Babesiosis primary prevention
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
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Overview
Prevention
To help prevent babesiosis, you should avoid wooded areas, tall grass, and brush where there may be ticks, particularly from May through September when ticks are most active. If you do walk or hike in these areas, be sure to
- Wear light-colored clothing.
- Tuck your pants legs into your socks so ticks can’t get inside your pants.
- Wear a long-sleeved shirt and tuck it inside your pants.
- Apply an insecticide containing permethrin to your clothes. Note, permethrin should be applied only to clothes (e.g., pants bottoms, socks, shirt sleeves). The effects will last several days.
- Apply insect repellent containing DEET to your skin. Because DEET lasts only a few hours, you may need to reapply it.
- Look for ticks on your body, including in your scalp, after returning from a walk or hike.
- Check children and pets for ticks.
Generally, an infected tick has to be on your body for at least 24 hours before it passes on the parasite to you via a bite.