I was bitten by a tick. What to do if you are bitten by a tick: symptoms of dangerous diseases in humans and how long it takes for them to appear

The mite is a subclass of arthropods from the class of arachnids; the body length of a medium-sized individual is 0.5 mm.

Insect activity begins in spring and early summer; the risk of being bitten increases in warm, dry weather. When bitten, an anesthetic substance is injected into the body through the wound, as a result of which the insect’s attacks go completely unnoticed by humans.

Ticks are known to carry tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis and other dangerous diseases. If a person is bitten by an infected tick, the virus quickly enters the bloodstream and infects the entire body.

Preventive examination

After the walk, inspect the body for ticks:

• the area that is located behind a person’s ears;
• neck, chest and armpits;
• groin area and genitals;
• small of the back;
• scalp.

The main danger to humans is contracting diseases, carried by ticks:

• tick-borne typhus;
• tularemia;
• ehrlichiosis;
• tick-borne encephalitis;
• Q fever;
• Lyme disease.

At the site of the bite, redness and swelling occur; in some cases, allergic reactions may occur.

Symptoms of a tick bite in humans

The tick has a peculiar organ - a hypostome (proboscis), with which it pierces the skin of the victim and attaches itself inside the wound with the help of special saliva, which simultaneously anesthetizes (that’s why a person does not feel the moment of the bite) and secures the proboscis in the wound. The mite size is about 0.3-0.4 mm, females are 1 mm larger. By sucking blood, the tick increases in size by 2-3 times.

We can identify the main symptoms in humans associated with a tick bite; they can appear after 2-3 hours, namely:

• chills;
• redness of the place where the bite was;
• fear of light;
• headache;
• increased weakness and drowsiness;
• painful sensations in human joints.

The following symptoms of a tick bite in humans may include the following:

• skin rashes;
• severe itching;
• an increase in human body temperature to 39-40 degrees Celsius;
• there is a decrease in blood pressure;
• there is a clear ;
• You can observe an increase in lymph nodes, namely regional ones.

In addition to these symptoms, it is necessary to take into account the presence of secondary signs that the tick provoked with its bite, namely:

• nausea;
• profuse vomiting;
• hoarse voice;
• heavy breathing and shortness of breath;
• severe headache accompanied by dizziness;
• the presence of peculiar nervous disorders, for example: hallucinations.

Ticks are carriers of many diseases, including tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease), rickettsiosis and other infections. When you find a tick attached, remove it as soon as possible! You cannot delay removal. The longer a tick drinks blood, the more infection it gets into the body.

The first signs of Borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis

Lyme disease (borreliosis):

Tick-borne encephalitis:

• general and muscle weakness in the neck, arms and legs;
• feeling of numbness in the neck and face;
• chills, increased body temperature;
• nausea, vomiting;
• severe headache;
• staining the skin of the face, neck, oral mucosa and eyes red.

If these symptoms appear, you should urgently consult an infectious disease specialist or a general practitioner at a clinic, the emergency department of an infectious diseases hospital, or, if the condition is severe, go to an ambulance.

What does a tick bite look like on a person: photo

The area around the bite varies in color from pink to reddish, depending on the body's reaction. In the center there will be a noticeable deepening of the skin.

What to do if you are bitten by a tick?

Since ticks are a carrier of serious diseases, when you return home after going to a park or forest, you should not immediately lie down on the sofa. It is important to carefully examine yourself and your loved ones for ticks on your body.

If a tick is found, it must be removed from the human body as soon as possible. There are several ways to do this at home.

1. You can try to “unscrew” the insect from the skin. In this case, movements must be made counterclockwise. You need to keep the tick as close to the skin as possible to prevent the abdomen from tearing. Wrap your fingers in a bandage or gauze.
2. Another variant - using improvised means, such as thread from clothing. She needs to wrap the proboscis as close as possible to the skin and, performing rocking movements, slowly remove the tick. Some people remove ticks with their fingernails or matches.

If you did not have the opportunity to go to a medical facility and have the tick analyzed, then it is advisable to monitor the affected person for a month.

It is also worth knowing that the incubation period for Lyme disease from the onset of infection to the onset of symptoms is usually 1-2 weeks, but it can be much shorter (several days) or longer (months to years). In the case of tick-borne encephalitis, it is generally accepted that from the moment the virus enters the bloodstream until the onset of the first manifestations of the disease, from 1 day to a month passes. On average, the period is 1-3 weeks, since the forms of development of the disease are different.

Consequences of a tick bite for humans

A tick bite in itself is not dangerous to humans. Serious consequences after a bite can only occur if the insect has been infected.

The tick can be a source of quite large quantity diseases, therefore, after removing the tick, save it for examination for infection with tick-borne infections (tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease), if possible, for other infections), this can usually be done in an infectious diseases hospital. You need to understand that the presence of an infection in a tick does not mean that a person will get sick. A tick analysis is needed for peace of mind in case of a negative result and vigilance in case of a positive result.

Here is a list of diseases that ticks can transmit:

• Lyme borreliosis;
• Tick-borne hemorrhagic fevers;
• Ehrlichiosis;
• Anaplasmosis;
• Tick-borne typhus;
• Smallpox rickettsiosis;
• Tsutsugamushi fever;
• Q fever;
• Paroxysmal tick-borne rickettsiosis;
• Human babesiosis.

