Why ticks are dangerous for humans: the threat of infection with acute viral infections. Chemical protection against tick bites

With the onset of warm weather, few people deprive themselves of the pleasure of going on a picnic to the nearest forest park or going with their family to the country. In nature, a person is relaxed and forgets that he found himself in the native element of numerous representatives of the world of fauna, who are not always friendly. If mosquito bites and the importunity of flies are completely harmless, then a meeting with ticks can end in failure. What are dangerous ticks for humans, and what consequences can be from the bite of these arachnids, is described in this article.

The danger of ixodid ticks

The tick is a synotropic organism, ubiquitous in forest and steppe areas. For some species of arachnids, the soil has become a native habitat, which at the same time serves as a source of nutrition, since the diet includes decay products of organic substances. Such mites are useful: they are active participants in soil-forming processes - decomposition and humification of dead biota. A person should be wary of ixodic arthropods, whose home is grass or piles of fallen leaves, and their favorite dish is blood.

A tick bite ceases to be a harmless injury to the skin if a lover of someone else's blood turns out to be a carrier of pathogenic microorganisms - viruses and bacteria. The danger of ticks lies in the risk of contracting serious viral infections - tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis. All 79 constituent entities of the Russian Federation provided Rospotrebnadzor with data for the 2016 infectious season: the number of survivors of tick attacks and seeking medical help is about 31,500 people, of whom 9,200 are children.

Tick ​​attack: behavioral features

Ticks prefer to live in humid environment, therefore, undergrowth, ravines, thickets of willows, the bank of a stream are the most likely places to meet them.

The bloodsucker's lack of vision is compensated by its excellent sense of smell plus the presence of tenacious limbs. The animal is able to smell the smell of the victim long before its appearance, therefore it is in full combat readiness mode when a person is close. A jump is enough to get on clothes or shoes. Further, the arachnid quickly climbs up, choosing the most vulnerable places where capillaries shine through the thin skin - the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe armpits, internal elbow and knee folds, the area behind the auricles, the inguinal region.

The threat is the bite of a mature individual, larvae and nymphs can not be feared.

VIDEO: This will save your life. 10 important facts about the life of ticks

The mechanism of infection with acute viral infections

The result of a tick attack is the risk of developing:

• tick paralysis;
• encephalitis;
• Lyme disease - borreliosis;
• tularemia;
• hemorrhagic fever;
• spirochetosis;
• rickettsiosis;
• typhus, typhoid.

It is the infection with tick-borne encephalitis that can cause disability or lethal outcome. In addition to humans, the bloodsucker also feeds on animals, mainly forest rodents - natural reservoirs. terrible virus. After drinking infected blood, the tick becomes encephalitic.

The main task is to extract the arthropod unharmed: by depriving it of its head and leaving part of the body inside, the concentration of atogenic can be even higher, since the entire volume of the poison that the bloodsucker contains will enter the bloodstream.

The lack of confidence in the effectiveness of independent manipulations should be a reason to go to the nearest emergency room. Doctors are guaranteed to carry out the procedure correctly. Situations are different, people tend to relax far from the benefits of civilization, so a medical institution may not be nearby. Will have to make do on your own and hand tools.

How to remove a tick yourself

On sale you can find a special pincer. It costs from 100 to 300 rubles. and very convenient to use. The tick is hooked, as if with a fork, and gently twisted. In this case, it is impossible to crush or tear off the head.

Often, adults remove ticks on their own, not really worrying that it can be a source of the disease. What signs directly indicate contact with an infected synatrop:

• thickening of the skin, the formation of bumps;
• the appearance of a spot of intense red hue;
• temperature increase;
• enlarged lymph nodes;
• skin rashes.

A reddened bite area is normal, an alarming sign is an increase in the size of the spot, the appearance of new erythema. It makes no sense to immediately do an analysis that reveals encephalitis, borreliosis - no. A certain period of time must pass for microscopy to show the presence, absence of infection.

The month following the bite will be decisive, therefore it is important to monitor the condition of the victim's body, any changes in well-being are a reason to consult a doctor.

VIDEO: What to do and how to prevent an attack

Acute viral infections

Encephalitis is distinguished by a sharply manifested symptomatology and a rapidly progressive development of the pathological process.

Warning signs appear:

• temperature increase up to 40°С;
• sudden convulsions (most often at night);
• muscle spasms, paralysis of the limbs;
• severe migraine;
• nausea, vomiting.

strong headache due to infection along with the bloodstream in the brain cells. The patient experiences increased arousal, there is no sleep, space-time connections are gradually lost. The disease affects the central nervous system. The result of violations of the spinal cord, the brain can be partial or complete paralysis, loss of speech, impaired thought processes. The lack of timely medical care is the cause of a chronic sluggish form of the disease, a fatal outcome is possible.

