Tick: small insect - big problems. See what “Tick” is in other dictionaries. Tick refers to insects.

Everyone has heard about ticks, but unfortunately, not all people know what they look like and when their period of activity occurs. You need to know the enemy by sight, so today we will tell you everything.

The most common question among our readers is what month do they appear in? We answer, the peak of their activity is early spring, then they continue their hunt until autumn.

In fact, there are about fifty thousand species of ticks in the world, which means how little we know about them. The very first fact known to a narrow circle of people is that ticks are not insects at all, but arachnids. These also include scorpions, spiders and haymakers.

We have all seen spiders and harvestmen; their appearance is familiar to us. You rarely see Scorpions in our latitudes, and you don’t really want to bump into them.

But their life is not long, it can be influenced by many factors, scientists are discovering more and more reasons why a tick lives longer or shorter every day.

By external signs They are easy to distinguish - a bedbug has 3 pairs of legs, and a tick has 4 pairs.

We list a few of them that a person can become infected with:

• Lyme disease
• Hemorrhagic fever
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• Tick-borne typhus
• Ehrlichiosis
• Q fever

If a creepy tick has attached itself to you, then you need to remove it according to these instructions, be very careful and attentive!

To prevent the disease from becoming an unpleasant surprise, it is better to take the tick that bit you or your pets to the doctor.

If there is a suspicion of illness, the hospital will immediately help you and begin immediate treatment.

Let's take a closer look at the description of what types of ticks there are, which a person should avoid and, if possible, get rid of them.

They are also sometimes called lurkers, that is, these bloodsuckers prefer to live in secluded places, such as burrows, nests, caves, and cracks. It is known that some individuals of these bloodsuckers can live up to 25 years.

Their bite is very dangerous - in just one minute this pest can infect a person with relapsing fever, and the puncture site on the skin will remind of itself for several weeks with itching and pain.

3. Scabies mite– transmitted after contact between people. Usually a female who has already been fertilized crosses over, so when she gets on the victim’s epidermis, she immediately begins to gnaw her way deeper.

After some time, she lays eggs, from which nymphs emerge and spread under the skin within two weeks.

After this time, the larvae mature and are ready to reproduce. They feed on a special substance produced by the reaction of skin secretions with tick saliva.

After mating, the males die, and the females live for about two to three months, laying eggs in the hair follicles. You can become infected with this scourge anywhere, through another person or animal.

5. Bed mites - mites do not live on human skin, but in the bed and down of blankets and pillows, dust, feeding on pieces of skin.

Although the pests themselves are small, they leave behind a lot of waste products.

They can become infected on the street. Pests feed on sebum and earwax.

7. Spider mite – cause harm not to people, but to plants. They live on the underside of leaves, sucking the juice.

Their excessive reproduction threatens the death of most of the crop or indoor plants, so there are many insecticides that will help gardeners stand up for their crops.

They carry various serious plant diseases. They live very little - from a week to a month.

8. Gamazovy – these bloodsuckers live for about seven months. They prefer to live on birds and small animals (rats, mice).

They are called accordingly - chicken, mouse, rat. But in the absence of a main source of food, ticks will bite anyone who has blood. Although they are very small, the saliva of bloodsuckers is very toxic.

These include several pests - forest, taiga, dog, forest. The larvae begin to awaken in early spring, when the earth gradually warms up under the rays of the sun.

But the danger exists only in wild forests and fields; in cities, ticks are rare, because parks are usually treated with pest control products, but in the spring, even a city dweller must follow some rules for self-preservation.

And ticks rarely sit on trees; usually their habitat is grass and bushes up to a meter high.

The fabric of outerwear also plays an important role. It should be smooth, without roughness, for example, bolognese. On it, the clawed legs of the ticks will not be able to catch on and will slide off.

In an ordinary forest you need to inspect yourself every couple of hours; in places with a large concentration of ticks, it is better to check after half an hour.

The same applies to protecting pets; the best means are Dana Ultra, Api-San, Bolfo. The drugs are produced in the form of a spray and drops, which are applied to the withers of the animal. There are also special collars on sale, which should indicate that they protect against ticks.

It is now known what types of ticks there are, and that many can negatively affect humans in some way. They not only bite and carry various serious diseases, but also attack domestic animals, livestock, poultry, and destroy crops by feeding on the juices of agricultural crops or garden plants.

The tick (Acari) is one of the oldest inhabitants inhabiting our planet. Contrary to erroneous belief, ticks are not insects, but are representatives of the arachnid order.

Description of ticks. What does a tick look like?

These representatives of arthropods rarely reach 3 mm in size; the size of mites generally ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 mm. As befits arachnids, ticks lack wings. Adult ticks have 4 pairs of legs, and specimens that have not reached sexual maturity have three pairs of legs. Having no eyes, ticks navigate in space using a well-developed sensory apparatus, thanks to which they can smell the victim 10 meters away. According to the structure of the body, all types of ticks can be divided into leathery ones, with fused head and chest, and hard (armored) ones, in which the head is movably attached to the body. The supply of oxygen also depends on the structure of the body: the former breathe through the skin or trachea, while armored animals have special spiracles.