The most common in Russia and pose a serious threat to human health are tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis. Of course, the likelihood of becoming infected from a tick bite is not too high, because 90% of ticks, according to research, are sterile. However, it is present.

Consequences of an encephalitis tick bite

Unfavorable outcome:

• Persistent decrease in quality of life with progression of symptoms (continuous progression, abortive - recurrent).
• Persistent organic syndrome with a significant decrease in quality of life in the form of a defect motor functions without progression of symptoms.
• Contribute to the progression of symptoms: drinking, stress, overwork, pregnancy, etc.). Long-term persistent changes in the form of epilepsy, hyperkinesis are the reason for determining disability groups III, II, I.

Favorable outcome:

• Chronic weakness, lasting up to 2 months followed by full restoration body functions.
• Moderate infection with recovery up to 6 months.
• Severe infection with a recovery period of up to 2 years without paresis or paralysis.

Helpful information

• If you have saved a live tick for analysis, it will be taken in the laboratory at the infectious diseases hospital or at the sanitary and epidemiological station.
• If you are vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis, this provides protection against infection with the virus.
• 10 days after the bite, you can test the blood using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis.
• After 14 days, the blood is tested for antibodies to tick-borne encephalitis.
• Borreliosis antibodies can be detected in the blood only 30 days after infection.

Prevention

Of course, you shouldn’t deprive yourself of the pleasure of walking outside the city under the canopy of trees, because ticks can also be found in the city. It’s just that when going into the forest, you need to stick to certain rules prevention to protect yourself as much as possible from these blood-sucking insects:

1. Avoiding places where ticks accumulate, which prefer to live in damp thickets of plants.
2. Take special care during peak activity of such dangerous insects, this is the period from early May to mid-September.
3. Wearing closed clothing, and rubbing special creams and products against tick bites on open areas of the body, which will not allow insects to have access to open body person.

Prevention of consequences associated with a tick bite is based on:

1. Vaccinations (preventive measures) cannot be used if a person is infected.
2. Specific immunotherapy is a therapeutic measure (administration of immunoglobulin only in case of infection or suspected infection after a bite).
3. Using special clothing and devices to prevent ticks from getting on the body.
4. Using products to repel and kill ticks.
5. Health insurance to pay for possible treatment.

Also remember that when bitten, the infection is usually not transmitted immediately. The longer a tick stays on the body, the greater the chance of contracting encephalitis or borreliosis.

Summer is already over, and the mushroom picking season is in full swing. This is the best for mushroom pickers dangerous time, because ticks are waiting for them in the forest. But if you are afraid of ticks, do not go into the forest.

The knowledge that a tick bite can be dangerous forces some mushroom pickers to use certain protective measures. Doctors advise protecting yourself by wearing long sleeves, tucking your pants into your socks, always wearing a hat, and using repellents that should be applied to your clothing and open areas bodies.

But there are people who experience panic fear of “being bitten by a tick” and fear of getting sick. Fear of ticks, or fear of tick bites, is scientifically called acarophobia (Latin acarus - tick, Greek phobos - fear). This is one of the varieties of insectophobia - obsessive fear, fear of insects.

For many people, a tick bite causes significant stress and panic fear. As practice shows, this fear is often based on false or incomplete information. It is fueled by articles with loud headlines: “Ticks are attacking again...”, etc. Lack of information also leads to panic. Moreover, among residents of large cities, acarophobia occurs much more often than among residents of rural areas. Strangely, the fear of “being bitten” does not lead to these people using preventive measures- for example, application available funds protection. Such people are most often afraid to travel to the countryside, walk in the park, or walk on the lawn or grass. In some cases, they may need psychological help to solve this problem.

Below are photos of different mites. There is no need to be afraid of them; What is needed here is not fear, but reasonable fears and correct preventive measures.

What are Ixodid ticks?

Ixodes scapularis

During the development process, the ixodid tick goes through the following stages: egg → larva → nymph → adult tick.

The larva hatches from the egg. She has 6 legs. After she drinks blood, molting occurs and the larva turns into a nymph. The nymph already has 8 legs. The nymph sucks blood, molts and turns into an adult tick.

Typically, larvae and nymphs feed on small animals, but sometimes they can attack people. Adult ticks feed on blood and attack both large animals and people. The female tick lays eggs only after drinking blood. She is capable of drinking a volume of blood that is more than 100 times her weight. Therefore, the female stays on the victim’s body longer than the male. The tick can remain on the body for several days. After the tick has drunk blood, it removes the proboscis from the body and falls off. Having laid eggs, the female tick dies.

Behind life cycle The tick feeds several times on different hosts. At the same time, he can become infected with pathogens of various diseases and transmit them during the next feeding. Most ticks feed on a new host each subsequent time. Some species of ticks go through the first phases of their life cycle or the entire life cycle without changing their host on one animal.

Ticks do not jump or fly. In order for a tick to get on the body, you need to walk in close proximity to it. Ticks wait for their victims sitting on the ground or grass, with their front paws outstretched, on which there are special sensory organs that respond to heat and smell. When a potential victim passes by, the tick grabs it with its front paws.

Once on the body, the tick does not bite immediately. It may take several hours for a tick to attach itself. If the tick is noticed in time, the bite can be avoided.

Having chosen the site of the bite, the tick bites through the skin with chelicerae and inserts a hypostome (a special outgrowth of the pharynx similar to a harpoon) into the wound. The hypostome is covered with chitinous denticles that hold the tick. Therefore, the tick is difficult to remove.