Both diseases require immediate hospitalization, treatment is carried out under the vigilant supervision of physicians.

Features of infection: incubation period

In addition to the above symptoms, redness of the skin is a sure sign of developing Lyme disease. The presence of a slight erythema is normal, since an allergic reaction is a reasonable response of the immune system, which has identified a foreign protein as a threat to the body. The stain may last a couple of days. The cause of suppuration of the bite site is an insufficiently well-treated wound. The exact answer will be given by the doctor.

Terms of diagnosis of acute viral infections:

1. A blood test by polymerase chain reaction (PCR), which reveals the presence / absence of tick-borne encephalitis virus, borreliosis, is carried out after 10 days.
2. Conducting a blood test showing the presence / absence of antibodies to the causative agent of encephalitis is advisable after two weeks, antibodies to Borrelia burgdorferi - a month.

With negative test results for the indicated periods, you can finally calm down: the danger has passed.

Vaccinations: a panacea or a waste of money

Vaccination is real. effective method protect yourself from a viral infection, but only if the scheme is followed. One injection is not enough to form a stable immunity. Two will be enough to protect yourself for only one season. And only with a triple application of the drug, a person for 3 years will be spared the risk of encephalitis.

Vaccination is recommended for those people who, by the nature of their activities, spend a lot of time in the forest or field, as well as ordinary citizens. Living near forest plantations. In regions with a high epidemiological threshold (Siberia, the Urals), vaccinations are recommended for everyone. In other cities and districts - on request.

Like most vaccines, the encephalitic tick vaccine is based on a dead virus that "starts" the human immune system in a safe mode to produce antibodies. When a live virus appears (with an insect bite), antibodies instantly block the threat.

With this schedule, protection is provided for 3 years, after which revaccination is necessary.

Lifelong immunity against the encephalitis mite cannot be acquired.

What vaccines are allowed for use

On the territory of the Russian Federation, the following drugs are certified and approved for use in agreement with a virologist or therapist:

• Encevir;
• Encepur;
• FSME Immun;
• purified vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis.

Knowing how ticks are dangerous for humans, it is equally important to understand how to protect yourself from the attack of a bloodsucker. Since it is easy to bring an arthropod home with you, and thereby creating comfortable conditions existence for several weeks ahead, it is important to carefully shake up all items of clothing, returning from the dacha or from the forest. Seams, pockets, pleats, decorative inserts require particularly careful examination. Additional laundry will eliminate the risk of being bitten in your own home.

You can avoid trouble by following simple rules. When planning a vacation outside the city you need:

When choosing a tick repellent, pay attention to its composition. One of the main ones should be diethyltoluamide, thanks to which insects do not even come close to a person, while for himself it is absolutely safe.

These drugs include:

• Off!;
• Extreme;
• Reftamid Maximum;
• Gardex extreme;
• Data.

For children over 3 years old, you can choose one of the following options:

• Off! Extreme;
• Mosquitol-anti-mite;
• Defi Taiga.

The drugs are not applied to the skin, but if the risk of damage is huge, you can treat the skin for a short time. After - be sure to rinse warm water with soap.

VIDEO: Why ticks are dangerous for humans

How to prevent attack and sucking by ticks? What to do if you find a tick on yourself?

The memo was prepared on the basis of the materials of Dr. biological sciences N.I. Shashina, Research Institute of Disinfectology

Why are ticks dangerous?

Ticks are bloodsuckers. When bloodsucking, they can transmit pathogens of such diseases as: tick-borne viral encephalitis, ixodid tick-borne borreliosis, Crimean hemorrhagic fever, tick-borne rickettsiosis, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, human monocytic ehrlichiosis.

To medical and preventive organizations Kostroma region Every year, on average, about 6,000 people who have been bitten by ticks are treated. From 5 to 15 percent of all examined ticks are infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Where are ticks found?

Ticks are found throughout the Kostroma region, tick-borne viral encephalitis vectors prefer moderately humid coniferous-deciduous forests. Ticks are found in forested areas of cities, in cemeteries, summer cottages.

When do ticks occur?

Ticks "wake up" in early spring- in April-May, as soon as the snow melts. The number reaches its peak at the end of May - June. In July, ticks become less, and in August there is a second slight rise. Despite the fact that there are relatively few ticks in August-September, there are many cases of their attacks on people, since during this period people often go to the forest to pick berries and mushrooms.

What do mites look like?

The most dangerous are taiga and forest mites. The size of female ticks is 3 - 5 mm, the front of their body and 4 pairs of legs are dark brown, and rear end brick red. The body of all phases of development of ticks is oval, in front there is a cone-shaped dark protrusion (often called the head), which consists of three parts: the central part (proboscis), which, when bloodsucking, is immersed in the skin of a person or animals, and 2 side parts remaining on the surface. Males are smaller than females and darker. The saliva of ticks, which contains pathogens, enters the body of the victim.

