Ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis

Diagnosis

Infections from tick bites, such as ehrlichiosis or anaplasmosis, are hard to diagnose based only on symptoms because the symptoms are like those of other common conditions. So tell your healthcare professional about tick bites you've had or if you've been around ticks.

Your healthcare professional also does a physical exam and orders blood tests. You may have more than one test of your blood.

Treatment

Treatment for ehrlichiosis or anaplasmosis is the antibiotic doxycycline (Acticlate, Doryx, others). You may start treatment before your diagnosis is confirmed. Some people with mild symptoms recover without treatment.

You may take the medicine for at least 7 to 10 days. Or you keep taking it for 3 to 5 days after you no longer have a fever and other signs of infection have improved. For more-serious illness, you may need 2 to 3 weeks of antibiotic treatment.

If you're pregnant or allergic to doxycycline, your healthcare professional may prescribe the antibiotic rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane).

Lifestyle and home remedies

If you find a tick on your body, remove it as quickly as you can. Use the following steps:

• Don't try to force the tick out. Don't put petroleum jelly, nail polish, rubbing alcohol or a hot match on the tick.
• Use tweezers. Use fine-tipped tweezers to grab the tick firmly near its head or mouth and as close to the skin as you can get.
• Remove the tick. Pull the tick's body away from your skin steadily and slowly without jerking or twisting it. If parts of the mouth remain, remove them with clean tweezers.
• Kill the tick. Put it in alcohol. Do not crush the tick. Flush the dead tick or wrap tape around it before throwing it in the trash.
• Clean up. Use soap and water, rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to clean your hands after handling the tick. Clean around the tick bite.

Watch the bite site

A small bump often appears at the site of the tick bite. It looks like the bump of a mosquito bite. It most often goes away in a few days. But if it bothers you or you have symptoms that may mean an infection, call your healthcare professional.

Preparing for your appointment

You may first see your main healthcare professional. Or you may go to an emergency room if your symptoms are bad. Then you may be sent to a doctor who specializes in infectious diseases.

If you think you might have an infection caused by a tick bite, tell your healthcare professional when and where you might have been bitten. If you removed a tick and kept it, bring it to the appointment.

Make a list of:

• Your symptoms and when they began.
• All medicines, vitamins and supplements you take, including dosages.
• Any allergies you have to medicines or anything else.