Few people are able to feel the moment of a tick bite, since the tick numbs the bite site well. With saliva, the tick injects various substances that prevent blood clotting and increase blood flow.

What are the dangers of a tick bite?

Tick ​​activity begins at the end of April and ends with the onset of frost. The peak of activity occurs in May-June, but tick bites are possible from April to October. When the soil warms up to 5-7 degrees, the first victims of bites begin to seek help.

Ixodid ticks transmit diseases to humans and animals: tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis, ehrlichiosis and many others.

Undoubtedly, The best way prevention of these infections - protection against tick bites.

It should be remembered that ticks live not only in forests, but also in parks and on garden plots. There can also be ticks in cities: on lawns, in the grass along roadsides. Ticks sit on the ground, on grass or on low bushes. Ticks can be brought home by animals; on branches, on country or forest flower bouquets, brooms or grass; on the clothes you wore while walking in the forest. At home, a tick can bite any family member, even several days later.

Bitten by a tick: what to do?

What should I do if bitten by a tick?
You returned from the forest and found a tick embedded in your body. What to do? There is no need to panic - taking the right measures in time will help prevent possible negative consequences.

1. Remove the tick.

If tick suction does occur, an initial consultation can always be obtained by calling 03 (in Minsk - 103).

A person who has suffered from a tick bite must seek medical help from the territorial clinic at his place of residence, the regional SES or the regional emergency room to remove the tick and deliver it for examination, as well as to organize medical observation, in order to make a timely diagnosis of tick-borne infection and resolve the question of prescribing preventive treatment.

How to remove a tick yourself?

There are several ways to remove ticks. They differ only in the tool used to remove the tick.

It is most convenient to remove a tick with curved tweezers or a surgical clamp; in principle, any other 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. If you try to pull the tick out, there is a high probability of it breaking.

There are special hooks for removing ticks on sale. This hook looks like a curved two-pronged fork. The plier is inserted between the teeth and also unscrewed.

To remove ticks, there are special devices that have advantages over clamps or tweezers, since the body of the tick is not compressed, which prevents the contents of the tick from being squeezed into the wound, and reduces the risk of contracting tick-borne infections. Typically, such devices can be purchased at pharmacies.

If you don't have tweezers or special devices to remove ticks, the tick can be removed using a thread.

A strong thread is tied into a knot as close as possible to the tick's proboscis, then the tick is removed, slowly shaking it to the sides and pulling it up. Sudden movements are not allowed.

If you don’t have tweezers or thread at hand, you should grab the tick with your fingers (it’s better to wrap your fingers in a clean bandage) as close to the skin as possible. Pull the tick slightly and rotate it around its axis. There is no need to crush the tick with your hands. After removing a tick, be sure to wash your hands. The wound must be treated at home with an antiseptic.

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 the tick, its head, which looks like a black dot, comes off, wipe the suction site with cotton wool or a bandage moistened with alcohol, and then remove the head with a sterile needle (previously calcined in a fire) in the same way as you remove an ordinary splinter.

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 breathing holes, and the tick will die while remaining in the skin. Dripping oil, kerosene onto the tick, or burning the tick is pointless and dangerous. The tick's respiratory organs will become clogged, and the tick will regurgitate the contents, increasing the risk of infection.

After removing the tick, the skin at the site of its attachment is treated with tincture of iodine or alcohol, or another available skin antiseptic. A bandage is usually not required. Subsequently, the wound is treated with iodine until healing. There is no need to pour in a lot of iodine, as it can burn the skin. If everything is normal, the wound will heal within a week.

Hands and tools should be thoroughly washed after removing the tick.

When removing a tick you do not need to:

Apply caustic liquids to the bite site ( ammonia, gasoline, etc.).
- burn a tick with a cigarette.
- jerk the tick sharply - it will break off
- picking at the wound with a dirty needle
- apply various compresses to the bite site
- crush the tick with your fingers

2. If possible, check the health of the tick.

What are the dangers of a tick bite?

Ticks can be the source of a fairly wide range of diseases.

The removed tick can be destroyed, but it is better to leave it for laboratory testing for the presence of tick-borne infections. Within two days, the tick must be taken to the laboratory to be tested for infection with borreliosis, encephalitis and, if possible, other infections. Usually the analysis can be done in an infectious diseases hospital or a special laboratory.

Unfortunately, according to appearance A tick cannot be judged whether it is encephalitic or not. The tick becomes infected when feeding on an infected animal. The virus can be contained in females, males, nymphs, and larvae. The percentage of encephalitis ticks is small and varies depending on different regions, so most people who are bitten do not develop encephalitis.

Some centers agree to take only whole ticks for analysis. The answer is given in a few hours, or in a maximum of two days.

The tick should be placed in a small glass jar along with a piece of cotton wool or a napkin slightly moistened with water. Be sure to close the jar with a tight lid and store in the refrigerator.

For microscopic diagnosis, the tick must be delivered to the laboratory alive. Even individual tick fragments are suitable for PCR diagnostics. However, the latter method is not widespread even in large cities.

Even if the tick bite was short-lived, the risk of contracting tick-borne infections cannot be ruled out.

However, it should be understood that the presence of an infection in a tick does not mean that a person will get sick. A tick analysis is needed for peace of mind in case of a negative result and vigilance in case of a positive result.

