When the tick is attached less than 24 hours it won't transmit Lyme disease according to the CDC. I check myself every evening after outdoor activities, remove 10-20 ticks every year and knock-knock never had Lyme disease yet.
I wasn't aware of the permethrin effectiveness though. Thanks for letting us know.
How do you get that kind of numbers in the first place?
Keep in mind tick season is March to June and September to December (although it started in February this year because of unusual weather). That's a lot of days with "1-2 ticks" and it adds up.
If you have animals such as dogs and cats it's much more than that.
Why not just use permethrin or anti tick clothing if you’re regularly pulling off 10-20 ticks. It’s disgusting and you can get some other serious diseases besides Lyme like Rocky mountain fever, alpha gal or encephalitis that are harder to treat or have no cures.
I’ve always heard the 24-36 hour thing is a statistical probability figure. You most probably won’t but you could get it as soon as the tick attaches as well. Also if you squeeze the body of an engorged tick as you’re pulling it out, you force all the contents of its stomach (where the Lyme bacteria lives), into your bloodstream. Always use tweezers and go for the head.