What do ticks eat?

According to their feeding method, ticks are divided into:

Predatory blood-sucking ticks wait for their prey, lying in ambush on blades of grass, twigs and sticks. Using paws equipped with claws and suction cups, they attach to it, after which they move to the feeding site (groin, neck or head area, armpits). Moreover, the victim of a tick can be not only a person, but also other herbivorous ticks or thrips.

A tick bite can be very dangerous, since ticks are carriers of diseases, including encephalitis. Ticks can survive without food for up to 3 years, but at the slightest opportunity they show miracles of gluttony and can increase in weight up to 120 times.

Types of ticks. Classification of ticks

There are more than 40,000 species of ticks, which scientists have divided into 2 main superorders:

Description of the main types of ticks:

• Ixodidaeticks

• Argaceae ticks

• Oribati mites

• Gamasid mite

• Subcutaneous mite

• Scabies mite

• Ear mite

• Dust mite (bed, linen)

It is absolutely harmless to birds, animals and humans, since it is a complete “vegetarian” and feeds on plant juices, settling on the bottom of the leaf and sucking the juices out of it. It is a carrier of gray rot, which is destructive for plants.

• Water (sea) mite

It feeds on its relatives, so sometimes it is specially introduced by humans into greenhouses and hothouse farms to combat spider mites.

• Granary (flour, bread)mite

For humans, in principle, it is safe, but for grain or flour stocks it is a serious pest: the products become clogged with waste from the flour mite, which leads to its rotting and mold formation.

lives in the southern part of Russia, in Kazakhstan, Transcaucasia, the mountains of Central Asia, in the south Western Siberia. Mainly settles in forest-steppes or forests. Dangerous for animals and humans, it can be a carrier of encephalitis, plague, brucellosis, and fever.

harmless to humans, but dangerous to dogs. Lives everywhere. Particularly active in coastal areas and on the Black Sea coast.

Where do ticks live?

Ticks live in every climatic zone and on all continents. Due to the fact that ticks prefer damp places, their habitats are forest ravines, undergrowth, thickets near the banks of streams, flooded meadows, overgrown paths, animal fur, dark warehouses with agricultural products, etc. Selected species adapted for life in seas and reservoirs with fresh water. Some mites live in houses and apartments, for example, house mites, dust mites, and flour mites.

Spread of ticks

How long does a tick live?

The lifespan of a tick depends on the species. For example, house dust mites or dust mites live 65-80 days. Other species, such as the taiga tick, live up to 4 years. Without food, ticks can live from 1 month to 3 years.

Reproduction of ticks. Stages (cycle) of tick development

Most ticks are oviparous, although viviparous species are also found. Like all arachnids, mites have a clear division into females and males. The most interesting life cycle is observed in blood-sucking species. The following stages of tick development are distinguished:

• Larva
• Nymph
• Adult

Tick ​​eggs

At the end of spring or beginning of summer, the female tick, having had enough of blood, lays a clutch of 2.5-3 thousand eggs. What do tick eggs look like? The egg is a fairly large cell relative to the size of the female, consisting of cytoplasm and a nucleus, and covered with a two-layer shell, which is painted in a variety of colors. Tick ​​eggs can have completely different shapes - from round or oval, to flattened and elongated.

What do tick eggs look like?

Taiga and European forest tick- giants compared to their “peaceful” brothers, his body is covered with a powerful shell and 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 attach only for a short time (less than an hour). It is very easy to distinguish between a female and a male - you just need to remember what they look like. In the surrounding world, ticks navigate mainly through touch and smell; ticks do not have eyes. But ticks’ sense of smell is very acute: studies have shown that ticks are able to smell an animal or person at a distance of about 10 meters.

Tick ​​habitats. Ticks that transmit encephalitis are distributed throughout almost the entire territory of the southern part of the forest zone of Eurasia.

What places are at greatest risk of encountering ticks?

Ticks are moisture-loving, and therefore their numbers are greatest in well-moistened places. Ticks 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. In addition, they are abundant along forest edges and along forest paths overgrown with grass.

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

Some features of the placement and behavior of ticks have led to the widespread misconception in Siberia that ticks “jump” on people from birch trees. Indeed, in birch forests there are usually a lot of ticks. And a tick clinging to clothing crawls upward, and is often found on the head and shoulders. This gives the false impression that the ticks fell from above.

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, forest areas littered with windfalls, ravines, river valleys, meadows.

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. Ixodid ticks (European forest tick and taiga tick) never pounce and never fall (do not plan) on the victim from above from trees or tall bushes: ticks simply cling to their victim, who passes by and touches the blade of grass (stick) on which it sits mite.

Female ticks feed for about 6 days, absorbing an incredible amount of blood, a well-fed female becomes the size of the phalanx of the little finger, her integument acquires a dirty gray color with a metallic tint, and her weight increases by more than a hundred times compared to the weight of a hungry individual.

Males stick to for a short time, in order to replenish stock nutrients and water in the body, they are mainly busy searching for feeding females with whom they mate.

