A tick is a tiny blood-sucking insect that is often found in forests. A tick bite can cause serious diseases that are difficult to treat.

Where and when is it most likely to get a bite

The period of activity of insects lasts from early spring to autumn. At this time, the danger of catching a parasite somewhere in a forest or park landing is very high. In winter, insects hide in last year’s leaves, the ground or under the bark of trees, but as soon as the heat comes, they go out to hunt. They need blood to saturate and to reproduce offspring. A hungry female cannot lay eggs on an empty stomach. Therefore, the exhaustion of blood from victims is their vital necessity.

The tick looks like a miniature bug measuring only 4 mm. He has 8 legs, and the whole body is covered with a shell. After drinking blood, the insect can reach 20 mm in length. A female tick is capable of drinking an amount of blood 9-11 times its own weight.

People who like to walk in the woods think that a tick may fall on them from a tree. The probability of such a development of events is zero. The parasite does not rise to a height of more than 50 cm. Basically, the insect is waiting for its prey in the grass. The tick does not see, but thanks to a perfectly developed scent, it can identify an animal or person at a distance of 8-9 m.

If a person was lying in tall grass or crawling through forest thickets, an insect could fall on it from above from the lower branches of bushes.But basically, the parasite lives on the ground, and when it is near the victim, it grabs its front paws and quickly starts to climb higher, choosing for itself the most "creepy" places for suction - with thin skin and a close arrangement of blood vessels. Having found a convenient place, the insect cuts the skin with a special device, digs into the skin and begins to drink. Males are much smaller than females, so they need little food. When saturated, they can fall away from the victim after about 30-50 minutes. Females are much larger in size, so they can sit quietly in the thickness of the skin for up to 5 days.

What does a tick bite look like on a human body?

The person does not feel the bite moment itself, since at this moment the parasite injects an anesthetic substance into the body. The first symptoms appear after a couple of hours. As a rule, this is the usual redness of the skin. If there is no allergy, the trace of a tick bite on the human body looks like a compact reddish spot with a diameter of 1 cm. But sometimes the affected area may begin to fester.
Severely insect bites are carried by children, the elderly and persons with weak immunity.

As a rule, they can detect the following symptoms:

  • temperature rise;
  • tachycardia;
  • severe redness;
  • headache;
  • rashes;
  • itching
  • enlarged lymph nodes;
  • weakness and malaise due to low blood pressure.

 

An allergic reaction in individuals can be very severe, up to Quincke's edema.

Bite-transmitted diseases and their symptoms

Ticks are carriers of various diseases. Therefore, the consequences directly depend on whether the parasite is infected. If the tick is sterile, its bite does not pose a particular danger to human health. You can get infected through crushing an infected parasite on the body, so it is forbidden to destroy the discovered insect directly on itself.

List of diseases that are transmitted by ticks:

  • Borreliosis (or Lyme disease). The disease does not appear immediately. A dark pink swollen ring forms at the site of the bite. After a couple of days, a crust and scar forms there. Only after a while a person begins to complain of aching joints, an increase in lymph nodes. If the patient does not pay attention to these symptoms, the infection will affect the body further.
  • Tick-borne encephalitis. This disease is dangerous because on the first day it resembles a banal ARVI. The latent period can last up to 1 week. Testing at this time will not give any information on whether an infection has been introduced. The only way to make a preliminary diagnosis is a thorough analysis of a living parasite that has bitten a person. Obvious signs appear only after one and a half to two weeks from the moment of the bite.
  • Typhus. Severe infectious disease with severe rashes that affects the lymph nodes.
  • Babesiosis A parasitic infection, which leads to numerous disorders in the circulatory system.

 

In addition, ticks tolerate anaplasmosis, tularemia, hemorrhagic fever. However, borreliosis and encephalitis are most often diagnosed.

Tick-borne encephalitis stages:

  • Chills begin, temperature rises sharply.
  • All the symptoms of gastrointestinal upset are present: nausea, vomiting, unpleasant sensations in the stomach, headaches.
  • There are problems with breathing, the patient complains of severe aching in the muscles and joints, movements are difficult. Symptoms of infection become apparent: the skin swells, turns red, ulcers form on the site of the bite, which they dig.

If medical assistance is not provided at this stage, the infection will enter the bloodstream, which may result in death.

First aid for a tick bite

The sucked tick must be pulled out immediately. If possible, immediately contact the nearest emergency room. It is better to choose the second option. Health workers will easily remove the parasite and make the necessary tests.
Many are interested in what to do with a tick bite if there is no way to immediately get to the specialists.You need to try to pull out the parasite swollen from the blood yourself. This must be done very carefully to remove the parasite completely.