Only a specialist can accurately determine the genus and type of ticks.

Therefore, ANY TICKETS SUCKED SHOULD BE CONSIDERED POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS.

How do ticks attack?

Ticks wait for their prey on grassy vegetation, less often on bushes, but they never crawl into trees, do not fall or jump from them. It is worth being next to a tick to be a person, like a tick, clinging to the skin, clothes, crawling up until it finds a secluded place under the clothes to stick to the body. This takes an average of 30 minutes. Ticks always crawl up, so they are found under the armpits, in the groin, on the back, on the neck and head.

Self- and mutual examinations for the detection of ticks should be carried out every 15 - 20 minutes.

How to protect yourself from ticks?

When going into a forest, park, or any area where ticks are found, dress in such a way as to prevent ticks from crawling under clothing and to facilitate a quick inspection to detect attached ticks.

The effectiveness of protection is greatly increased when clothing is treated with special aerosol chemicals - acaricidal (killing ticks), repellent (repelling ticks) or acaricidal-repellent (repelling and killing at the same time).

These products should never be applied to the skin!

Be sure to read the instructions for the tool!

The correct use of special acaricidal or acaricidal-repellent products provides a level of protection up to 100%.

The use of special protective clothing that combines mechanical protection (knitted cuffs, special fasteners and traps, etc.) with chemical protection(inserts made of fabric treated with special chemical compounds).

In such clothes, you can safely walk through the forest, but you can’t lie down and sit on the grass, since in this case, ticks, bypassing the processed clothes, can immediately get on the body and stick.

Such clothes will be useful primarily for foresters, loggers, geologists, tourists, people professionally associated with the forest, but can also be used by other people, including children.

How to remove a tick?

Ticks attached to the body should be removed as soon as possible. The sooner this is done, the less likely it is that the causative agent of a dangerous disease will enter the bloodstream.

Try not to tear off the proboscis, immersed in the skin, the wound after removal must be disinfected with a solution of iodine, alcohol, etc.

It is better to remove stuck ticks using special tools: PLIERS, LASSO HANDLE, TWEEZERS. Having captured the tick in any way, it should be rotated around its axis by 360º and pulled up.

With absence special devices you can remove ticks with a thread (tie it around a proboscis immersed in the skin and, rotating or shaking, pull it up).

You should not drip anything on the tick and wait for it to fall off on its own.

The tick will not fall off, but will continue to introduce pathogens into the blood.

What to do with a tick?

Removed sucked mites with a piece of damp cotton wool or a fresh blade of grass should be placed in a tightly closed container (for example, a glass bottle).

Dead ticks should also be placed in a container.

Ticks should be delivered to the laboratory as soon as possible for testing.

Before delivery to the laboratory, store them in a cold place at a temperature of plus 4 - 8ºС (refrigerator, thermos with ice, etc.). If ticks have stuck to several people, then ticks from each person must be placed in a separate container, signing the name of the victim.

The study of the tick is necessary to assess its danger and, if necessary, prescribe treatment.

If the tick is not preserved

If you failed to submit ticks for analysis or if the results of the analysis were negative, and within a month after sucking the ticks you felt changes in your health, noted an increase in temperature, an increasing red spot (erythema) at the site of suction, you should immediately consult a doctor, informing him of the fact of sucking a tick or ticks.

How wonderful it is when nature awakens, the first leaves bloom, the first flowers bloom, wild garlic, strawberries appear. And it's so wonderful to walk through the forest, enjoying fresh air, warm sunbeams, pick the first greens of fragrant wild garlic or wild strawberries - fresh vitamins. But with the awakening of nature, ticks awaken and also go for walks to get enough of fresh blood.

Who are ticks?

We have known since school that ticks are small arthropod arachnid creatures belonging to the animal kingdom. There are more than 48 thousand species of ticks on Earth. Some of them live in the forest and in the taiga, sucking the blood of small rodents and animals - hares, mice, and other inhabitants of forests and taiga. They are not averse to drinking human blood, and as soon as the summer season begins, summer residents and their pets, lovers of forest walks, tourists and people going on a picnic become victims of ticks.

Other types of mites live in the soil in our gardens and orchards. They cause great harm by sucking the juices from plants, destroying crops, for example spider mite, which also harms indoor plants.

There are also dust or bed mites that live in our homes. They live in sofas, in carpets, in pillows and in blankets. They are completely small size, they are impossible to notice, but they bring great harm, causing itching and red spots on the skin, as well as allergic reactions.