Development cycle of ticks. In May-June, having engorged itself with blood, the female lays 1.5 - 2.5 thousand eggs, from which, a few weeks later, larvae hatch, they are no larger than a poppy seed and have only three pairs of legs.

The larvae attack small forest animals and birds, sucking blood for 3-4 days, then leave their hosts and go to the forest floor. There they molt, turning into the next phase of development - nymphs, which are larger and already have four pairs of limbs.

Having overwintered, the nymphs go out to “hunt” in the same way, but choose larger victims: squirrels, chipmunks, hares, hedgehogs. After a year, the engorged nymph turns into either a female or a male.

Thus, the development cycle of a tick lasts at least three years, and can drag on for four to five years. During this time, ticks feed only three times, and out of thousands of larvae, only a few dozen adult individuals emerge; the rest fail to survive.

Only adult females and males are dangerous to humans, while larvae and nymphs pose no threat.

How is the feeding process of ticks carried out and how does human infection occur?

Infection. How and why does infection occur? As paradoxical as it may sound, the danger of infection with tick-borne encephalitis is an integral and natural property of our forests. The most important role in maintaining natural foci of infection belongs to small forest animals - voles, mice, shrews, squirrels and chipmunks. The animals themselves are susceptible to infection; the virus multiplies well in their bodies, but the disease proceeds without visible harmful consequences. In addition, the virus also multiplies in the body of its carrier, the tick.

Those infected with the virus tick-borne encephalitis ticks, the pathogen is capable of multiplying in many tissues and organs and is very often present in salivary glands. Having attached itself to the body of the host (including humans), the tick begins to secrete saliva into the resulting wound. The first portion of saliva hardens in air and forms the so-called “cement secretion”, which firmly adheres the proboscis to the skin. Together with this saliva, the virus enters the animal or human body, and if the dose of the virus is large enough, a disease may develop. As studies have shown, the above-mentioned “cement secretion” can contain up to half of the total amount of virus contained in the tick. Therefore, even if you remove the tick almost immediately after it has attached itself, you can still become infected, in this case the source of infection will be the “cement” remaining in the skin. It has also been proven that the infection is transmitted by the bite of males. A short-term and painless bite from a male may not be noticed, especially when the forest is full of mosquitoes and midges. Most likely, quite common cases of tick-borne encephalitis, when patients deny the tick bite, are associated precisely with an attack by males.

Where do virus-infected ticks come from in nature? The fact is that natural foci of tick-borne encephalitis existed long before the appearance of humans in Siberia. It is not known for sure whether the virus was originally associated only with ticks or only with vertebrates. However, in the process of evolution, the virus has adapted to exist in both organisms. Although the virus actively reproduces in wild forest animals, they do not exhibit pathological disorders characteristic of the human disease. At the same time, those animals that do not collide in their natural environment with this pathogen (for example, house mice or some monkeys, which are used as experimental animals in virological studies) get sick in exactly the same way as people.

Adult ticks pose a danger to humans.

If you are bitten by a tick...

Hungry mite small - neither give nor take a flax seed. But a seed equipped with four pairs of tenacious legs, a piercing-sucking proboscis and a pair of sharp “knives”. His destiny is to cling and suck.

On the body of a potential "breadwinner" mite unerringly selects the place with the thinnest skin and the vessels closest to it. Most often it sticks to the scalp, ear area, elbow and knee bends.

Weakness, weakness, aches, a feeling of numbness in the neck, shoulder girdle, arms and lower back, severe headache, dizziness, photophobia, nausea, vomiting - this is how the human body reacts to the toxins of the virus that has taken over it. The temperature, as a rule, stays at least 38 degrees. The face, neck, and upper body are red from overcrowding of blood vessels. The same can be said about the larynx and the sclera and conjunctiva of the eyes. The disease can also begin with a sudden loss of consciousness, sudden psychomotor agitation, delirium, or an attack similar to epileptic convulsions. Loss of orientation in space, paresis and paralysis of the muscles of the arms and neck, spontaneous rhythmic contractions in individual muscle groups of the limbs are also symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis, its most severe forms. These spontaneous twitches are one of the manifestations of the so-called hyperkinetic syndrome. It is registered mainly in children and adolescents under 16 years of age. And sometimes it remains for years after recovery.

• How to behave in the forest

When going into the forest, try to protect yourself from tick attacks:

• wear light-colored clothing with long sleeves that fit tightly to the wrist;
• tuck your trousers into high boots; be sure to wear a headdress (scarf or hat);
• treat clothing with a tick repellent;
• When moving through the forest, try to stay in the middle of the path, beware of tall grass and bushes.

It is not difficult to recognize the forest tick: it looks like a brown-red bug. A hungry tick is small, only 2-3 mm. A tick that has “dined” “grows” up to 10-15 mm.

If there are a lot of ticks and you are still forced to stay in the forest, the insects removed from your clothes and body should be thrown into a jar with kerosene or carbolic acid or burned. They should never be thrown away or crushed. The released tick will try to attach itself again, and if crushed, it can become infected, especially if there are abrasions on the hands.

