Where do ticks live? The habitat of the encephalitis tick and what are the consequences of the bite.

It has been known since school days that ticks are small arthropod arachnid creatures belonging to the animal kingdom, but not everyone knows the habitat of ticks, but thanks to this article this gap will be filled.

Other types of mites live in the soil in vegetable gardens and orchards. They cause great harm by sucking sap from plants, destroying crops, for example, and also harming indoor plants.

There are also dusty or bed mites living in houses and apartments. They live in carpets, pillows, blankets and sofas. Due to their tiny size, it is impossible to detect them with the naked eye, but they cause harm, contributing to the appearance of itchy skin, red spots on the skin and an allergic reaction.

Lifestyle of ticks

All ticks are dioecious. There are pronounced differences between males and females. Among the many species of ticks existing today, the majority are oviparous, and only rare exceptions are viviparous.

Ticks are sedentary creatures, traveling only a few tens of meters on their own during their lives. While waiting for the victim, the insect climbs onto a blade of grass or a small bush. If an animal or person is close to a tick, its reaction will be lightning fast. The tick's legs have suckers and claws, which allows it to firmly attach itself to the victim. Once on the owner, the pest begins searching ideal place for food. Usually this is the neck or head.

Ways to combat furniture mites

Where do ticks live in our houses and apartments? House and book dust are an excellent habitat for microscopic mites, which are a strong household allergen. Furniture mites themselves do not pose a great danger, but they leave behind a large number of products of their vital activity that are toxic to humans. Also, they may appear in furniture, which bring great discomfort to a person with their bites.

Let's consider ways to deal with such uninvited guests:

Eye and ear mites

Ticks can live not only on furniture, but also in the human body, which, however, happens extremely rarely. This situation, when a tick appears in the ear, happens extremely rarely, but the possibility still exists. The disease that develops as a result of such infection is called auricular acarosis.

Symptoms of a tick getting into the ear are severe itching, foreign body sensation, pain, and insect crawling.

In order to relieve an allergic reaction, antiallergic drugs are used eye drops. It is necessary to wipe the edges of the eyelids with calendula tincture, preventing liquid from getting into the eye, and an ointment must be applied to the roots, which ensures that air is blocked from the affected areas of the skin.

Ticks- a topic that is especially hotly discussed in our area. There is nothing pleasant about severe diseases caused by ticks, therefore, for the convenience of readers, we decided to collect all the necessary information about ticks in one article.

Taiga and European forest tick- giants compared to their “peaceful” brothers, his body is covered with a powerful shell; equipped with four pairs of legs. In females, the coverings of the back part are capable of greatly stretching, which allows them to absorb large amounts of blood, hundreds of times more than the weight of a hungry tick. Males are somewhat smaller in size than females and only stick to a short time(less than an hour).

Ticks orient themselves in the surrounding world, mainly through touch and smell; ticks do not have eyes. But ticks’ sense of smell is very acute; they are able to smell an animal or person at a distance of about 10 meters.

What places are at greatest risk of encountering ticks?

Ticks are moisture-loving, and therefore their numbers are greatest in well-moistened places. You are most likely to encounter ticks in the forest. They prefer moderately shaded and moist deciduous and mixed forests with dense grass and undergrowth. There are many ticks along the bottom of ravines and forest ravines, as well as along forest edges, in thickets of willow trees along the banks of forest streams.

It is very important to know that ticks in the forest concentrate on forest paths and paths covered with grass along the roadsides. There are many times more of them here than in the surrounding forest - ticks are attracted by the smell of animals and people who constantly use these paths when moving through the forest.

You should remember the characteristic landscapes where in late April - early July the number of ticks is highest and where the risk of infection with tick-borne encephalitis is high during this period: deciduous forests, forests littered with windfalls, ravines, river valleys, meadows.

Tick ​​behavior.

Ticks lie in wait for their prey, sitting on the ends of blades of grass, blades of grass, sticks and twigs sticking up.