If the test result is positive, there is no need to panic: firstly, even when infected, the disease does not always develop, and secondly, in most cases it ends in recovery.
If the test results are borderline or questionable, it is better to do reanalysis in 1-2 weeks.

It is advisable that a person who has suffered from a tick bite be observed by an infectious disease doctor for a month, who, if necessary, will prescribe necessary measures prevention or treatment. If more than 2 months have passed since the tick bite, there is no need to worry.

3. Calm ourselves down, dispel late doubts.

Most the right way determine the presence of the disease - take a blood test. There is no point in donating blood immediately after a tick bite, since tests will not show anything. At least 10 days must pass, then the blood can be tested for tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis using the PCR method. To test for antibodies (IgM) to the tick-borne encephalitis virus, blood should be donated two weeks after a tick bite, to test for antibodies (IgM) to Borrelia (tick-borne borreliosis) - three weeks after the bite. If the test result is positive, you should contact an infectious disease specialist.

After the tick is removed it is necessary:
- take pills according to the regimen prescribed by your doctor (if prescribed). If no infectious agents were found during tick examination, prevention continues according to the prescribed regimen.
- monitor your health and temperature
- observe the site of the bite.

If redness appears at the site of the bite, fever, headache, dizziness, vomiting, pain in the muscles of the torso and limbs, you should consult an infectious disease doctor. Redness can be both a symptom of borreliosis and an allergic reaction to a bite - slight redness around the wound in the first days after a tick bite is usually a reaction to the bite and goes away without consequences. If dirt gets into the wound, then redness may be a consequence of the development of a purulent infection.

In most patients, symptoms appear in the second week after the bite, but they may appear earlier or later (tick-borne encephalitis up to 21 days, borreliosis up to a month). If 21 days have passed since the bite, tick-borne encephalitis will no longer develop. For tick-borne borreliosis, the incubation period can be up to a month. The appearance of any of these symptoms does not mean that a disease associated with a tick bite has developed, but it is imperative to consult an infectious disease specialist.

Tick-borne encephalitis is a very dangerous tick-borne infection. Emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis should be carried out as early as possible, preferably on the first day. It is carried out using antiviral drugs or immunoglobulin. A doctor should prescribe such prevention.

When an encephalitis tick bites, the virus enters the bloodstream with saliva. In the future, events may develop differently. If the bitten person has been vaccinated and the level of antibodies is sufficient, the virus immediately binds and the disease does not develop. The development of viral encephalitis can be stopped by other antiviral defense factors, such as the interferon system. Therefore, even if the tick was encephalitic, the person bitten may not get sick. The presence of a virus in a tick does not mean that the disease will develop. The number of people bitten by encephalitis ticks significantly exceeds the number of people sick with tick-borne encephalitis. But even one bite can lead to serious illness.

The best protection against encephalitis ticks is proper clothing, repellents and vaccination.

Tick-borne borreliosis is a dangerous and most common disease transmitted by ticks. Emergency prevention of tick-borne borreliosis is usually not carried out.

To treat borreliosis, a course of powerful antibiotics is usually prescribed. For example, I was prescribed doxycycline (one of the names is Unidox Solutab) according to the regimen of 200 mg (2 capsules or tablets) at the first dose, then one tablet (100 mg) in the morning and one tablet in the evening (100 mg) for 5 days. Remember that this is a very serious dosage and only a doctor can prescribe it. There is no need to self-medicate; if in doubt, consult a doctor!

You should not focus too much on the bite and listen to your body. There are people who, having noticed a tick bite, immediately find all the symptoms. It's like the joke:
Announcement at the clinic: “Patients waiting in line for an appointment are asked not to share the symptoms of their illnesses, as this greatly complicates the diagnosis.”

At the same time, we must remember that the bite took place, and if your health worsens, immediately consult a doctor. The doctor will examine the patient, collect anamnesis and, based on it, issue a conclusion on what should be done next. The doctor’s prescriptions depend on many factors, for example: intolerance to antibiotics, pregnancy, the area of ​​activity of the victim and his age; the area in which the tick was found, the time the tick spent on the human body, etc.

Prevention.

The best way to prevent tick-borne infections is to protect yourself from tick bites.

Tick ​​protection:
- Repellents.
- Vaccination.
- Fighting ticks in garden plots.

When visiting places where there may be ticks, it is better to wear closed shoes (boots, boots, sneakers)

Before going into the forest, try to protect your body, especially your neck, arms, and legs, from tick attacks. Wear clothing that protects your skin as much as possible from contact with ticks. Button up your sleeves and tuck your pants into your socks or shoes. It is best to wear long trousers, with drawstrings on the legs, or you can tuck the trouser legs into socks so that the tick cannot crawl under the trousers. The jacket should have drawstrings on the sleeves. There are special costumes made from thick fabric and equipped with puffs that reliably protect against ticks (especially when correct use repellents).

In pharmacies, hardware and large stores, and gas stations, you can usually buy various repellents that repel insects (mosquitoes, midges, horse flies) and ticks. They are applied to the skin and washed off after visiting the forest. The protection time, method of application and contraindications are indicated on the packaging.

To protect against ticks, clothing is treated with preparations containing acaricides (substances that kill ticks). Such drugs protect against ticks for a week or more. After contact with clothing treated with an anti-tick preparation, the tick dies within a few minutes. Typically, such drugs should not be applied to the skin.