You cannot bring freshly cut grass into the tent. Dry it in the sun first - direct mite sun rays can't stand it, leaves.

Mite can crawl onto a person from the body of a pet, including cats and dogs. You can bring a tick into the house with hay, with a bouquet of flowers, or on clothes. This is how small children sometimes become infected.

Boiling kills the tick-borne encephalitis virus in 2 minutes.

• If you are bitten by a tick

If you find a tick on your body, try to remove it without delay, but also without fuss. Gently stretch your body tick right and left, while trying to free the proboscis. You can lubricate the tick with some oil - this will make the task easier. If the proboscis still remains in the wound, remove it like a splinter. Lubricate the wound with iodine or alcohol and try to see a doctor as soon as possible. Right after tick bite you may be given a preventative injection. But it’s good if you managed to save the body of the tick or its fragments - transfer it to the laboratory as soon as possible - they will determine whether it was infectious.

Patients with tick-borne encephalitis are not at all contagious, but many will probably feel calmer if they know: the virus dies from contact with alcohol, formaldehyde, phenol, other disinfectants, as well as from ultraviolet rays.

About tick-borne encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis(spring-summer encephalitis, taiga encephalitis) is a viral infection that affects the central and peripheral nervous system. Severe complications of acute infection can result in paralysis and death.

The main reservoir of the tick-borne encephalitis virus in nature is its main carriers, ixodid ticks, whose habitat is located throughout the forest and forest-steppe temperate climatic zone of the Eurasian continent (map). Despite the significant number of species of ixodid ticks, only two species are of real epidemiological significance: Ixodes Persulcatus (taiga tick) in the Asian and in some areas of the European part, Ixodes Ricinus (European forest tick) in the European part.

Tick-borne encephalitis is characterized by a strict spring-summer seasonality of the onset of the disease, associated with the seasonal activity of vectors. In the range of I. Persulcatus, the disease occurs in spring and the first half of summer, May–June, when the biological activity of this tick species is highest. For ticks of the species I. ricinus, there is an increase in biological activity twice per season, and in the range of this tick there are 2 peaks of seasonal incidence of tick-borne encephalitis: in spring (May–June) and at the end of summer (August–September).

Human infection with the tick-borne encephalitis virus occurs during the blood-sucking of virus-forming ticks. The female tick's blood-sucking continues for many days, and when fully saturated, it increases in weight 80–120 times. Blood sucking by males usually lasts several hours and may go unnoticed. Transmission of the tick-borne encephalitis virus can occur in the first minutes of tick attachment to a person. It is also possible to become infected through the digestive and gastrointestinal tracts by ingesting raw milk from goats and cows infected with tick-borne encephalitis.

Types of tick-borne encephalitis virus. Recently, domestic experts have adopted the division of tick-borne encephalitis viruses into three subtypes - Western, Siberian, Far Eastern.

The disease of tick-borne encephalitis in Europe occurs in a milder form than in the eastern part of the area of ​​tick-borne encephalitis. For example, the mortality rate in the European part of Russia in different years was 1–3%, and in the Far East, deaths occurred in 20–40% of those sick with tick-borne encephalitis.

Many researchers are inclined to believe that the severity of the disease depends on the ability of the virus to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, affecting or not affecting the brain.

Signs of tick-borne encephalitis. The incubation period of tick-borne encephalitis lasts on average 7-14 days with fluctuations from one day to 30 days. Transient weakness in the limbs, neck muscles, numbness of the skin of the face and neck are noted. The clinical manifestations of tick-borne encephalitis are diverse, and the course is variable. The disease often begins acutely, with chills and an increase in body temperature to 38–40°C. Fever lasts from 2 to 10 days. General malaise, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, weakness, fatigue, and sleep disturbances appear. In the acute period, hyperemia of the skin of the face, neck and chest, mucous membrane of the oropharynx, injection of the sclera and conjunctiva are noted. I am worried about pain throughout the body and limbs. Muscle pain is characteristic, especially significant in muscle groups, in which paresis and paralysis usually occur in the future. Sometimes they are preceded by numbness, paresthesia and other unpleasant sensations. From the moment the disease begins, clouding of consciousness and stupor may occur, the intensification of which can reach the level of coma. Usually characterized by varying degrees of stupor (stupor). However, the disease often occurs in mild, erased forms with a short febrile period. Often, mites appear at the site of suction different sizes erythema. However, the so-called migratory ring erythema is often a clinical marker of another infection - tick-borne borreliosis or Lyme disease, also carried by ticks.

Course of the disease. Despite the variety of manifestations of the acute period of tick-borne encephalitis, in each individual case the leading syndrome of the disease can be identified. Based on this, and also taking into account the severity and persistence of neurological symptoms, five clinical forms of tick-borne encephalitis are distinguished: 1) febrile (erased); 2) meningeal; 3) meningoencephalitic; 4) poliomyelitis; 5) polyradiculoneuritis.