When a potential victim approaches, ticks assume a posture of active anticipation: they extend their front legs and move them from side to side. On the front legs there are organs that perceive odors (Haller's organ). Thus, the tick determines the direction towards the source of the smell and prepares to attack the host.

Ticks are not particularly mobile; they can travel no more than ten meters on their own in their lifetime. A tick lying in wait for its prey climbs a blade of grass or a bush to a height of no more than half a meter and patiently waits for someone to pass by. If an animal or person moves in close proximity to a tick, its reaction will be immediate. With his front legs spread out, he frantically tries to grab his future owner. The legs are equipped with claws and suction cups, which allow the tick to grip securely. No wonder there is a saying: “He grabbed like a tick.” With the help of hooks that are located at the very end of the front legs, the tick clings to everything that touches it.

Having settled on the animal, the tick chooses a place to feed. In most cases this is the head and neck area. Then he plunges his mouth parts (the so-called proboscis) into the skin and, cutting through it, gets to the subcutaneous blood vessels, from where it sucks blood. The teeth on the proboscis, directed backwards, and the first portion of saliva, which quickly hardens and glues the oral organs to the skin, like cement, help it to securely gain a foothold.

Prevention of tick bites.

1) Wear light-colored clothing (it makes ticks easier to see) with long sleeves and a hood, tuck your pants into your socks. If there is no hood, wear a hat.

2) Use repellents.

3) Check your clothes every 15 minutes. When you return home, check yourself for bites. Special attention should be directed to the following parts of the body: neck, armpits, groin area, ears - the skin there is especially delicate and thin, these are the most common places for tick bites.

Anti-encephalitis suits "BioStop".

As a result of many years of collaboration between leading domestic entomologists and Russian company CJSC FPG Energokontrakt appeared in 2009 new type prevention of tick bites - anti-encephalitis suits of the new generation “BioStop”, the protective coefficient of which, in the conclusion of the Federal State Institution Research Institute of Disinfectology of Rospotrebnadzor, is defined as one hundred percent with the note: “The effectiveness significantly exceeds all known domestic and foreign samples.”

The suit received such a high rating from the Research Institute of Disinfectology after a number of tests carried out in areas where arthropods were spreading at the height of their activity. As a result of one of the tests, 335 tick attacks were recorded, but none of them managed to penetrate the body or linger on the subject’s clothes - after a few minutes they all fell off and died.

The high reliability of the kit is explained by the combination of two methods of protection against ticks: mechanical (cuffs, shuttlecock traps, inner shirt, etc.) and chemical (special inserts with impregnation that causes the death of ticks, but is safe for humans).

Feedback received upon completion of the tests clearly stated: regardless of the set of additional protective properties, the clothing confirmed its 100% effectiveness - “no tick bites were found on the workwear.” The kits also received positive ratings in terms of comfort. Despite the dense weave of fibers, both heat-resistant and cotton versions of the suit are quite lightweight, highly breathable, and convenient design, noted by all testers.

First aid for a tick bite.

If you are bitten by a tick, you need to get rid of it as quickly as possible. If possible, it is better to go to the emergency room immediately.

First aid and the necessary information can be obtained at the trauma centers of Yaroslavl hospitals - named after Solovyov(73-67-66, 25-13-94) and named after Semashko (45-04-09).

If you do not have this opportunity, then you will have to remove the tick yourself.

It is convenient to remove ticks with curved tweezers or a surgical clamp; in principle, any tweezers will do. In this case, the tick must be grabbed as close to the proboscis as possible, then it is carefully pulled up, while rotating around its axis in a convenient direction. Usually, after 1 - 3 turns, the entire tick is removed along with the proboscis.

Removing a tick must be done with care, without squeezing its body, since this may squeeze the contents of the tick along with pathogens into the wound. It is important not to tear the tick when removing it - the remaining part in the skin can cause inflammation and suppuration. It is worth considering that when the head of the tick is torn off, the infection process can continue, since a significant concentration of the tick-borne encephalitis virus is present in the salivary glands and ducts.

If, when removing a tick, its head comes off, which looks like blackhead, 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 over a fire.

