As a Vermonter who spends as much time outside as possible, ticks are never too far from my mind. We’ve already pulled one off our dog’s face this spring, which was the kick in the pants we needed to stop slacking on his monthly tick prevention. We live near woods, our kid plays lacrosse, and the dog never fails to roll around in the grass. Tick vigilance isn’t optional around here.
But even by Vermont standards, 2026 is shaping up to be a bad one. The CDC issued an early public advisory this spring, noting that ER visit rates for tick bites are the highest they’ve been for this time of year since 2017. In Connecticut, an unusually high percentage of submitted ticks — 40% — tested positive for the bacteria that cause Lyme disease. Nationwide, Lyme disease cases tripled between 2010 and 2023, and the data suggest this year will push those numbers even further.
I talked to Erin Dawicki, an MIT Sloan Fellow and Physician-Assistant who founded LymeAlert — the first at-home rapid tick testing kit — to understand what’s actually driving this surge, where parents are most likely to slip up, and what to do when (not if) you find a tick on your kid.
Why this tick season is different
The short answer is climate. Ticks become active any time temperatures climb above 34 degrees Fahrenheit and, not surprisingly, the number of days that threshold is hit has increased in all 50 states. More warm days means more feeding opportunities, more reproduction, and more ticks. (Climate change strikes again.)
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“Tick populations are expanding, making them more prevalent in areas where they weren’t as common before,” says Dawicki. This isn’t just a Northeast problem anymore, though the Northeast and upper Midwest remain the highest-risk regions. The range of disease-carrying species is widening, and peak season is arriving earlier than it used to.
We’re also currently in nymph season, the life stage when ticks are at their smallest and hardest to spot, and when bites are most likely to go unnoticed. Nymphs are impossibly tiny, roughly the size of a poppy seed. You can miss them entirely on a quick once-over.
Where kids are actually picking up ticks (it’s not just the woods)
A lot of parents operate with a mental model of tick risk that assumes the danger zones are limited to dense forests and hiking trails. Everywhere else, you’re fine. That model is out of date.
“You can pick up ticks anywhere there is grass and trees, which can include places such as Central Park in New York and Boston Common,” Dawicki says. Urban kids, she notes, tend to get diagnosed with Lyme disease later than their suburban and rural counterparts, in part because it doesn’t occur to parents or providers that a city kid could have been exposed. By the time the diagnosis comes, the disease has had more time to progress.
With that in mind, don’t write off backyard play, youth sports on fields bordered by brush, summer camp, playgrounds near tree lines, and pretty much any outdoor activity that involves sitting or crawling on grass. Ticks don’t need wilderness. All they need is vegetation and a host.
The prevention mistakes parents make most often
The basics still apply. Most importantly, lean on EPA-registered insect repellents (look for DEET, picaridin, or Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus), light-colored clothing that covers the skin, permethrin-treated gear, and walking in the center of trails rather than brushing against vegetation. After any time outdoors, throw clothes in the dryer on high for 20 minutes. Ticks are fairly resilient and can survive a wash cycle but not sustained heat.
On permethrin — a common question is whether it’s safe for kids. Dawicki says it’s generally fine when applied to clothing and allowed to dry completely, but it should never go directly on skin or on clothing children are likely to put in their mouths.
Where many families fall short is the tick check itself. A brief once-over is not a tick check. “Some of the biggest mistakes are doing only a brief tick check or a quick wipe with a lint roller or microfiber towel,” Dawicki says. Given the simple fact they’re a bug with legs, ticks will travel to covered areas of the body, so checking only exposed skin misses a lot.
How to actually do a tick check on your kid
Dawicki recommends building a routine so the check becomes automatic. She does her kids head to toe, then left to right, in the same order every time. Here’s where to pay special attention:
- Scalp and hairline
- Folds of the ears (Ticks can hide deep in the ear canal area. Even Dawicki once missed a tick in the folds of her own daughter’s ear for days, despite being a healthcare provider with an otoscope at home.)
- Back of the neck at the hairline
- Armpits
- Behind the knees
- Groin area
- Between the toes
Yes, all of those. Every time. And be aware, if ticks can hide in eyelashes, they can hide anywhere.
If you find a tick: what to do (and what not to do)
First and foremost, take a breath. Panic leads to rushed removal, and rushed removal can leave the head embedded in the skin.
“Grab a sharp-tipped tweezer or specialized tick removal tool and grab the tick as close to the skin as possible,” Dawicki says. “Apply gentle pressure as you pull straight up and eventually the tick will release.” Twisting, jerking, or squeezing the body of the tick can cause it to regurgitate into the bite site, which is exactly what you don’t want.
Once it’s out, clean the area with soap and water or rubbing alcohol. Then, despite likely being grossed out, don’t throw the tick away.
What to do with the tick after you remove it
“We believe the tick is a valuable source of data and not trash,” Dawicki says. And she’s right. Knowing whether the tick was infected can dramatically change what happens next.
Mail-away tick testing labs exist (many are sponsored by public health departments) and can identify multiple pathogens. The tradeoff is time. Because results can take days, you’re working against the clock as the critical treatment window closes.
This is the gap Dawicki built LymeAlert to fill. The kit, which launches in June 2026, is the first rapid at-home test designed to detect the bacteria that can cause Lyme disease directly from a removed tick. You place the tick in the Tick Crusher device, add buffer solution and a test strip, and get results in 15 minutes. A positive result means contacting a healthcare provider immediately; a negative result means peace of mind.
Having that data matters, especially if you’re going to ask a provider about post-exposure antibiotics.
The 72-hour window most parents don’t know about
If a tick has been embedded and engorged — meaning it’s been feeding for some time — the CDC recommends considering a single prophylactic dose of doxycycline within 72 hours of removal for people in high-risk Lyme areas. These days, more and more of the country qualifies as high-risk.
The problem, however, is that not all providers are up to date on this recommendation, and parents often don’t know to ask. “The more parents know about this critical treatment window, the better they can advocate for their child,” Dawicki says. If your pediatrician doesn’t bring it up, bring it up yourself. And bring your tick data.
What symptoms to watch for — and why the bullseye isn’t the whole story
The bullseye rash is the symptom everyone knows. It’s also far from a reliable indicator. Many people with Lyme disease never develop it, or develop a rash that doesn’t look like the textbook image, or develop it somewhere on their body they don’t notice.
“Often kids never present with a bullseye rash, and many of the kids I see in my office have later-stage symptoms such as joint swelling and changes in behavior,” Dawicki says. Other symptoms include fever, fatigue, muscle aches, and swollen lymph nodes. Over 300 symptoms have been associated with Lyme disease, most which overlap with an endless amount of alternative diagnoses. which is exactly why Dawicki’s advice is the kind of clarity we appreciate. She advises, “Trust your intuition, and if something is off with your child, consider testing.”
Monitor for symptoms for 30 days after a bite. If anything changes, call your provider.
The bottom line
Tick season has gotten longer, ticks have gotten more numerous, and the diseases they carry have spread into new regions. The things that protect your family (repellent, covered skin, thorough tick checks, prompt removal, and knowing when to advocate for treatment) haven’t changed. What has changed is how much the stakes have risen.
As for us, the dog has been doused. The tweezers are on the bathroom counter. And we’re checking every single fold.