Use tick repellents according to the instructions for use.

In the forest, inspect yourself and your children every two hours, especially the areas of the thinnest skin where the tick prefers to attach itself. The tick takes a long time to find a place to bite, so inspect your clothing and body regularly. On clothes light colors It's easier to see the tick. Conduct self- and mutual examinations of the skin. The size of a tick that is not engorged with blood is 1-3 mm, and that of a tick that is engorged is up to 1 cm.

Do not walk on paths under low bushes, through bushes, or through tall grass.

When you return from the forest or park, take off your clothes and examine them carefully - ticks may be in folds and seams. Carefully inspect the entire body - the tick can attach itself anywhere. A shower will wash away any unattached ticks.

Check pets after walks and do not let them lie down on the bed. Dogs, cats and any other animals can bring ticks home.

Remember: you should not crush detected ticks with your hands, as you may become infected.

If you frequently visit tick habitats, it is advisable to get vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis. The vaccine protects for at least 3 years.

To reduce the number of ticks in your garden plot, carry out timely cleaning of the plot area and the surrounding area - remove dead wood and dead wood, cut down unnecessary bushes, mow the grass. Sowing plant antagonists such as thyme and sage is very useful.

Laboratories where you can test ticks for infections in Minsk:

Minsk City Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology

address: st. P. Brovki, 13, laboratory building of the State Institution MGTSGE, room 101 "Reception of tests."

Center for Clinical Microbiology and Immunology

address: Minsk, st. Filimonova, 23

In other cities, contact the district clinic, SES, emergency room, or call 03 (or 103).

When preparing the material, open Internet sources, materials and photographs from the sites ixodes, ru and encephalitis, ru were used

Attention! This article is for informational purposes only and cannot serve as material for independent diagnosis and treatment. Please seek advice from a specialist in your area of ​​residence.

It often happens that a person going for a walk in the forest or area with tall grass, does not even suspect that this will become a fatal mistake.

Many diseases transmitted by ticks often cause severe forms of disability, a significant reduction in life expectancy, and if the problem is detected late and treatment is started, it can even lead to death.

How dangerous are tick bites?

Ticks can become a source of dangerous diseases

This is where the ticks wait for them.

• tick-borne encephalitis;
• spotted fever;
• Omsk hemorrhagic fever;
• Crimean hemorrhagic fever;
• tularemia;

This is far from full list diseases that can develop after a tick bite in a person. Among other things, it should be borne in mind that often a person who has become a victim of a tick does not even know about it. These creatures produce saliva containing a high concentration of an anesthetic substance. In this way, insects can burrow into the skin unnoticed.

Despite the fact that it is difficult not to notice a tick that is swollen at times, it often happens that the insect falls off the wound before the person who has become its victim pays attention to it.

Therefore, the victim simply does not have the opportunity to go to a medical facility for vaccination, which leads to the fact that after a short incubation period, a disease begins to develop that can affect the rest of a person’s life. For more information about the danger ticks pose to humans, watch this video:

Even following all preventive safety measures does not allow you to 100% protect yourself from a tick bite. Considering that winters have become increasingly mild in recent years, many insects survive the cold well, this contributes not only to an increase in their numbers in a particular area, but also to the rapid expansion of their habitat.

Among other things, during the bite process, a significant amount of saliva enters human tissue. This may cause a severe allergic reaction.

Tick-borne encephalitis

There are 4 main forms of the disease, including focal febrile meningeal and paralytic. Each of the forms has its own degree of expression. The most favorable are the meningeal and febrile forms of the disease. They rarely cause severe problems. Only sometimes do these variants of tick-borne encephalitis acquire a chronic form and contribute to the development of severe encephalomyelitis, which causes a significant deterioration in the quality and duration of life.

Focal and paralytic forms of encephalomyelitis often cause the development of extremely severe complications, and lost functions due to damage to the brain and spinal cord cannot always be restored even with the most modern treatment.

The danger of this pathology lies in the fact that the central nervous system organs are primarily affected, which can have both immediate and delayed consequences.

As a rule, the characteristic manifestations of this disease begin to increase after the completion of the incubation period, the duration of which can range from 5 to 25 days. Regardless of the form of the disease, it always begins acutely. The characteristic symptomatic manifestations of this period of tick-borne encephalitis include:

• increased body temperature;
• drowsiness;
• apathy;
• chills;
• severe headaches;
• photophobia;
• discomfort when moving the eyeballs;
• skin redness;
• stiffness of the neck muscles;
• nausea and vomiting.

Subsequently, the symptomatic manifestations of the disease depend on the form of its course. With the meningeal variant of the disease, an increase in neurological disorders is observed, including facial asymmetry, nystagmus, and general hypertension. Often patients have a change in the level of consciousness and loss of sensation in the limbs.

In the paralytic form, symptoms increase rapidly, which often ends in death.

In addition to the feverish state, the patient always has a disturbance of consciousness, convulsions, and motor agitation. In the future, such brain damage can cause irreversible paralysis and other abnormalities, which, provided the patient survives during the acute period, are then extremely difficult to reverse. For information on the consequences of tick-borne encephalitis, watch this video:

It is worth noting that approximately 10% of people bitten by a tick and infected with encephalitis develop Kozhevnikova epilepsy syndrome, which is characterized by severe attacks accompanied by muscle contractions in half of the body, myoclonus and periodic generalized convulsions. In this case, this condition has a progressive chronic nature, which leads to rapid disruption of brain function and subsequent death of the patient.