Some far-fetched advice about what to better removal Ointment dressings or oil solutions should be applied to the attached tick. The oil can clog the tick's respiratory openings, and the insect will die, remaining in the skin.

After removal, the tick bite site is treated with tincture of iodine or alcohol. A bandage is usually not required.

Where to examine a tick?

After removing the tick, it is necessary to put it in a sealed bag and take it for research to the laboratory of the “Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology of the Yaroslavl Region” in the city of Yaroslavl (Voinova St., 1) and the Yaroslavl Clinical Hospital named after N.V. Solovyov.

If the tick is infected, immunoglobucin will need to be administered. This must be done within 3 days after the bite. then it will be too late.

For people who have a voluntary medical insurance policy against tick bites, research is carried out free of charge. Such a policy is inexpensive, but you will have to purchase it every year. An insurance policy against tick bites is provided by Spasskie Vorota and Military Insurance Company (VSK).

The cost of the Spasskiye Vorota policy is 170 rubles, sum insured is 100 thousand rubles. Insurance coverage includes the risks of infection with tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis. The policy of the Military Insurance Company (VSK) costs 190 rubles, the insured amount is 200 thousand rubles. The insurance coverage includes the risk of infection with tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis.

When should you get vaccinated against ticks?

February - optimal time for spring vaccination.

It is mandatory to vaccinate those who are in the so-called risk group - people whose professional activity associated with working outside, where there is a lot of grass and bushes. Vaccinations against encephalitis should be given to children already from kindergarten. Naturally, they also vaccinate in schools, but with the consent of the parents. Our Russian vaccine can be used to vaccinate children from the age of three, but imported vaccinations are allowed from the age of one.

The completed course of vaccination is a three-time vaccination, that is, three vaccines must be administered. Optimal scheme vaccination looks like this: the first vaccination - in the fall, the second - after five to seven months, that is, in the spring, and the third - a year later, next spring. This is called a completed primary course of vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis, which guarantees reliable protection from illness. Subsequent vaccinations - once every three years.

Unfortunately, in the fall people do not think that spring will come, and with it ticks. People are “waking up” almost along with the ticks. In this case, there is an accelerated vaccination schedule, when the interval between the first and second vaccinations is shortened. The minimum interval between vaccinations depends on the type of vaccine. For the Russian vaccine it is a month. If the first vaccination was given in February, then the next one should be done in March. Immunity develops in about two weeks.

Of course, year-round vaccination is allowed, but it is better to vaccinate when ticks are still sleeping. February is the optimal time for spring tick vaccination.

Where live?

How do they hunt?

The tick climbs onto a blade of grass, raises its paws and moves them from side to side. Sniffs the air - its olfactory organs are on its paws. It grabs lightning fast and tenaciously using special suction hooks. Thus, the tick cannot jump or fly up; it sticks harmoniously like a burdock. Both males and females hunt; larvae and nymphs do not pose a threat. In the male, a hard shield covers the entire back, in the female - only the front part. This explains the bloodthirstiness of females: they enter more. They still have children to give birth to, they need a lot of food. Males bite quickly, sometimes humans do not have time to notice them. Females hang and drink for up to several days. The sucked tick secretes saliva into the wound, the first portion of which glues the trunk to the skin. This “cement” is also contagious, so you must avoid tearing the tick when removing it. Once attached, the tick moves straight upward from five minutes to an hour (depending on how quickly it finds a good place to bite), during which time it can be noticed and caught.

On sunny days, ticks are suppressed by heat and dryness, so they are active mainly in the morning (8-10 hours) and after four. With heavy dew, the morning peak occurs later, around 11 o'clock. On a hot day, ticks are more active in damp grass. If it is warm and humid, they can hunt at night. In cloudy weather, on the contrary, humidity and cold inhibit, and ticks are more active where the air is drier. On days with variable weather, tick behavior is difficult to predict. The spring surge in tick attacks (just eat and survive), usually between the beginning of May and mid-June, when it is 7-15°C outside. At the end of June - beginning of July there is a lull (the ticks have eaten enough - or are waiting out the “bad weather”) and lasts until August-September (depending on the weather). Autumn outbreak (eat before wintering) - from September to early November.