1) The febrile form of tick-borne encephalitis is characterized by a favorable course with rapid recovery. The duration of fever is 3-5 days. Its main clinical signs are toxic-infectious manifestations: headache, weakness, nausea - with mild neurological symptoms. CSF values ​​are without deviations from the norm.

2) The meningeal form is the most common form of tick-borne encephalitis. Patients complain of severe headache, increasing with the slightest movement headaches, dizziness, nausea, single or repeated vomiting, eye pain, photophobia. They are lethargic and inhibited. Rigidity of the neck muscles, Kernig's and Brudzinski's symptoms are determined. Meningeal symptoms persist throughout the febrile period. Sometimes they are detected at normal temperature. The duration of fever is on average 7-14 days. In the cerebrospinal fluid there is moderate lymphocytic pleocytosis up to 100-200 per 1 mm3, an increase in protein.

3) The meningoencephalitic form of tick-borne encephalitis is observed less frequently than the meningeal form (the national average is 15%, in the Far East up to 20-40%). This form of tick-borne encephalitis has a more severe course. Delusions, hallucinations, psychomotor agitation with loss of orientation in place and time are often observed. Epileptic seizures may develop. There are diffuse and focal meningoencephalitis. With diffuse meningoencephalitis, general cerebral disorders are expressed (profound disorders of consciousness, epileptic seizures up to status epilepticus) and scattered foci of organic brain damage in the form of pseudobulbar disorders (breathing disorders in the form of brady- or tachypnea, like Cheyne-Stokes, Kussmaul, etc.), irregularities deep reflexes, asymmetric pathological reflexes, central paresis of facial muscles and tongue muscles. With focal meningoencephalitis, capsular hemiparesis, paresis after Jacksonian convulsions, central monoparesis, myoclonus, epileptic seizures, and, less commonly, subcortical and cerebellar syndromes quickly develop. In rare cases (as a consequence of a violation of the autonomic centers), gastric bleeding syndrome with hematemesis may develop. Characteristic are focal lesions of cranial nerves III, IV, V, VI pairs, somewhat more often VII, IX, X, XI and XII pairs. Later, Kozhevnikov epilepsy may develop, when general epileptic seizures with loss of consciousness appear against the background of constant hyperkinesis.

4) Poliomyelitis form of tick-borne encephalitis is observed in almost a third of patients. It is characterized by a prodromal period (1-2 days), during which general weakness and increased fatigue are noted. Then periodically occurring muscle twitching of a fibrillar or fascicular nature is detected, reflecting irritation of the cells of the anterior horns of the medulla oblongata and spinal cord. Suddenly, weakness may develop in any limb or a feeling of numbness may appear in it (in the future, severe motor disturbances often develop in these limbs). Subsequently, against the background of febrile fever (1-4 days of the first febrile wave or 1-3 days of the second febrile wave) and general cerebral symptoms, flaccid paresis of the cervicobrachial (cervicothoracic) localization develops, which can increase over several days , and sometimes up to 2 weeks. The symptoms described by A. Panov are observed ("head hanging on the chest", "proud posture", "bent, stooped posture", techniques of "torso throwing the arms and throwing back the head." Poliomyelitis disorders can be combined with conduction disorders, usually pyramidal: flaccid paresis of the arms and spastic - legs, combinations of amyotrophy and hyperflexion within one paretic limb. In the first days of the disease, patients with this form of tick-borne encephalitis often have a pronounced pain syndrome. The most typical localization of pain is in the neck muscles, especially along the back surface, in the area of ​​​​the shoulder girdle and arms. The increase in motor disturbances in tick-borne encephalitis continues for up to 7-12 days.At the end of the 2-3rd week of the disease, atrophy of the affected muscles develops.

5) The polyradiculoneuritic form of tick-borne encephalitis is characterized by damage to peripheral nerves and roots. Patients develop pain along the nerve trunks, paresthesia (a feeling of “crawling goosebumps”, tingling). The symptoms of Lasseg and Wasserman are determined. Sensitivity disorders appear in the distal parts of the extremities of the polyneural type. Like other neuroinfections, tick-borne encephalitis can occur as Landry's ascending spinal palsy. Flaccid paralysis in these cases begins from the legs and spreads to the muscles of the torso and arms. The ascent can also begin from the muscles of the shoulder girdle, involving the cervical muscles and the caudal group of nuclei of the medulla oblongata.

A fundamentally special variant is tick-borne encephalitis with a two-wave course. The disease is characterized by an acute onset, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, pain in the limbs, sleep disturbance, anorexia and the presence of two-wave fever. The first febrile wave lasts 3-7 days and is characterized by a mild course. There are moderate meningeal symptoms without damage to the cranial nerves. In the peripheral blood - leukopenia and accelerated ESR. The first febrile wave is followed by a period of apyrexia, lasting 7-14 days. The second feverish wave begins as acutely as the first, the temperature rises to high numbers. Patients are lethargic, inhibited, nausea and vomiting appear, and meningeal and focal symptoms of damage to the nervous system are detected. In peripheral blood - leukocytosis. It's high quality new phase illness, it is always more severe than the first and lasts longer. During the first feverish wave, normal cytosis and increased cerebrospinal fluid pressure are detected in the cerebrospinal fluid. During the second wave, cytosis is 100-200 or more cells per 1 μl, lymphocytes predominate. The protein and sugar content increases. The course of the disease is acute, recovery is complete. There are isolated cases of chronic progressive course.