And there are also ticks - meadow, steppe, dog, scabies, eye, ear and others. But today we will turn our attention to ixodid ticks, typical carriers of encephalitis and borreliosis (and other equally dangerous diseases) are the taiga tick (also called the deer tick) and the European tick ( vernacular name- encephalitic mites).

Where do encephalitic mites live?

Ticks live in forest and taiga areas. They live under a layer of fallen leaves and grass and attack their victims by crawling from bushes, from leaves, from grass, as well as from the ground. But from the trees, as many believe, ticks do not jump off.
As soon as the sun begins to warm, and the earth is freed from snow cover, ticks go hunting. They attach their tenacious limbs to the leaves of plants, move closer to the paths along which a person moves, and wait for their prey. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, and they smell fresh blood. But ticks cannot see, because they have no eyes. But they are able to distinguish day from night. Once on a person or animal, ticks look for appropriate place on the body to suck.

Ticks are especially active and aggressive in early spring, after hungry winter they need food. So you can pick up a taiga tick from April to June, and even in July, and a European tick is fierce from April to September.

What do mites look like?

The body of the tick consists of two sections - the body and the head. There is a hard shield on the back, and the male has it Brown and covers the entire back, while in the female only a third of the back is covered with a shield. The rest of the back is red-brown.

Ticks have four pairs of limbs, which consist of six segments. At the ends of these segments are claws with a sucker. With the help of suction cups and claws, the tick clings to plants, human clothing, and animal fur. Behind the fourth pair of legs, ticks have respiratory plates.

On the head of the tick is a proboscis, which has a complex structure and is adapted for suction and retention on the body of the victim. On the proboscis is a mouth with which the tick bites through the body and sucks blood. The saliva of the tick has an analgesic effect and the person does not feel the bite of the tick. The virus of encephalitis and other diseases enters the human blood with the saliva of the tick when the tick sucks blood. The tick itself does not suffer from encephalitis.

The female is larger than the male. It is believed that only females stick to the body and can suck blood for up to several days. The body of the female increases when she drinks blood, becomes ovoid and changes color to grey colour. Males only bite a person and are not able to suck blood for a long time.

What diseases does the tick carry?

The number of people bitten by ticks is increasing every year. It is increasingly possible to pick up a tick not only in the forest, but also in summer cottages, in city parks and squares. Summer residents carry them on their clothes in trains, buses, in bouquets of flowers, with the harvest. From the clothes of people who visited the forests, ticks crawl onto passengers of public transport, and a person with horror discovers a bloodsucker that has stuck to his skin.

Of the diseases that ticks carry, the most famous tick-borne encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever and Lyme disease or borreliosis.

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis is transmitted by the bite of an encephalitic tick. Encephalitis is dangerous viral disease, which affects the central nervous system and the brain, can lead a person to disability and even death.

There are the following forms of encephalitis: feverish, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, polio.

The first symptoms of the disease appear within 1-2 weeks after the tick is sucked, the disease begins with a sharp increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. Heat keeps for several days. At the first stage of the disease, the virus multiplies in the blood and intoxication of the body occurs.

All forms of the disease begin with a rise in body temperature to 38-40 degrees, are marked by fever, general malaise, headaches in the forehead, temples, neck, lethargy, weakness, lack of appetite, nausea.

In severe cases, cells of the brain and spinal cord are affected. A person has problems with the psyche, with vision and hearing, there is a violation of consciousness, numbness of the hands, convulsions, paralysis. The last two forms of tick-borne encephalitis lead to disability and death.

In febrile form headaches, nausea, weakness are noted, the temperature lasts for several days, then the fever stops and the person recovers.

With meningeal form encephalitis in humans, severe headaches, dizziness, photophobia and pain in the eyes, nausea and vomiting, lethargy are also noted. The fever lasts one to two weeks.

With meningoencephalitic form, hallucinations, loss of orientation in time and space are added to the symptoms characteristic of the meningeal form. A sick person may experience epileptic seizures, convulsions, and loss of consciousness is possible.

With poliomyelitis there is fatigue and severe weakness and pain in the neck, shoulders and arms, decreased skin sensitivity, twitching of the muscles of the arms, hanging of the head on the chest, a feeling of numbness in the tissues of the arms, legs, and muscle atrophy and paralysis of the limbs.

You can get encephalitis not only from a tick bite, but also by crushing a tick with your fingers. The danger of catching an infection is the raw milk of domestic goats, sheep, cows infected with a tick bite. Boiled milk is not dangerous.

You can watch a video about the effects of a tick bite.

Borreliosis or Lyme disease

Borreliosis is an infectious disease that, like encephalitis, is transmitted to humans through the bite of a tick. Lyme disease has early period(consists of two stages) and the late period (the third stage).