Note: Ticks cannot hunt in hot or damp rainy weather. Therefore, if the summer is wet and cool, the spring “hunting season” is longer, and if it is dry and hot, or, conversely, rainy, it is shorter. The time of post-winter awakening coincides with the appearance of the first thawed patches and the flowering of primroses: coltsfoot and anemone. The beginning of mass tick activity occurs with the flowering of bird cherry, swelling of buds and the appearance of young leaves of linden and birch. The end of activity is with the flowering of fireweed. (source: winkydog.narod.ru)

Why are there more and more ticks?

It turns out it's not the mites at all. They themselves are quite harmless. They were slandered. Ticks are carriers of infection; they are victims, not criminals. They are infected by small forest animals. If our country is completely enslaved by ticks, the number of cases may not increase, but even decrease. But if mice or hedgehogs are enslaved, epidemics are inevitable. IN last years There are not more ticks, but... mice. There are many reasons for this. For example, quantity household waste in parks and forest areas, attracting small rodents. Climate change - the warmer the winter, the higher the likelihood that both ticks and small animals will survive the winter well. Logically, after the frosts that tormented us this winter, there should be less of both. But if you ask a doctor from a vaccination center or an insurer, or a representative of a pharmaceutical company about the “tick-borne” situation, they will, of course, answer you with horror in their eyes: there are more and more ticks every year, MORE!

How to protect yourself from ticks?

The main protection is proper clothing and timely inspection. . When going to the “mite area” (uncultivated territory), seal your body as best as possible: thick cuffs on the sleeves, elastic bands. Tuck your T-shirt into your pants and your pants into your socks. Ideal clothing: thermal underwear type. Those who like to roll around in the grass can get a tick on the collar, so the collar should not be loose. Experienced tourists secure the sleeves and legs with elastic bands - any that attract you aesthetically, even if they are “monetary” will do. On his head is a bandana and a thick hat. Avoid tall grass, bushes, do not sit on fallen trees, spruce branches, logs. Examine each other every 15-20 minutes, special attention all sorts of bodily folds and neck under the hair. Check your clothes.

Anti-tick products are divided into three groups: repellent - repel ticks, acaricidal - kill, insecticidal-repellent - kill and repel.

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 CAN be applied to the skin as well as clothing. Read the instructions, they indicate when to reapply the product.

The second group includes products containing permethrin: “Pretix”, “Reftamid taiga”, “Picnic-Antiklesh”, “Gardex aerosol extreme” (Italy), “Tornado-Antiklesh”, “Fumitox-antiklesh”, “Gardex-antiklesh” , "Permanon". They CANNOT be applied to the skin. Only for clothes. All these drugs are extremely poisonous! Do not spray clothing on yourself or breathe in the toxic cloud. Remove it, process all the edges (cuffs, collars, trousers, hems of trousers), dry it, and only then put it on.

When you return home, do not throw things (in backpacks, bags) into the room - first inspect and shake them somewhere on the balcony or above the bathroom. The same applies to bouquets of flowers. Do not let pets run around the house after a natural outing; carefully inspect their fur for uninvited guests.

How to delete?

The sooner you remove the tick, the better. There is a chance that he has not yet managed to infect you. The principle is this: your body can cope with a small amount of the virus on its own, but not with a large amount. Buy a special hook for removing ticks at the pharmacy or use any other clamp (tweezers, strong thread). Do not squeeze the tick with tweezers, so as not to squeeze the contents of the salivary glands into the wound. Twist the thread closer to the trunk, stretch the ends and twist, rotating around its axis. We apply force to twisting, not pulling, so as not to tear - we pull just a little. If it does tear, cauterize the wound with alcohol and pull out the head like a splinter using a hot needle. When removing the tick, pull it strictly perpendicular to the plane. There is no need to act outrageously over the tick, as many “experienced” people do - you cannot lubricate it with oil, burn it, or otherwise contribute to its death. Before death, he will release all sorts of rubbish into the wound, possibly infected. Someone claims that when smeared with oil, the tick suffocates (does not die) and releases the victim. Experience shows that he doesn’t care about oil. If you are not sure that you can pull out a tick, get to the doctors.