You need to take the tweezers and gently pull the body of the insect in a circular motion counterclockwise. Instead of tweezers, you can use a regular thread.

Sometimes, due to careless extraction, the head of the parasite remains under the skin, which can provoke an inflammatory process and suppuration of the wound. To get the proboscis, you need to disinfect a sharp thin needle, tuck the leftovers and pull them out.

What to do after removing the parasite

It is advisable to put the insect in a sealed glass container with leaves to preserve its viability, and deliver it to the sanitary and epidemiological station for a detailed examination.
The bite site must be treated with any disinfectant, and there is no need to apply a bandage.
Doctors advise after a bite to carefully monitor their health, noting any suspicious change. Temperature should be measured daily for 3 weeks.

Infection diagnosis

No need to panic. About 85-92% of ticks are sterile, so you should not be nervous and “wind” yourself ahead of time. A blood test immediately after a bite does not reveal infection, so the optimal delivery date is 10 days after the incident. The epidemiological data (information about the area of ​​residence and place of walking) help to approximately predict the possibility of infection.

As a rule, such tests are necessary for diagnosis:

  • antibodies to borrelia;
  • Blood PCR for encephalitis;
  • antibodies to tick-borne encephalitis.

Infection is confirmed only on the basis of laboratory data.

Treatment of victims

A person with encephalitis is shown complex inpatient treatment:

  • bed rest and rest;
  • intramuscular administration of "Gammaglobulin";
  • balanced diet;
  • drug therapy, the main purpose of which is to reduce the concentration of poisons and deactivate the virus;
  • intake of vitamins.

 

The victim with a tick bite is often injected with immunoglobulin - a concentrated solution with ready-made antibodies. The dosage is selected in accordance with the age of the patient and the stage of the disease. At home, such a pathology is not treated.
Particular attention should be paid to cases of infection of children. The children's body is weaker, therefore, treatment is carried out exclusively in the infectious departments of medical facilities.

Consequences and Complications

Timely treatment in the initial stages almost always guarantees a full recovery.

In case of delay in the treatment of encephalitis and the presence of damage to the basic functions of the nervous system, complications can be very serious until death:

  • mental disorders;
  • meningitis;
  • impaired vision, hearing, speech;
  • mental retardation;
  • disturbances in the normal functioning of the muscles;
  • respiratory arrest.

In milder cases, patients complain of persistent headaches, frequent dizziness, fatigue and chronic weakness.
About 10% of children die in the first week of illness. In childhood, irreversible complications most often arise - flaccid paralysis, muscle twitching, atrophy. Often, small patients become carriers of the virus.

Prevention methods

One of the most reliable methods for the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is vaccination. It is especially recommended to people who live in a forest strip or in areas where ticks are spread. Vaccination can be standard, accelerated and emergency.


The accelerated one is carried out in the spring during the period of parasite activation twice with an interval of 2 weeks. Immunity at this time is only being formed, so any possible contact with ticks should be avoided by the vaccinated. With a fixed fact of a bite, emergency prophylaxis is carried out in the form of an injection of an anti-tick-borne immunoglobulin.
Children from a young age need to be explained in what clothes it is better to go to the forest.The insect will only look for an open area, since, unlike a mosquito, it needs to dive under the skin directly with its head. Through clothing or nylon tights, the parasite will not cause any harm to humans.

Therefore, the selection of clothing needs to be highlighted:

  • tucked in boots;
  • tight tights or knee-highs;
  • jacket tucked into pants;
  • tight cuffs on the sleeves;
  • hat, scarf, hood or cap on the head;
  • tightly buttoned collar of a shirt or jacket.

Clothing should be completely covered, preferably light or white. This will help to quickly detect a crawling tick of a dark color. Every hour you need to carefully examine each other's clothes and head, paying special attention to young children. Before going to the forest, you can use chemical protective equipment, such as repellents. Use them carefully and in accordance with the instructions, avoiding contact with the skin.

During a trip to the forest, it is advisable to avoid places with dense vegetation, pits, wet beams, any water bodies. Parking is better to break in dry pine plantations and places without grass cover.

Interestingly, there are much more parasites in the clearing and forest paths than in the dense dense forest. This is due to the fact that the tracks retain the “aromas” of warm-blooded creatures passing by, which attracts insects. You should not sit down or lie down on the grass, crawling on the ground, wading through dense thickets, picking branches, picking flowers. Upon returning home, all outer clothing and shoes should be carefully examined for mites. The same applies to branches, flowers, cones and other items collected in the forest.
Better to prevent a parasite bite than to get nervous, worrying what kind of infection could get into the blood. Therefore, when leaving the city, it is advisable to strictly observe the above security measures.

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