The aim of the study is to empower public health to make decisions and reinforce preventive messages where risks are greater and where preventive behaviors are less commonexplains Dr. Bouchard.

In Haute-Yamaska, a region particularly affected by ticks, only 30 to 40% of respondents always or sometimes check their body for ticks, for example when they return from hiking.

However, this gesture is vital to prevent diseases like Lyme disease and anaplasmosis.

We will intervene in the environment to ensure this is the case [les tiques] are less favored in their survival. For example, we can imagine laying out the paths, mowing the grass, removing the autumn leaves. These are things that can be implemented on an individual scale, on properties, but of course also in public space. But these environmental interventions are not enough. You really have to think about preventive behaviorsthe vet emphasizes.

I’ve been bitten by ticks dozens of times because I’ve lost my way and looked for the ticks so they can find me sometimes. Sometimes they sting me. On the other hand, if they bite me, I’m very systematic, I come home, I shower, I find them, I undress them. I never needed antibiotics. Our idea is to pass on this way of doing things, to be curious, to have exactly this military way when you come home, to examine yourself. If necessary, we remove the tick, paying attention to the appearance of symptoms, of course, and not just reddening of the skin. A few days after the bite we check if we have any other flu-like symptoms and if so, of course we need to seek advice.she adds, emphasizing that she wants to share her knowledge with the public.

The article she and her colleagues wrote also included other preventative measures, including bathing or showering after returning from an outdoor activity and using insect repellent.

” Estrie is an area where there are many ticks, so people must be even more vigilant about their environment and not give up enjoying nature, then nature and then all the benefits that it brings. , Naturally. »