Symptoms of borreliosis

The disease begins with fever, chills, and headache. A person has fatigue, weakness and muscle aches. Many develop a cough, sore throat, runny nose, and some experience nausea and vomiting. On the skin where the tick has stuck, a red spot appears - migrating annular erythema, which appears on the 6th - 23rd day. The spot has the shape of a circle or oval and increases to a diameter of 10-20 cm, sometimes it can reach a larger size. The stain persists for 2-3 weeks, there is pain, severe itching. Depending on the treatment, the first stage can last from 3 to 30 days and will end with recovery.

Without treatment, after 1-3 months, the causative agent of Borreliosis penetrates with blood into internal organs, in the human brain. Patients have severe throbbing headaches, dizziness, chest pain, shortness of breath. There is a defeat of the cardiovascular system, heart disease develops, pain in the heart is noted. Damage to the nervous musculoskeletal system. Patients may experience facial paralysis, serous meningitis, pain in the spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar).

At the third stage (develops from six months to two years), joint pains appear (most often in knee joints), arthritis, polyarthritis, osteoporosis and other diseases develop. Skin lesions often occur.

Lyme disease varies from person to person: some have only the first stage, while others have the disease starting in the second or third stage. But if not treated, the disease becomes chronic and leads to disability. You can also get borreliosis from unboiled milk of domestic animals.

We offer to see small video Video about Lyme disease.

What should I do if bitten by a tick?

What to do if you find a tick stuck on your body? First of all, you need to seek help at the emergency room, where a tick will be removed from your body and there you will be given immunoglobulin against tick-borne encephalitis. If you are insured - free of charge, and if you do not have insurance, you will have to pay a tidy sum (the higher your body weight, the more you will have to pay for the vaccine).

How to pull out a tick?

If you are unable to seek help from medical institution, you can remove the tick yourself. Pull out the tick carefully so as not to damage it. You can pull it out with tweezers, picking up the tick with tweezers at the proboscis, closer to the skin where the tick stuck. It is not necessary to pull sharply, you need to carefully pull the tick, swinging it to the side and pulling it up.

If tweezers are not at hand, you can use a strong thread. A loop of thread should be thrown closer to the proboscis of the tick, tighten and pull the thread up, swinging the tick from side to side.
After the tick is removed, smear the bite with iodine or alcohol.

The tick should be wrapped in a wet cotton swab or cloth and placed in a vial with a lid or a box. And take it to the sanitary and epidemiological station for examination for the presence of encephalitis, borreliosis and other diseases. The next day, you need to call the SES and find out the results of the tests. If a tick is infected with tick-borne encephalitis or Lyme disease, this does not mean that you have caught the infection. Not always the bite of an infected tick causes disease. You will simply be sent for examination to the clinic, where they will do a blood test. If viruses are found in the blood, you will be prescribed treatment.

If you do not want to take the tick to the SES, you need to destroy it, it is best to burn it. Remember to wash your hands and tweezers well.

If you do not want to seek medical help, monitor your condition carefully, and if you feel unwell or have symptoms of the diseases described above, do not postpone a visit to the clinic. Timely treatment will help you avoid terrible complications.

What to do if the tick broke off during self-extraction? You just need to gently pick it up with tweezers and pull it out. If the head or proboscis of the tick is deep in the wound, and you are afraid to pull it out, you can contact the clinic. Or you can simply lubricate the wound with iodine and after a while, the remnants of the tick parts will be on the surface of the skin along with the abscess and come out like a splinter.

It is believed that a sucking tick can be forced to crawl out of the skin by lubricating it with oil. But experts do not advise doing this, since the tick will suffocate from the oil and die, burping the contents of its stomach into the wound, and the infection will quickly enter the human body.

Tick ​​bite prevention

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccinations

In order not to pick up after a tick bite such dangerous disease, like tick-borne encephalitis, vaccinations are provided. The course consists of three vaccinations, immunity from tick-borne encephalitis lasts up to three years.

Proper clothing

If you are going to the forest or your cottage is adjacent to the forest, you must dress properly. Clothing should cover your body. Outerwear tuck into pants, and tuck pants into socks or boots, boots, jacket sleeves, sweaters, shirts - with buttoned and tight-fitting cuffs, put a hood or hat on your head. On the light clothes the tick is more noticeable, so it is advisable to wear light-colored clothing.

Every 15-20 minutes, inspect your clothes, your fellow travelers, and if you find a tick, remove it, but do not press it with your hands, it is better to burn it with a lighter or a match. After the hike, carefully examine your entire body, Special attention apply to the auricles, armpits, groin, neck. Just carefully inspect your clothes and things that you took with you to the forest, to the country.

Chemical protection

Use chemicals to prevent tick bites. creams, aerosols that are sold in stores, in pharmacies are repellents (repel ticks), acaricidal agents (kill ticks), as well as insecticidal-repellent agents (repel and kill).