What to do next?

If you are not vaccinated against encephalitis, two weeks after the bite you can do a blood test for antibodies; if you are vaccinated, this is not necessary. Monitor your condition carefully. Lyme disease testing is done three weeks after the bite. In any case, after a bite, go to the nearest medical center. Blood on tick-borne encephalitis tested in any laboratory, including paid ones.

How to deliver a tick for analysis

Place the tick in a glass container with a piece of cotton wool or cloth moistened with water, and cover with a lid. For microscopic diagnosis, the tick is delivered to the laboratory alive. Even individual fragments are suitable for PCR diagnostics. If it is not possible to immediately take it for analysis, store it in the refrigerator, but no more than two days. The results of a tick study should not be taken as absolutes. A tick can be infected, but a person cannot. A tick may be harmless, but a person will get sick because he missed the bite of an infected tick (several ticks bit him at the same time). And so on. As experts say: the diagnosis is given to a person, not a tick. Even if the test is negative, still monitor your condition.

What diseases does a tick carry?

Tick-borne encephalitis. Viral disease. Incubation period: 3-25 days. Characterized by high temperature, headache, cramps. Despite the danger of the disease, some survive it without any special consequences, but in general the risk of serious complications is very high.

Lyme disease. Bacterial disease. A person introduces Borrelia by scratching a wound. Therefore, the bite site should be thoroughly washed. The disease is treated with antibiotics and there is no vaccine against it. Incubation period: 1-20 days (usually 7-10) days. The main symptom: after 7-10 days, the spot at the site of the bite spreads in breadth, malaise appears, headache, nausea. Lyme disease is no worse than encephalitis, but quite the opposite, since humanity has learned to fight bacterial infections, unlike viral ones.

Contrary to popular myth, infected ticks do not differ from their counterparts in color or other markings.

When and how to administer gammaglobulin

An injection of gammaglobulin (immunoglobulin) is administered within three days from the moment of the bite. There is no point in placing it on the fourth day or later. If you are vaccinated, but you are bitten by several ticks at once, an injection is also given. Immunoglobulin does not provide a 100% guarantee against infection, but it softens the course of the disease. The cost is paid by the patient himself (about 700 rubles), children under 16 years old and pensioners are free. Course: three injections. It is important to know that the administration of immunoglobulin is an emergency measure and has its own side effects. It can lead to a weakening of the immune system in the future, as there is a powerful rise and then a decline. After the injection, you need to monitor your condition. Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers should discuss the issue of administering immunoglobulin with a doctor, since this drug has not been tested in this population, and the risk must be justified. There is stupid advice about giving an injection as a preventative measure before resting - the condition may worsen. And you don’t need to bring immunoglobulin with you either. Although some people use a special container for storing ampoules with a cold element (for example, if they live in the country for a long time) or simply store them in the refrigerator door.

From the rusmedserver memo (rusmedserv.com):

We DO NOT RECOMMEND the use of immunoglobulin for emergency prophylaxis in hiking conditions. This is a protein drug that can cause a severe allergic reaction (even fatal), which can be managed in field conditions impossible without special training and medications. In addition, immunoglobulin requires strict adherence to storage conditions (+2 - +8ºС), which is very difficult to comply with in field conditions.

Do I need to take antiviral drugs or antibiotics?

Antibiotics are taken only after a positive blood test result for borreliosis. If a tick has infected you with encephalitis, antibiotics will make the disease worse. Drugs like Anaferon, Arbidol and the like have no effect against TBE (tick-borne encephalitis). There is not a single drug against TBE in the world; vaccination is considered the only method of prevention. Doctors do not have a consensus on the drug Yodantipirin. It is actively advertised, but yodantipyrin has not undergone testing appropriate to international standards and cannot be considered a remedy against TBE. The substance antipyrine is not harmless, quite toxic. According to the principle “it’s better than nothing”, you can take it with you to the forest and, in case of a bite, take it according to the scheme, but keep in mind that there are more positive reviews about yodantipirin in advertising articles than from venerable doctors who are extremely skeptical about it .