Emergency care for tick-borne encephalitis. If symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis are detected, the patient should be urgently admitted to an infectious diseases hospital for intensive treatment.

There is specially designed clothing (BioStop®) that reliably protects against ticks and other blood-sucking creatures.

If a tick is sucked on, it should be removed, and to be examined for infection with tick-borne encephalitis and other infections, you should go to an infectious diseases hospital. At positive result During the course of the study, the victim is given immunoglobulin against tick-borne encephalitis. Its administration is most effective within 1 day after a tick bite; it is not administered 4 days after a tick bite.

Use only boiled or pasteurized milk.

One of the latest achievements of science was the creation of a highly effective antiviral drug called YODANTIPYRINE. This drug was approved on December 20, 2001 by the pharmacological committee of the Russian Ministry of Health as an antiviral drug with preventive and therapeutic properties for tick-borne encephalitis in adults. Yodantipyrine is able to destroy the tick-borne encephalitis virus within 12-24 hours from the moment of infection (tick bite). Yodantipyrine can be ordered on our website.

Ticks belong to the subclass arthropod class arachnids. The mite order has more than 54,000 species. By size they are classified as small, small and microscopic spiders. Their size allowed them to settle into the top layer of soil, rich in decaying organic matter, which led to such a diversity of species.

Appearance

The structure of mites is not diverse. Some internal changes Compared to their wild counterparts, animals and domestic animals have suffered from ticks. These arachnids have both a non-segmented body and an oval or spherical body divided into an abdomen and head. It is covered with hard chitinous plates or shell. Ticks have 6 pairs of limbs, the first 2 form a kind of proboscis, the remaining 4 are used for movement. The first pair has a claw-like shape; under a microscope, the mite resembles a kind of crab (photo is provided).

All ticks are divided into 2 sexes; development occurs with metamorphosis. Ticks reproduce at different rhythms depending on living conditions. The first stage is the laying of eggs, from which the larvae emerge. During its development, the tick larva molts several times. After the first molt, she enters the nymph stage, after the last she is considered mature (imago). Different types of ticks at the larval stage go through several periods of transformation, marking the next stage of development. Ticks reproduce where they live. Ticks feed on liquid or semi-liquid food.

Nutrition and threat to humans

House ticks have adapted to living near humans or on their bodies. Most ticks live in natural environments, including the most dangerous look- taiga tick (also known as ixodid tick). It is he who is the carrier of many dangerous diseases. Ticks choose damp places, ravines, prefer tall, dense grass and shady places. Having a good sense of smell, they set up ambushes along forest paths. Information about where ticks live, what types of ticks are found specifically in your area, which areas are treated and safe, and when the highest tick activity is achieved can be obtained from the sanitary and epidemiological station.

How dangerous are ticks to humans? The likelihood of transmitting serious diseases acquired from wild animals through saliva is too high. The activity of ticks in the spring-summer period leads to the fact that in Russia 2000-3000 people become infected with encephalitis per year. A tick bite can also cause:

• epilepsy and hyperkinesis;
• Lyme disease (borreliosis);
• nephritis;
• arthritis;
• indigestion;
• horse racing blood pressure and arrhythmia;
• pneumonia or pulmonary hemorrhage;
• complete loss of legal capacity and ability to move and care for oneself (in the worst cases).

Main types of ticks

Actions to take if bitten by a tick

Removal using tools

Devices for self-removal of ticks are available in the form of plates with a drop-shaped hole and spoons or hooks with a V-shaped slot. The embedded tick must be pryed as deep as possible under the head and carefully pulled out using twisting and rocking movements. All instruments small sizes, they can be used as key rings. Products available include Tick Twister and Trixie hooks, Ticked Off spoon, Pro-Tick and Tick Key plates.

What to do after extraction

If extraction was unsuccessful and the head remained under the skin, it must be removed with a disinfected needle. After extraction, in any case, the wound is treated with iodine, alcohol (vodka) or another disinfectant solution. The extracted tick must be submitted to a laboratory for testing. If an insect is removed in a medical facility, such a study is required. For greater safety, the extracted tick is placed in plastic bag or a glass flask (vial) with soaked pieces of paper.

Preventive actions

• repellent (repellent): Gall-RET, Deta-WOKKO, Biban, Reftamid maximum, Off! Extreme, DEFI-Taiga;
• acaricidal (killing): Reftamid taiga, Tornado-Antiklesch, Fumitox-anti-mites, Permanon, Piknik-Antiklesch, Gardex aerosol extreme;
• complex (repellent and killing): Kra-rep, Mosquito-anti-mite.

Correct actions will prevent a tick bite, and even if this happens, it will allow you to avoid serious consequences.

General information about ticks

Ticks ( lat. Acari, Acarina)- a detachment of small arachnids.