In addition, there are frequent cases of the development of upper poliomyelitis in people who have had tick-borne encephalitis.

This condition is accompanied by a combination of central and peripheral paresis, the presence of high reflexes and muscle atrophy.

Tick-borne spotted and hemorrhagic fevers

A tick bite under certain circumstances can cause the appearance of one or another type of spotted or hemorrhagic fever. These diseases, as a rule, have a clear connection to a specific area. They are provoked by certain types of microorganisms transmitted through a tick bite.

For example, a group of spotted fevers develops as a result of infection of the human body with rickettsia. The most common types include:

• Mediterranean fever;
• tick-borne typhus of North Asia,
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever;
• vesicular rickettsiosis.
• Far Eastern tick-borne rickettsiosis;
• African tick-bite fever.

Although these diseases cause different types rickettsia, after all clinical manifestations they have similar ones. The most characteristic symptoms of spotted fevers include:

• papule formation;
• the appearance of a focus of necrosis and scab;
• fever;
• weakness;
• myalgia;
• arthralgia;
• insomnia;
• redness of the skin;
• rash;
• liver enlargement;
• conjunctivitis;
• scleritis;
• hyperpigmentation of the skin at the site of the rash.

Most varieties of spotted fevers have a benign course. The exception is Rocky Mountain spotted fever. With targeted drug treatment, the manifestations of the acute period of the disease can be significantly reduced.

Hemorrhagic fevers that develop after a tick bite are more dangerous diseases.

As a rule, they develop as a result of certain types of arbovirus entering the human body.

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As a rule, an increased incidence of one or another type of hemorrhagic fever is observed in a certain region where there are natural foci of infection. The Omsk and Crimean varieties of hemorrhagic fever are considered the most dangerous. The characteristic manifestations of Omsk hemorrhagic fever begin to increase after the end of the incubation period, which lasts from 2 to 4 days. The patient has:

• a sharp increase in body temperature;
• deterioration of general condition;
• Strong headache;
• muscle weakness and pain;
• lethargy and apathy.

The virus in this case primarily affects the adrenal glands, nervous system And blood vessels. After the first acute period, the disease subsides and relapses. An increase in the number of the virus in the human body under conditions of reduced immunity can have fatal consequences. Some patients with this disease experience cardiac dysfunction.

In addition, approximately 30% of people injured by a tick bite and showing signs of Omsk hemorrhagic fever subsequently develop a severe form of pneumonia.

Damage to the nervous system often causes the development of meningoencephalitis. In addition, there may be signs of kidney problems. In severe cases, restoring health may require long time. Crimean hemorrhagic fever is an even more dangerous disease. It is accompanied by a two-wave fever. After completing the incubation period, which can last from 1 to 14 days, the victim of a tick bite begins to show the following symptoms:

• rapid increase in body temperature;
• hemorrhagic rash on mucous membranes and skin;
• hemorrhages at injection sites;
• gastrointestinal and uterine bleeding;
• hemoptysis.

Among other things, signs of damage to the brain and spinal cord may increase. Depending on the intensity and rate of increase of thrombohemorrhagic syndrome, the outcome of the disease depends. The mortality rate for this disease is extremely high.

The danger of Lyme disease after a tick bite

Often Lyme disease or tick-borne erythema acquires a chronic relapsing course, which leads to dysfunction of a number of organs and first leads to disability and premature death of patients.

Once in the bloodstream, the causative agent of the disease spreads throughout the body through the circulatory system, settling in the liver, eyes, heart, synovial membranes of joints and other organs. This disease usually has 3 main stages. The first phase of development is characterized by the appearance of a characteristic round-shaped rash at the site of the bite, which is called erythema.

Additional lesions may appear on the skin depending on the speed and spread of Borrelia. The first stage of pathology development is always local in nature. Typically, the first local stage of development of borreliosis begins to manifest itself with severe symptoms after the end of the incubation period, which usually lasts from 1 to 30 days. At this stage, in addition to the characteristic spotty rashes on the skin, the following may be observed:

• general malaise;
• increased body temperature;
• enlarged lymph nodes;
• chills;
• headache
• vomit;
• nausea.

Often at this stage the disease stops and recovery is observed. This option is considered the most favorable. In other cases, the disease appears again approximately 2 to 10 weeks after the first acute period. This is the second stage of development of borreliosis.

Characteristic manifestations of the disease during this period include neurological disorders, including radiculoneuritis, meningitis and neuritis of the facial nerves.

Thus, a seemingly harmless tick bite can ruin a person’s entire future life.

In addition, approximately 4 - 5 weeks after activation of the pathological process, cardiac disorders begin to increase, including impaired ventricular conduction, atrial fibrillation, etc. As a rule, such conduction disturbances can be observed for 1 - 2 weeks, after which the condition normalizes . At the same time, at stage 2 of the development of borreliosis, cardiac dysfunctions that are fatal for the patient may develop, for example, dilated cardiomyopathy and fatal pancarditis. For more information about Lyme disease, watch this video:

The transition of the disease to phase 3 of development can occur a year, and sometimes 10 years after the tick bite. In this case, the patient progresses to encephalomyelitis, accompanied by increasing neurological disorders. In addition, there is progressive atrophic acrodermatitis and benign lymphadenosis of the skin.

