(WHTM) — WellSpan Pediatric Medicine physicians in South Central PA are seeing the following: acute asthma exacerbations, anxiety, seasonal allergies, upper respiratory viral infections including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and many children with multiple viruses.
Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health Physicians Roseville Pediatrics is seeing viral colds, allergies, sunburn, tick and insect bites, some COVID cases, inner ear infections, and swimmer’s ear.
Dr. Joan Thode provided the following information and tips on ticks and bug spray:
Ticks abound in Lancaster County, in trees, bushes, and grass. Fortunately, for a tick to transmit Lyme disease to a human “host,” it must remain attached for 36 to 48 hours. If it is found and removed before this time, it will not have transmitted Lyme. This is why it is so important to check for ticks and remove them quickly. The best way to remove a tick is to use sharp tweezers, grasp the tick at the base of the head (avoid squeezing the body), and lift it up with a decent amount of force to remove it from the skin. This can be done at home, although if you can’t remove the tick or are concerned, you can have your child’s health care provider remove the tick. Another aspect of prevention is insect repellant with DEET. Much concern has been circulated that DEET (which stands for the chemical name of diethyltoluamide) within insect repellants could have a negative effect on nerve cells in children. There has been no scientific evidence in studies that DEET affects nerve cells in humans when applied to bare skin. It can become harmful if a child drinks it, so it’s important to keep these products out of their reach. Babies under 2 months of age should not spray themselves with products containing DEET as their skin is highly absorbent, although after 2 months these products have been deemed safe. For very young babies, bug nets and avoidance are the preferred prevention techniques.
Source: www.abc27.com