The length of the tick's body is usually 0.2-0.4 mm, very rarely reaching 3 mm. The body is whole or divided into 2 parts, which do not correspond to the cephalothorax and abdomen of spiders - the border runs somewhat closer to the front of the body. There are usually 6 pairs of appendages, of which the 4 posterior pairs in most adults are legs (larvae are usually six-legged). Leg segments: coxa, trochanter, femur, knee, tibia and tarsus. The tarsus (end segment) is usually armed with claws and stalk-shaped suckers. The anteriormost pair of appendages are chelicerae, they are pincer-like (gnawing) or form piercing-cutting mouth structures. The second pair are pedipalps, also included in the complex of oral organs. In the most primitive mites they are free, but in a typical case they are fused at the bases and, together with the chelicerae and some other parts of the body, form a “head”, movably attached to the body. The free ends of the pedipalps serve as palps or grasping devices. Usually there are 4 simple eyes. Representatives of some families have a soft body, with leathery chitinous covers, while in others it is protected by hard shields or a shell.

The danger of ticks lies in infecting a person or animal with various diseases, such as: “tick paralysis”, rickettsiosis, spirochetosis, viral fevers, tick-borne typhus, tularemia, etc. In large cattle- Texas fever (pyroplasmosis) and anaplasmosis, in horses - encephalomyelitis and encephalitis. By various sources, the total number of diseases that ticks can infect is about 60. The first symptoms of any of these diseases can begin from 2 days to 2 weeks after the bite.

The most dangerous of all diseases is tick-borne encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain that can lead to death.

It is impossible to distinguish a tick carrying infectious diseases from a healthy one by eye. This can only be done by preserving the extracted tick. It must be brought to the nearest sanitary and epidemiological station with a request to determine whether it is contagious. If yes, then urgently consult a doctor.

There are vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis, so if you have to work a lot or are in places where ticks actively accumulate, it is better to get it before the tick season begins.

Tick ​​activity begins in May and ends in September. The peak is in May-August. Therefore, when traveling during this period of time to areas with increased tick-borne danger, thirty to forty days before departure, it is advisable to undergo anti-encephalitis vaccination at the district or city sanitary inspection center.

While in the forest, you should try to avoid damp, shaded places with dense undergrowth and grass, and do not unnecessarily climb into young aspen or raspberry forests, where ticks are most often found. There are especially many ticks along the sides of forest paths and roads, where they wait for their prey, sitting on overhanging branches of small bushes up to 1 m in height and on grass stems. Occasionally, ticks fall onto the head from trees.

For safety reasons, it is preferable to choose light groves without undergrowth and bushes, dry pine forests, open glades and similar places where it is windy and sunny. There are few ticks here. In addition, we must remember that ticks are most active in the morning and evening. In hot weather or during heavy rain, ticks are inactive, which reduces the risk of their attack.

It is better to dress shirts and pants with fleece with the pile inward, so that it is more difficult for ticks to cling to the material. Experience shows that a huge number of mites can accumulate in fleecy fabrics. The bottom of your pants is the most likely route for a tick to enter your body. The cuffs of the trousers should be pulled to the ankle using elastic bands, pieces of rope, a stem of grass, or tucked into socks. In general, it is better to travel in tick-prone areas in high boots. The cuffs of the sleeves should also be buttoned and pulled together at the wrists or tucked under the elastic of the gloves.

Before going to areas where ticks accumulate, treat clothing in areas where ticks may crawl from clothing onto the body with a tick repellent. Ask about them at the pharmacy or in specialized stationary or online tourism stores. Read more about anti-tick products in the next chapter.

Important! In people prone to, some of these drugs can cause a serious intolerance reaction. Therefore, before use, it is better to consult a doctor or apply a little of this product to your hand, and if there is no negative reaction on your body within an hour, then the product can be applied.

Important! It is impossible to remove ticks from fabric by simply shaking the clothing.

When a tick penetrates under clothing, it does not bite immediately, but moves around the body for some time, looking for a convenient place, therefore, if you are attentive enough and listen to yourself, you can feel the tick crawling on the skin and remove it in time.

Ticks mainly bite humans in areas with the most soft tissues skin, which includes: behind the ears, neck, internal sides elbows, under the arms, stomach, groin, inner sides of the legs, under the knees.

Tick ​​protection

All commercially available products, depending on the active substance, are divided into 3 groups:

Repellent– repel ticks.
Acaricidal- they kill!
Insecticidal-repellent– preparations of combined action, that is, they kill and repel ticks.

Repellents

Repellents include products containing diethyltoluamide: “Pretix”, “MEDILIS-from mosquitoes”, “Dipterol”, “Biban”, “DEFI-Taiga”, “Off! Extreme", "Gall-RET", "Gal-RET-cl", "Deta-VOKKO", "Reftamid maximum", "Permanon". They are applied to clothing and exposed areas of the body in the form of circular stripes around the knees, ankles and chest. The tick, avoiding contact with the repellent, begins to crawl in the opposite direction. Protective properties Treated clothing lasts up to five days. The advantage of repellents is that they are also used to protect against midges, applied not only to clothing, but also to the skin. Preparations that are more dangerous for ticks should not be applied to the skin.