Treat clothes with chemicals - cuffs, collar, belts at trousers, as well as clothes around the ankles, knees, lower back, waist, open areas body - face, neck, hands.

The garden plot can be processed by special means that kill ticks.

Medical insurance against tick-borne encephalitis

Annually insure yourself and your children against tick bites. Price insurance policy not great from 200 to 250 rubles. If you are bitten by a tick, then health care free of charge (examination by a doctor, removal of a tick, administration of immunoglobulin, treatment in case of illness). Without an insurance policy, you will have to pay for all medical services and treatment.

Be careful when walking in the forest, working or relaxing on suburban area. Take care of yourself and take care of your health!

Ticks are often confused with insects, but are actually a group of 40,000 species within the arachnid class. They live in the most unexpected places - from fresh water to old pillows and eat a wide variety of foods. But people most often pay attention only to those few families of ticks that have switched to feeding on the blood of vertebrates. Among which, despite the years of evolution, a person still belongs .... the son of my friend decided to leave this life from this infection. He was cured of the disease itself, but became disabled, terrible headaches, seizures, a year tormented and decided that it is better to leave immediately. Last year I ended my suffering... I'll start, as always, from afar. Mankind naively believes that the planet belongs to him. Which, as it were, a priori allows people to change nature for themselves and use it as they please.

The incubation period for tick-borne encephalitis lasts for

an average of 7-14 days with fluctuations from one day to 30 days.

The disease often begins acutely, with chills and an increase in body temperature up to 38-40 ° C. The fever lasts from 2 to 10 days. There are general malaise, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, weakness, fatigue, sleep disturbances. Pain all over the body and limbs. Muscular pains are characteristic, especially significant in muscle groups, in which paresis and paralysis usually occur in the future.
Stupefaction (sopor) of varying degrees is usually characteristic.

The disease of tick-borne encephalitis in Europe proceeds in a milder form than in the eastern part of the area of ​​tick-borne encephalitis. The severity of the disease depends on the ability of the virus to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, affecting or not affecting the brain. Closer to the west of the continent, tick-borne encephalitis is less common,

but more Lyme disease (tick-borne borreliosis). Radish horseradish is not sweeter, I'll tell you.

And although the disease is less dangerous, it is also very bad.
This is an infectious disease caused by spirochetes, which tends to be chronic and recurrent and predominantly affects the skin, nervous system, musculoskeletal system and heart. Ticks are especially dangerous during the period from early May to mid-June, it is at this time that they are especially active. Leningrad region two peaks of their numbers: May-June and the end of August - the beginning of September. / And, of course, in these months, when going to the dacha, into the forest and just walking in the parks, you need to be especially careful. Namely, from May to June, the month is recorded, the largest number victims of tick bites. I think that it will be useful for every person to know what a tick looks like, what protection against ticks is most effective, and what to do if a tick bites.

What does a tick look like?

Ticks belong to the order of arachnids, and in appearance resemble small spiders, from 2 to 4 millimeters long. After the tick is pumped with blood, it greatly increases in size and becomes clearly visible, forming a tubercle under the skin. By themselves, ticks are not dangerous, but they are carriers of tick-borne encephalitis. The best way, for their life, deciduous and coniferous forests, thickets of shrubs, glades and meadows densely overgrown with tall grass, river banks and sunny mountain slopes are suitable. Many people are interested in the question of what it looks like Tick-borne Encephalitis? He is no different from the usual, except that he is a carrier dangerous virus. And you can find out about this only by examining it in the laboratory.

How does a tick get on a person?

Nowadays, a tick can be found not only in the forest, but also in your summer cottage, in a city park or in a public garden. In most cases, they wait for their prey on the ground or tall grass. Sometimes, a tick, sensing the approach of a person, can jump from a tree branch and fly several meters to reach the target. And this behavior is not uncommon. He firmly clings to a person passing by, and is looking for a place to bite. Searching for a good place can take more than 3 hours. If, during this time, you manage to detect it, then the bite, which lurks a potential danger, can be avoided.

Having chosen a place for a bite, and having bitten through the skin, the tick digs into the wound. During a bite, a special anesthetic substance is released, so you are unlikely to feel it. On the human body, it can stay for several days, after which, having drunk blood, it falls off.

What should I do if bitten by a tick?

If you are bitten by a tick, you need to see a doctor or carefully remove it yourself. In any case, don't panic. It should be remembered that not every one of them is a carrier of encephalitis. And even if you are bitten by an encephalitic tick, there is a chance not to get infected with this disease.

At the site of the bite, redness and swelling may form.