Information from the Rusmedserver memo:

Clinical trials of the domestic drug yodantipirin do not respond modern requirements to performance assessment medicine. This drug CANNOT be recommended for use. Recommendations for taking iodantipyrine instead of immunoprophylaxis should be considered a mistake.

Vaccinations

Vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis registered in Russia:

• Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine culture purified concentrated inactivated dry. (Enterprise for the production of bacterial and viral preparations of the Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitis named after M.P. Chumakov RAMS Federal State Unitary Enterprise) - for children over 4 years old and adults.
• EnceVir (FSUE NPO Microgen, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation) - for children over 3 years old and adults.
• FSME-IMMUN Inject (Austria) - from 16 years old.
• FSME-IMMUN Junior (Austria) - for children from 1 year to 16 years. (Children should be vaccinated during the first year of life if they are at risk of contracting tick-borne encephalitis.)
• Encepur adult (Germany) - from 12 years old.
• Encepur for children (Germany) - for children from 1 year to 11 years.

According to the principle of action, all these vaccines are the same. Imported vaccines are capable of developing immunity to Russian strains of tick-borne encephalitis virus. Vaccination is carried out after the end of the tick season. In most regions of Russia, vaccination can begin in November. Vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis can also be carried out in the summer, for example, if you are planning a trip to a natural focus of tick-borne encephalitis. In this case, the protective level of antibodies appears after 21–28 days (depending on the vaccine and vaccination schedule). During the period of antibody production (from the first injection of the vaccine until two weeks after the second injection of the vaccine), places where ticks are found should be avoided.

Vaccination schedules:

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine culture purified concentrated inactivated dry: the second dose of the vaccine is administered in the period from 5 to 7 months after the introduction of the first (reduction to 2 months is possible), the third 12 months after the administration of the second, revaccination every three years.

EnceVir: the second dose of the vaccine is administered after 1–7 months. The most optimal interval between the first and second administration of the vaccine is 5–7 months. The third dose is 12 months after the second dose. Revaccination every three years. Emergency vaccination regimen (0–14 days–12 months).

FSME-IMMUN Inject: standard scheme: the second dose is administered after 1–3 months, the third after 9–12 months. Emergency vaccination regimen: the second dose is administered after 14 days, the third after 9–12 months. Revaccination after three years.

Encepur: standard vaccination regimen: the second dose is administered 1–3 months after the first, the third after 9–12 months. Emergency: the second dose of the vaccine is administered 7 days after the first, the third - 14 days after the second, the fourth - 12-18 months after the third. Revaccination is carried out 3 years after the fourth dose.

Immunity appears two weeks after the second dose, regardless of the type of vaccine and the chosen regimen. The third dose is administered to consolidate the result. Protection appears most quickly with emergency vaccination with Encepur - after 21 days (second vaccination after 7 days). For emergency vaccination with FSME-IMMUN or Encevir - after 28 days. Emergency regimens are not intended for protection after a tick bite, but for the fastest possible development of immunity if the timing of standard vaccination has been missed. Revaccination against tick-borne encephalitis is carried out every 3 years after the 3rd administration of the vaccine. Revaccination is carried out by a single injection of a standard dose of the vaccine. It is advisable to revaccinate against tick-borne encephalitis when the tick season has not yet begun. If one revaccination is missed, then 1 dose of the vaccine is administered. Thereafter every 3 years. If two revaccinations are missed, the primary vaccination regimen is repeated again. That is, if 3 to 5 years have passed since the 3rd administration of the vaccine, then a single revaccination is sufficient. If 6 years or more have passed, then vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis is carried out again. (

In 70 regions of the country there is an invasion every year dangerous insects.

