you have pants, if you have shoes that you use when you’re hiking or gardening or hunting or walking the dog, basically you can treat that clothing and that clothing is also a good deterrent,” Wilson said.
Awareness and daily tick checks are also important. “Be aware if you’re going to be in the woods, if you’re going to be in high grass, that you’re really entering tick territory,” Wilson said. “And then thinking about doing tick checks at the end of the day, even if you’ve had a tick exposure, but it’s a very brief tick exposure, then it’s going to be pretty unlikely to transmit an infection and probably also unlikely to get you alpha-gal syndrome if you attend to it and get it off you really quick.”
Wilson said a CDC study released in April indicated early signs of a significant tick year. “There was the CDC study that came out in April. At least early on, it was looking like a big tick year,” Wilson said.
Emergency room data supports the trend. “We do know that emergency room visits for tick-related infections were up early in the spring compared to prior years. And anecdotally, from talking to other folks who study ticks and do tick drags and stuff like that, it has been a big year,” Wilson said. “So in general, I do think in Virginia, it has been a big tick year.”
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