If, when removing the tick, its head came off, which looks like a black dot, the suction site is wiped with cotton wool or a bandage moistened with alcohol, and then the head is removed with a sterile needle (previously calcined on fire). The way you remove a common splinter.

Now, in many pharmacies, you can buy a special hook for removing ticks. If you do not have the opportunity to get to the pharmacy, then you can use improvised means.

Make a loop out of the thread, and grab the tick with it, as close to the skin as possible. Pull it out with slow, rocking motions.

After that, wash your hands thoroughly, and treat the bite site with iodine, or another antiseptic.

Do not drip oil on the tick, it will cut off the oxygen supply and kill it, and thereby increase the risk of infection.

Donating blood for analysis earlier than 10 days after the bite does not make sense.

After removing the tick, for the prevention of encephalitis, adults are prescribed iodantipyrin, and children under 14 years of age are given seroprophylaxis with immunoglobulin. This help should be provided free of charge! Remember that when taking Jodantipyrin, the prevention of the disease is effective only in the first four days, and when taking immunoglobulin, only the first 3 days after the bite. The use of these drugs is solely for the prevention of encephalitis, and their use does not protect you from other infections.

Only a doctor can prescribe these medications

therefore, you do not need to self-medicate - this can be harmful to your health.

What protection against ticks is truly effective?

The best protection against ticks is the right clothing. Shoes should be closed, boots or sneakers are suitable, although the latter is not the most the best way. If there are no cuffs on the bottom of the pants, then it would be better to tuck the legs into socks. In this case, even if the tick manages to catch on to the clothes, it will in no way be able to get to the body, and if it is noticed, it can be easily shaken off. It is better if there are cuffs on the sleeves of the jacket, and on the head, you need to wear a hood. This form of clothing is the most reliable protection from ticks. When choosing clothes, you should give preference light shades. On light-colored clothes, it is not difficult to notice a tick.

For those who consider such protection against ticks to be insufficient, it can be advised to purchase a special cream at the pharmacy. The cream is applied to exposed areas of the skin and repels ticks, mosquitoes and midges. Also, in a pharmacy, you can purchase a drug based on permethrin, upon contact with which, the tick dies in a few minutes, but only clothes can be treated with this substance, and in no case should it be allowed to come into contact with the skin. This substance works for a long period of time, and within a week, protection against ticks is provided to you.

After returning from a walk, you need to thoroughly shake off your clothes. It is advisable to take a shower, it will wash off the tick if it managed to get under the clothes, but did not have time to stick. After showering, take a close look at your entire body. Most often, the tick chooses the following places: the scalp, behind the ears, armpits, and groin - it is from these places that you need to start the inspection.

remember, that best protection from ticks - this is your caution!

Tick ​​protection products

All products sold, depending on the active substance, are divided into 3 groups.

Repellent - repel ticks.
Acaricidal - kill!
Insecticide-repellent- preparations of combined action, that is, killing and repelling ticks.

The first group includes products containing diethyltoluamide: "Biban" (Slovenia), "DEFI-Taiga" (Russia), "Off! Extreme" (Italy), "Gall-RET" (Russia), "Gal-RET-cl" (Russia), "Deta-VOKKO" (Russia), "Reftamid maximum" (Russia). They are applied to clothing and exposed areas of the body in the form of circular stripes around the knees, ankles and chest. The tick avoids contact with the repellent and begins to crawl in the opposite direction. Protective properties clothes are stored for up to five days. Rain, wind, heat and sweat reduce the duration protective agent. Do not forget to apply the drug again after the time indicated on the package. The advantage of repellents is that they are also used to protect against midges, applying not only to clothing, but also to the skin. More dangerous drugs for ticks should not be applied to the skin.

To protect children, preparations with a reduced content of repellent have been developed.- these are creams "Ftalar" and "Efkalat", colognes "Pikhtal", "Evital", means "Kamarant". For children from 3 years old, the use of Off-Children's and Biban-Gel creams is recommended.

The "lethal" group included: "Pretix", "Reftamid taiga", "Picnic-Antiklesh", "Gardex Aerosol Extreme" (Italy), "Tornado-Antiklesh", "Fumitoks-Antiklesh", "Gardeks-Antiklesh", " Permanon" (permethrin 0.55%).

All preparations, with the exception of Pretix, are aerosols. They are used only for processing clothes. Things must be removed so that the product does not accidentally get on the skin. Then, after drying a little, you can put it back on.

"Pretix" is a pencil produced in Novosibirsk. They are drawn on their clothes with several encircling stripes before going into the forest. It is only necessary to monitor their safety, as the strips crumble rather quickly.

Acaricidal preparations with the poisonous substance alphamethrin have a nerve-paralytic effect on ticks. This manifests itself after 5 minutes - the insects become paralyzed, and they fall off the clothes.

