Thanks!!!
Here is some information on prevention for anyone interested:
Avoiding a tick bite remains the first step in preventing chronic Lyme disease. One needn’t have been “hiking in the woods” in order to be bitten by a tick. There can be ticks wherever there is grass of vegetation, and tick bites can happen any time of the year.
Avoid tick-infested areas, such as leaf litter under trees. Avoid brushing against long grasses and brush on edges of paths. Don’t sit on stumps or fallen logs.
Wear light-colored long pants and long sleeves so you can easily see any ticks.
Tuck shirt into pants and tuck pants into socks.
Use DEET on skin and treat clothing with spray containing permethrin.
Do a thorough tick check upon returning inside and for several days following exposure. Be sure to check between fingers and toes, in the hair, and other cracks/crevices.
Check bedding for several days following exposure for ticks that drop off.
Ticks, especially nymphal ticks, are tiny (the size of a poppy seed). Find and remove them before they bite.
Putting your clothing in a clothes dryer at high heat will kill ticks in about 30 minutes.
There are products that can be used outdoors to kill ticks. For example, Damminix consists of cotton balls soaked in permethrin insecticide inside cardboard tubes that are placed around property where mice may live (wood piles, stone walls, etc.). The cotton will be used by mice building their nests. The permethrin in the cotton kills the ticks on the mice with minimal danger to people, pets, or wildlife. Some communities are experimenting with deer feeders that apply insecticide to the deer as they eat. Tick traps are also commercially available. Some lawn care companies can spray your yard with an EPA-approved insecticide.
Even if you rarely go outside, you can still become infected if your pets bring ticks into the house, and they crawl unknowingly onto you from them. Veterinarians recommend a product like Preventic collars, Frontline, and Top Spot to minimize the risk.
If you or the kids ever develop a bullseye type rash, start treatment immediately (not present in many Lyme cases, but it is highly indicative if it is; Lyme can present with a variety of rashes or none at all).
If you are bit by a tick, be sure to properly remove the tick (see: http://www.lymedisease.org/lyme101/p...revention.html), and save the tick for testing at a lab such as iGenex.
Considering that Lyme tests given to those who were recently bitten are extremely inaccurate and that the infection can become disseminated within a matter of days, I personally believe you are better treating with antibiotics on a prophylactic basis if bitten by a deer tick. Each family will need to weigh the risks/benefits.