Most patients develop polyarthritis. this leads to a gradual loss of a person’s ability to move normally, speak and even think.

Usually, with the progressive phase 3 of the development of borreliosis, the patient’s quality of life deteriorates significantly, and he requires constant care. Life expectancy is significantly reduced due to increasing disruption of various systems.

Ehrlichiosis as a consequence of a tick bite

Another dangerous complication of an ixodid tick attack is ehrlichiosis. There are several forms of this disease, which are provoked by different genotypes of the pathogen, transmitted to humans through a tick bite.

The incubation period usually lasts from 8 to 14 days. After completing this phase, the patient exhibits the following symptoms of the disease:

• chills;
• increased body temperature;
• thrombocytopenia;
• increased activity of liver enzymes;
• muscle pain;
• headache;
• feverish condition;
• rash.

In severe cases, the disease can be complicated by respiratory distress syndrome, neurological disorders, renal failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Mortality at different forms ehrlichiosis reaches 10%.

Babesiosis after a tick bite

This disease is characterized by a progressive, severe course. Babesiosis is accompanied by increasing fever, anemia and general intoxication of the body. The disease is currently quite rare, so this pathology is detected too late. The incubation period of the disease lasts on average 1-2 weeks.

Characteristic manifestations of babesiosis that developed after a tick bite occurred include:

• increased body temperature;
• nausea;
• vomit;
• headaches;
• greatest weakness.

Next to clinical picture increasing intoxication of the body is added, including pallor of the skin, jaundice, enlarged liver and oligonutria. In addition, symptoms of acute renal failure increase. Often it is severe uremia that causes death. In addition, signs of severe anemia, pneumonia and sepsis may appear.

Consequences of unprofessional tick removal

When a tick bites, people try to get rid of the insect as quickly as possible, which can also have fatal consequences. If the insect is removed incorrectly, its head and proboscis may remain in the wound. Usually a person can independently remove the head from the wound and treat it with a special antiseptic, but the proboscis remains. To learn how to properly remove a tick, watch this video:

If this part of the tick's body remains in the wound, the bitten person may become a victim of sepsis. The process usually develops quite rapidly. The tissues in the wound become inflamed and swollen. Then it begins to rot. The accumulation of pus in the wound becomes critical. It begins to melt the surrounding tissue.

Pus can enter the bloodstream, causing severe sepsis if a person does not promptly seek medical help, where doctors can drain the pus from the affected area.

In addition, strong antibiotics are prescribed. The duration of the course of medication should be determined by the attending physician. In the absence of timely medical care, death is possible.

How to reduce the risk of serious consequences from a tick bite?

An important point is the further treatment of the wound with special disinfection solutions.

To prevent the development of tick-borne encephalitis, an immunoglobulin vaccination is immediately carried out, which reduces the risk of developing this life-threatening disease. Watch this video about the consequences of a tick bite:

With the onset of spring, a boom in the registration of tick bite cases begins in medical institutions. Every year up to 400 thousand Russian citizens seek medical help.

The Siberian, Ural and Volga districts suffer the most from the invasions, and the North and South Caucasus least of all. It is very important to know what to do in case of a tick bite in order to prevent unpleasant consequences.

Ticks intensify their activity during the season. It is clear that in winter there is nothing to fear, but with the onset of spring the hot season begins, which lasts until the first half of summer. The last bites are recorded in late autumn.

Symptoms and signs

Ticks are dangerous because they carry pathogens of some dangerous diseases. We are talking about encephalitis, borreliosis, anaplasmosis, ehrlichiosis.

Most ticks are free from pathogens, but even an attack by a sterile tick poses a danger to humans because it can provoke severe allergic reactions.

Signs

The first signs that appear 2–3 hours after a tick bite:

• loss of strength, drowsiness;
• chills accompanied by aching joints;
• the appearance of photophobia is one of the distinctive features a person has a tick bite;
• skin inflammation and local allergies. The suction site turns red, acquiring a round shape, but there is no pain.

By the appearance of the bite, you can already understand whether a sterile tick has attached itself to the skin or is infected. For example, an insect infected with Lyme borreliosis (an infection that affects the nervous system) provokes the development of a specific rash that looks like a spot.

The spot at the site of the bite can have a diameter of 10-20 cm. But there are times when it reaches 60 centimeters! Its outline is not always correct round shape, but after a while you can see a raised outer border of intense red color. In the center the spot is bluish or white. It becomes like a donut. After 2 weeks, the scar completely disappears.

The infection is easily treated with antibiotics, but it is very important to diagnose the disease in time in order to prevent terrible consequences - disability and even death.

Symptoms

In older people and children, as well as those suffering from various chronic diseases, including allergies and immunodeficiency conditions, signs and symptoms may be exaggerated. These categories of citizens are characterized by symptoms after a bite such as headache, nausea and vomiting, difficulty breathing, hoarse breathing, hallucinations and other nervous manifestations.

• temperature increase to 37–38 ᵒС;
• cardiopalmus;
• rashes and itching;
• enlargement of regional lymph nodes.

First aid

First aid for a tick bite involves properly removing the insect, transporting it to an accredited laboratory to identify pathogens, and helping the person if they have developed a severe allergic reaction.

In order to gain a foothold on the human body, a tick needs time - from two minutes to several hours. If the insect is round in shape and gray in color, it means it has already drunk blood and will have to be removed with care so as not to damage the abdomen.