Experts name the three most dangerous diseases that can be obtained after a tick bite - tick-borne encephalitis, ixodid borreliosis and Crimean hemorrhagic fever. The consequences of these infections are especially terrible. How to protect yourself from infectious insects during their most active period?

First victims

Warm spring days are not only a time for walks in nature, barbecues and the beginning of the summer season, but also the period of greatest activity of dangerous insects. It usually lasts until the end of summer, but the peak occurs in April-June. The year before last, in many regions there was simply an abnormal invasion of ticks. This was facilitated by a fairly warm winter with little snow.

Spring also turned out to be favorable, there was a lot of greenery and sunny days. What every living thing needs. So, when going out of town, to the country house or to the park, you need to remember the simplest safety measures.

Every year, epidemiologists in most regions of the country, long before the onset of spring, begin to warn about the need to get vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis. They have been preparing for the dangerous spring-summer season since the fall. Unfortunately, not all diseases transmitted by ticks can be vaccinated against.

Vaccines have not yet been invented for tick-borne borreliosis (TB) and Crimean hemorrhagic fever (CHF), and it is very easy to catch this infection. Judge for yourself: after the May holidays, according to Rospotrebnadzor, 39,165 people from 70 regions went to the country’s hospitals after tick bites, including 11,320 children.

And each region has its own danger. Tick-borne encephalitis can be caught almost throughout the entire territory of Crimea, in Siberia, in the North-Western District, St. Petersburg and Karelia, the Volga region, and many regions of the Central District. In the Moscow region and Moscow, as well as in the Krasnodar Territory, tick-borne borreliosis is more dangerous. In other southern regions - in Rostov region, Volgograd, in the Caucasus you can catch hemorrhagic fever. So, getting out on summer rest, you need to take this into account.

For example, during the May holidays of 2016, the most larger number people bitten by ticks were recorded in the Sverdlovsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, Tyumen, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Vologda, Leningrad regions, Krasnoyarsk, Altai and Primorsky territories.

11 cases of tick-borne encephalitis were registered in the Pskov, Irkutsk, Novgorod regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory, and the Republic of Khakassia and 11 cases of Crimean hemorrhagic fever in the Rostov region. There are two deaths. Most of them were infected with tick-borne borreliosis. 84 cases of ITB have been registered in the Kaliningrad, Moscow, Lipetsk, Belgorod, Kaluga, Vologda, Samara, Sverdlovsk, Irkutsk, Tyumen regions, in Udmurtia, the republics of Tatarstan, Tyva, Krasnodar and Transbaikal territories and St. Petersburg.

As experts say, despite the fact that in Moscow and the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and others major cities forested areas are treated annually with acaricidal preparations, but it is still impossible to protect all green areas. According to the Office of Rospotrebnadzor for the city of Moscow, last year ticks carrying borreliosis were found in some of the most crowded parks: in Kuzminki, Serebryany Bor, on Losiny Island, in Izmailovsky, Krylatsky, in the forest area of ​​Zelenograd and even Ekaterininsky.

After the May holidays the year before last, 1,296 people with tick bites, 234 of them children, have already contacted medical organizations in Moscow. In the laboratory of the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology, specialists examined 296 ticks and 21 of them were infected with tick-borne borreliosis. According to specialist statistics, usually total number insects account for 10 to 20% infected with Borrels. But tick-borne encephalitis in the Moscow region can only be caught in the Taldomsky and Dmitrovsky districts, as well as in neighboring regions - Tver, Ivanovo, Kostroma.

How to defend yourself

Specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Rospotrebnazor advise everyone who goes to the countryside or to nature in May to follow the most basic safety rules. First, treat clothing and all equipment with modern acaricidal and acaricidal-repellent agents. You can find their names on the special website Encephalit.ru. Remember that repellents only repel ticks, while acaricides kill them. People who are allergic to various chemicals, extreme care must be taken when handling. But without it you will have a much worse time.

This is especially important for Muscovites, because in the capital itself and the Moscow region there is the peak activity of ixodid ticks, which are the main carriers of tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne borreliosis, which is also called Lyme disease. You need to carefully prepare for all outings.

