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Here's What To Do If You Find A Tick Bite

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – If you find a tick on you or your kids, that does not automatically mean you have Lyme disease.

In fact, there's something you can do to make sure you don't get it.

"If you find a tick attached to you, before the disease is really set up, a single dose of the antibiotic is sufficient to prevent the infection from getting set up," said Dr. Andrew Nowalk, with Children's Hospital.

Studies show an 85 percent reduction in cases of Lyme disease if you're given a 200-milligram dose of doxycycline at the time of the tick bite.

The doctors have to be sure it was the specific kind of tick that carries the bacteria causing Lyme, it has to be an engorged tick and you have to seek treatment within 72 hours of the tick detaching.

If you see a bullseye rash, it's too late. Preventative treatment won't work.

"At that point, the infection is really set in, and the bugs have multiplied and multiplied, there's a lot more of them. So one dose of antibiotic will not do it," said Nowalk. "You really need to do a full course of antibiotic, which even in the earliest stages, requires two weeks of therapy."

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