Guard against ticks, disease

The Spokane Regional Health District reminds outdoor enthusiasts to guard against ticks, which can transmit disease, including relapsing fever.

“The best protection is to use clothing to create a skin barrier when outdoors and carefully examine people, pets and the indoor environment for ticks, as well,” said Dr. Kim Thorburn, the district’s health officer.

Late spring is a time of high activity for two types of ticks that carry disease in the Spokane-Coeur d’Alene area.

Soft ticks, which typically feed at night and then drop off their hosts, can cause relapsing fever. Symptoms, which appear in four to 18 days, include chills, head and muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and rash. The symptoms may disappear only to return within a week as many as five or six times.

The bite of a hard tick releases a nerve poison that can causes nonspecific numbness, weakness in the legs, followed by ascending paralysis that can impact muscles used to swallow, speak and breathe. Symptoms diminish within hours or days of removing the tick.

Far less common tick-borne diseases in this region are Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, Q fever and Colorado tick fever.

Puberty workshop planned

Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest is offering a workshop for children and parents about understanding puberty.

“Studies show that parents are the most important sexuality educators of their children and that youth whose parents establish a connection with them are more likely to make responsible sexual choices in the future,” said Margaret Mount, education director of Planned Parenthood of the Inland Northwest.

The free three-hour workshop “What’s Happening to Me?” is offered to youth ages 9 through 12 and their parents on Saturday, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Harding Family Center, 411 N. 15th Street, Suite 103, Coeur d’Alene.

Call (208) 762-8099, ext. 103 for more information or to RSVP by Friday.

Race for the Cure this weekend

There is still time to register for the first Komen Eastern Washington Race for the Cure, which is Sunday in downtown Spokane.

The event is part of the national Komen Race for the Cure, the largest series of 5k run/fitness walks in the world, according to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

The Foundation, dedicated to eradicating breast cancer as a life-threatening disease through research, education, screening and treatment, was founded in 1982 by Nancy Goodman Brinker in memory of her sister, Susan Goodman Komen, who died at age 36 after being diagnosed with the disease in 1978.

The Eastern Washington affiliate has granted more than $147,000 to the nine counties it serves.

Online registration for Sunday’s event will be accepted until midnight Thursday at www.komenspokane.org. Registration forms can also be found at Washington Trust Banks, Inland Imaging offices, KREM-TV, Tracy Jewelers and Cameron Concrete Contractors. Late registration will be available at River Park Square on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5 p.m., and race day at the race site.

For information, call (509) 363-8188.