It has been observed that before having a detrimental effect on ticks, preparations with the poisonous substance alphametrin increase the activity of ticks, and although this period is short, the risk of a bite during it increases, preparations with the active substance permethrin kill ticks faster.

The preparations of the third group combine the properties of the two above - they contain 2 active ingredients diethyltoluamide and alphamethrin, due to which their effectiveness in correct application approaching 100 percent. These are Kra-rep aerosols (alfatsipermethrin 0.18%, diethyltoluamide 15%), Kazan and Mosquitol-antiklesch (Alfametrin 0.2%, diethyltoluamide 7%). France.

To treat the territory from ticks, the following insectoacaricidal agents are used: Tsifoks.

Laboratory tests have shown that with the correct (!) Application of repellent preparations, up to 95 percent of attached ticks are repelled. As most of ticks cling to trousers, they must be handled more carefully. Particular attention should be paid to clothing around the ankles, knees, hips, waist, as well as cuffs and collars. The method of application and consumption rates of all drugs should be indicated on the label.

AT recent times counterfeit chemical protection products have become more frequent, so try to buy them in outlets with a good reputation. When buying, ask to show a hygiene certificate. Imported drugs must be accompanied by a label in Russian.

Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis

Clinically healthy people are allowed to be vaccinated after examination by a therapist. The therapist will also inform you about where you can get vaccinated. You can only get vaccinated at institutions licensed for this type of activity. The introduction of a vaccine that has been stored incorrectly (without respect for the "cold chain") is useless and sometimes dangerous. The following vaccines are used to prevent tick-borne encephalitis:

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine culture

purified concentrated inactivated dry

EnceVir (EnceVir)

FSME-Immun Inject (FSME-Immun Inject)

Encepur Adult and Encepur Child

What is the difference between vaccines?

Western European strains of tick-borne encephalitis virus, from which imported vaccines are prepared, and Eastern European strains used in domestic production, are similar in antigenic structure. The similarity in the structure of key antigens is 85%. In this regard, immunization with a vaccine prepared from a single viral strain creates strong immunity against infection with any tick-borne encephalitis virus. The effectiveness of foreign vaccines in Russia has been confirmed, including by studies using Russian diagnostic test systems.

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccination scheme:
The tick-borne encephalitis vaccination schedule for the last two consists of 3 doses administered 0-1(3)-9(12) months; revaccination is carried out every 3 years. After a standard primary course of 3 vaccinations, immunity is maintained for at least 3 years (maximum 5). By professional equipment safety for those traveling to field work in endemic regions, revaccination is carried out annually.
In the case when one revaccination was missed (1 time in 3 years), the entire course is not re-conducted, only one revaccination is done. If 2 scheduled revaccinations were missed, the course of vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis is carried out again. For the formation of immunity in most vaccinated people, 2 vaccinations with an interval of 1 month are enough. If necessary, this interval can be reduced to 2 weeks.

However, in order to develop full and long-term (at least 3 years) immunity, it is necessary to make a third vaccination in 9-12 months, and this interval cannot be reduced.

Vaccination can actually protect about 95% of those vaccinated. However, it should be remembered that vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis does not exclude all other measures to prevent tick bites (repellents, proper equipment), since they carry not only tick-borne encephalitis, but also other infections (Lyme disease, Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever, tularemia, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis, rickettsiosis, which cannot be protected by vaccination).

French TEAK TWISTER - Pliers screwdriver

In my opinion, a very handy thing. Two plastic hooks different size with a slot.

Large hook - for large ticks. Small - for small ones.

These hooks allow you to quickly and painlessly remove ticks that have invaded the skin of humans and animals: without the use of auxiliary substances (acaricides, oils, ether, thread, etc.), without leaving the proboscis of the tick in the skin, without squeezing the abdomen of the tick (and thus, reducing the risk of infection), at any age of the bite, without any pain (no risk of pinching skin or hairs).

This tool was created in France by a veterinary practitioner who designed the device in the form of a fork, with a carefully worked out angle between the fork and the handle, the diameter of the handle, with special surface treatment and the choice of plastic. An interesting fact is that often inventions are first made for animals, and then found application for people.

Mode of application:

Choose the size of the device (fork) relative to the size of the tick.

Insert the fork, grabbing the tick from the side until the tick is supported by the fork.

Slightly carefully lift the fork and turn it like a screwdriver. The tick is separated after two or three turns.

The tick is removed in a circular motion(or unscrew)

and not by stretching, despite the similarity of the shape of a fork with the shape of a nail puller.

You can buy such a thing, for example, via the Internet:

Press the green tip against the skin and rotate the device around its axis once

Remove the tick by moving the device vertically upwards (away from the skin), disinfect the bite site.

The kit also includes a plastic cone for storing the removed tick.