Contrary to popular belief, these dangerous creatures can infect their victims not only with tick-borne encephalitis - viral disease, affecting the nervous system and causing severe paralysis of muscles and respiratory tract, but also bacterial, the most common of which is borreliosis (Lyme disease), fraught with diseases of the joints (arthritis), heart (myocarditis), lesions of the central and peripheral nervous system(radiculopathies, radicular and headaches, memory loss).

However, this is not the only White spot"in our knowledge of ticks, whose victims can be anyone. We asked our experts to talk about the most common misconceptions on this topic - leading researcher at the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor Lyudmila Karan and Doctor of Biological Sciences, leading researcher at the Research Institute of Disinfectology of Rospotrebnadzor Natalya Shashina.

Myth No. 1. Dangerous ticks are found only in Siberia and the Far East

In fact. Alas. This is wrong. And although 70% of cases of tick-borne viral encephalitis are most often registered in Siberia and the Urals, disadvantaged areas for the incidence of this disease are also Tver, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Leningrad region. The number of natural foci of tick-borne borreliosis, in addition to the above, also includes Tomsk, Sverdlovsk, Vologda region. Including the Moscow region.

Every year, 10 thousand calls about tick bites are registered here and 1/10 of the cases in the country are registered. Similar cases have been recorded even in Moscow - on the territory of Losiny Ostrov, Friendship Park, Pyatnitskoye Cemetery, Serebryany Bor.

Myth No. 2. Ticks are dangerous only in May-June

In fact. The first period of tick activity in our country begins in early April and continues until mid-June. Moreover, the largest number of bites is traditionally recorded in May. But in August the time comes for the second wave of tick-borne aggression, ending only by... October. Individual bites are recorded in November, and even in... January. So this year a tick attached itself to a five-year-old resident of Rostov during a trip out of town during the New Year holidays.

Myth No. 3. Ticks are falling on us from the trees

In fact. You should not rely completely on these funds. Even when applied in full accordance with the instructions, they disappear within a few hours and require periodic repetition of the procedure. But there are no anti-tick medications applied directly to the body. In addition, in ticks that sense the proximity of blood vessels, the suction speed increases so much that acarid substances (poisonous to ticks) do not have time to prevent a bite.

As a rule, insects choose places with delicate skin (in the crotch, under the knee, armpit, etc.) or those where clothing fits tightly to the body (on the shoulder, on the thigh, etc.)

Myth No. 5. A tick bite is noticeable: a characteristic redness (erythema) that increases in size appears around it.

In fact. This identification mark is relevant only for borreliosis. And that's not always the case. In 50% of cases, a tick bite occurs without erythema. In addition, during a bite, the tick secretes an anesthetic substance. Hence the rule: when you come home from a walk in the forest, carefully examine your clothes and body and take a shower.

Myth No. 6. If you find a tick on your body, you need to fill it with sunflower oil. He'll crawl out on his own

Do not destroy or throw away the “trophy” removed from the skin, but take it to the nearest center of hygiene and epidemiology or to a department of a regional hospital that has the appropriate accreditation, where a special laboratory will determine whether the tick you brought is infected with a virus or borreliosis, which will allow doctors not only timely, but also competently provide you with medical care. After all, viral and bacterial diseases are treated differently: tick-borne encephalitis - with the introduction of anti-encephalitis gamma globulin, borreliosis - with antibiotics. The sooner this happens, the greater the chance that you will avoid dangerous health consequences.

It is better - no later than 96 hours from the moment the tick bites.

>> When going into the forest, take care of the correct equipment - light-colored clothing (it is easier to spot ticks on them) with tight-fitting cuffs, trousers tucked into shoes;

>> On summer cottage try to keep the grass trimmed short;

>> Every morning, walk through an area with a so-called flag, which you can make yourself from big piece flannel or waffle fabric attached to a stick. By running such a shaft over the grass and turning the fabric over, you can collect hidden ticks and find out if you have dangerous inhabitants in your dacha.