While working as a youth camp doctor in upstate New York earlier this summer, Dr. Matt Harris noticed he was removing a dozen ticks from campers each day, more than in years prior.
Harris, an emergency medicine doctor at Northwell Medicine, said summer camp isn’t the only place seeing a surge of tick bites: He and other doctors have been seeing more people coming into the ER because of ticks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this July has seen more ER visits for tick bites so far than the past eight Julys.
Tick-related hospital visits typically peak in May. This May, tick bites accounted for 134 out of every 100,000 ER visits, the highest level since 2019, the CDC says. Rates were highest in the Northeast and the Midwest.
Harris and other doctors said this rise in ER visits may be due to increased awareness about ticks.
“I think because there’s so much out there in the media about this, people are coming in before they get engorged,” Harris said. “So they’re coming in when the tick is small.”
Thomas Mather, an entomologist at the University of Rhode Island who researches ticks, attributed the trend to the migration of ticks to more heavily populated areas.
Warmer temperatures and more intense humidity mean that ticks are found in a wider geographic area and tick season lasts longer. Tick bites tend to happen more in the spring, summer and fall, when people are outdoors. May and June are the most troublesome months, Mather said.
Although everyone is susceptible to tick bites, small children account for the greatest proportion of ER visits. Mather and Harris both said this is because kids are more likely to be in outdoor environments where ticks are present.
What diseases do ticks cause?
Different species of ticks carry different diseases.
The most common tick-borne illness is Lyme disease, Mather said. The infection — which can cause a bull’s-eye rash — is spread by the black-legged deer tick and caused by Borrelia bacteria.
Nearly half a million people are diagnosed or treated for Lyme disease each year, according to the CDC.
Other diseases spread by ticks include the heartland virus and Rocky Mountain spotted fever.
Not all tick bites result in infections.
The longer a tick stays latched to skin, the higher chance that harmful bacteria can lead to infection, said Dr. Daniel Solomon, an infectious disease doctor at Brigham and Woman’s Hospital in Boston.
But doctors say that people are often seeking care because of the tick itself, not because of any symptoms of illness.
Dr. Meredith Porter, medical director at Inova-GoHealth Urgent Care in Virginia, said she commonly sees patients without any symptoms come in with the tick still attached.
“That’s why going to get the tick off early on with recognition is important,” Harris said. “It’s not a 2 o’clock in the morning emergency, but it’s within the next couple of hours.”
What to do if you get a tick bite
Symptoms vary depending on the type of tick, but markers for many tick-borne illnesses include flu-like symptoms like a fever and body aches. These symptoms can take several days to weeks to manifest.
Solomon said that for people without symptoms, a trip to the emergency room is not necessary. Visiting urgent care or even a simple phone call to a doctor will suffice, he said.
“This is not a 911 emergency — we should be really clear,” Harris said. “Do not call the ambulance for this.”
To prevent tick bites, use bug spray and wear long pants and long sleeves, especially in grassy or wooded areas. After spending time in an area where ticks are found, people should do a self-check for any ticks attached to their skin.
Ticks should be removed as soon as possible. Porter recommends using tweezers to gently grasp the tick close to the skin.
Harris said to avoid squeezing the tick tightly during removal, because it may increase the risk of infection.