Providing medical care:

1. Removing a tick. The available tool used, a thread or your own fingers, must be treated with alcohol or another alcohol-containing product, and after removal, treat the wound with this composition.
2. First aid for tick bites involves transporting a live insect in a suitable container or bag. room temperature, and if it is dead, then it must be covered with ice.
3. Attach a piece of paper to the container or bag indicating the full name of the person from whom the insect was removed, the date, time and place of discovery, as well as contact information.
4. If you cannot remove the tick yourself, you must go to the hospital.
5. If a person develops a severe allergic reaction with swelling of parts of the face, as well as difficulty breathing and muscle pain, in other words, angioedema develops, then it is urgent to give him some kind of antihistamine - Suprastin, Zyrtek, Tavegil, Claritin, Zodak Express. Of course, it is best to administer such a drug intramuscularly along with Prednisolone and provide the victim with access to fresh air.

What to do if the tick does not stick?

Many people do not know what to do if a tick bites but does not stick. During a bite, pathogens may have time to enter the body, so the insect must be tested in any case. If it managed to escape, you need to seek advice from a specialist and undergo all the necessary tests.

How to remove it correctly at home?

You can remove a tick at home, but contrary to popular belief, you do not need to apply oil, alcohol or any other liquid to it. You can’t cauterize an insect either. It is undesirable to damage its abdomen, as this increases the risk of infection. The fact is that when breathing is impaired, the insect injects saliva under the skin, which contains pathogenic microorganisms.

The actions of the victim in this case should be as follows:

1. You can remove a tick from your body using regular thread. Form a loop out of it, try to fix it on the insect as close to the head as possible and, with slow movements, slightly swaying from side to side and rotating, pull it to the surface. You need to pull perpendicular to the skin.
2. If you can’t use a thread, you can pull out a tick from a person using your fingernails, swinging it from side to side with slow movements.
3. You can use nail tweezers or devices such as Trix, Tick Nipper.
4. It is advisable to remove the entire insect without damaging it, but it happens that the head remains inside, torn from the body. A tick without a head can still live, so it must be immediately sent for analysis, and the head removed with a needle, as if you were removing a splinter.
5. To properly remove a tick, it is recommended to disinfect the wound on the body and go with the insect to the laboratory.

What to do if you are bitten by a tick during pregnancy?

Ticks are doubly dangerous for pregnant women, because the fetus inside will also be exposed to negative impact pathogens that have entered the body. In general, the measures for providing first aid and removing the insect are the same as in normal cases, with the only difference being that the insect must be tested as quickly as possible.

Before the results arrive, doctors are unlikely to do anything, as they will be afraid of harming the child. Immunoglobulin injections are also not used, since there is no data on how they affect fetal development.

If a pregnant woman is bitten by a tick, to be on the safe side, you can start taking antiviral drugs, but not all of them are approved for use during pregnancy. You can take Anaferon, Viferon and Oscillococcinum without fear.

If, after receiving the test results, it becomes clear that the Tick-borne Encephalitis, then prognosis during pregnancy is quite difficult to predict. As you know, encephalitis causes paralysis of the body, and whether it will be possible in this case to carry a pregnancy to term and give birth to a child, doctors decide on a case-by-case basis. But more often than not, the fetus is not affected by terrible consequences.

Some of them pathological conditions can be fatal, so it is extremely important to quickly remove the attached insect. The more time a tick sucks blood, the greater the spread of infection.

Symptoms (signs) of a tick bite in humans

A person does not feel symptoms and signs after a tick bite. This happens thanks to the anesthetic that is in his saliva.

If the bite lasted very long a short time, then the risk of developing infectious consequences will still be high.

But the most important mistake of most victims is roughly pulling the bug out of the wound. This can lead to damage to the insect, and some of its particles will remain inside the wound. If an insect has attached itself to an adult, then it is simply removed in the usual way and taken to the SES.

If possible, it is preferable to go to your local emergency room or hospital.

A tick bit a child - what to do?

Ticks usually climb onto children during a walk, so after each walk, it is recommended to carefully examine the child.

Attention! Monitor your child's well-being after the bite. If signs of a cold appear, then you should consult a pediatrician, since encephalitis can be masked in this way.

Found an insect on a dog

Many people have pets. During the season of tick activity, they should be carefully examined after each walk, since ticks can spread from the dog to household members. If an insect is found on your pet, it must be removed. If possible, consult a veterinarian or do it yourself. To do this, the area around the bug needs to be treated with Vaseline or oil, then carefully unscrew the insect with tweezers.

After removal, you need to lubricate the wound with any available antiseptic, and it is preferable to burn the removed tick or throw it in the toilet.

Methods for eliminating ticks

It is quite difficult to remove a bug from a wound, since a sticky secretion is released from its proboscis when bitten, which firmly fixes the tick when bitten.

Important! You cannot use sharp tweezers or tweezers to remove a tick, since there is a high probability of simply biting off the body of the insect, and the head will remain in the wound.

If the head comes off

It often happens that if extraction is unsuccessful, part of the tick remains in the wound. This can be dangerous, since foreign particles in the wound cause suppuration or inflammation, and the infectious process lasts much longer.

In such a situation, it is necessary to treat the bite site with brilliant green or alcohol and remove the remaining particles with a disinfected needle.