To protect children, drugs with less toxic components have been developed - this is an aerosol "Medilisic for children against mosquitoes", creams "Fthalar", "Efkalat", "Off-children" And "Biban-gel", colognes "Pikhtal", "Evital", means "Camarant".

Acaricides

In acaricidal agents, the active substance is the insectoacaricide alphamethrin (alphacypermethrin), which has a nerve-paralytic effect on ticks. Upon contact with treated clothing, ticks become paralyzed in their limbs and fall off the clothing.

These products are intended only for the treatment of clothing due to toxicological indicators and should not be applied to human skin!

The main form of application: aerosol packages containing propellant and with a mechanical sprayer (propellant-free packaging - BAU). These are “Reftamid taiga”, “Picnic-Antiklesh”, “Gardex aerosol extreme”, “Tornado-antiklesh”, “Fumitox-antiklesh”, “Gardex-antiklesh” and others. Currently, about 30 such drugs are registered (see the journal “Disinfection Business” 2010, No. 2, p. 36-41). An exception is the acaricidal block "Pretix", produced in Novosibirsk. They draw several encircling stripes on trousers and jackets before going into the forest. You just need to ensure their safety, as the strips fall off quite quickly.

Do not treat clothing worn by people with products in aerosol containers. The clothes are laid out, processed and, after they have dried, put on. The protective properties of clothing treated with an acaricidal substance last up to 14 days.

Insecticidal and repellent agents

Insecticidal-repellent preparations combine the properties of both repellent and acaricidal agents - they contain 2 active ingredients: diethyltoluamide and alphamethrin, therefore they protect against ticks and blood-sucking flying insects (the “gnus” complex).

Insecticidal and repellent products are available in aerosol packages: “Medilis-comfort”, “Kra-rep”, “Moskitol-spray” - special protection against ticks", "GardexExtreme - aerosol against ticks", "Tick-kaput aerosol". Just like acaricides, insecticidal-repellent agents are applied only to clothing.

Important! It is better to purchase chemical products against ticks at specialized points of sale, and in no case at spontaneous markets, where they may sell you unknown products that endanger your health. Imported products must have instructions in Russian. Each product must be certified!

— You can reliably protect yourself from tick bites only by “dressing correctly” and carefully treating your clothes chemical agent protection.

— When choosing a means of protection against ticks, it is better to give preference to acaricidal or insecticidal-repellent agents.

- Apply the product to clothing in circular strips, especially carefully treating clothing around the ankles, knees, hips, waist, as well as sleeve cuffs and collars.

— When using this or that product, be sure to read the instructions and follow their instructions.

— Do not forget to reapply the drug after the time indicated on the package.

— We must remember that rain, wind, heat, sweat, etc. reduce the duration of action of any chemical protective agent.

If you find a tick on yourself

A tick bite is almost invisible: the insect injects an anesthetic into the wound. Therefore, a tick is usually not detected immediately.

It should be removed only if you can treat the tick bite site with a lapis pencil, iodine, sublimate solution or other antiseptic - this way you will protect yourself from infection of the wound. Under no circumstances should you crush a tick, since then the viruses from the crushed body (if there are any in it) will get into the wound and the person will become infected with the diseases that he carries.

If you do not have disinfectants on hand, then you should not proceed to remove the tick yourself, and get to the emergency room as soon as possible.

If you have an antiseptic, then after treating the bite site (a circle with a diameter of 1 cm, along with the tick), there are several ways to pull it out yourself:

Option #1. Take sunflower oil and anoint the tick's protruding tail. Some time will pass and the tick, given that its respiratory tract is located in the tail part, will crawl out on its own. Or it will simply be easier to carefully unscrew it.

Option #2. Lubricate the tick with kerosene, and it will fall off on its own; if not, then at least it will be easier to remove. The approximate time for a tick to emerge on its own is 10-15 minutes.

Option #3. Take a wax candle, light it and drip wax onto the tick. He will fall into such a wax vacuum, he will also have nothing to breathe and then he will be completely yours.

Option number 4. Take regular curling irons, such as eyebrow curlers or tweezers, and gently twist them clockwise or counterclockwise.

Option #5. Take strong thread, make a loop on it and, throwing it over the bug, pull it as close to the proboscis as possible. Then begin to carefully move the ends of the rope left and right. Sudden movements are unacceptable - the abdomen of the tick can come off, leaving the head in the skin. As a rule, after 2-3 minutes of such “torture” the tick disappears.

There are also special devices in the world for removing ticks from the skin, and here is one of them:

Important! It is better to remove the tick while wearing a gauze bandage. This is due to the fact that if a tick bursts with blood, a viral aerosol is released into the air, which, when it enters the respiratory organs, can cause asthmatic symptoms.

Important! If, when removing the tick, its head comes off and remains under the skin, then 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). Just like you remove an ordinary splinter.

After removing the tick, you can either put it in a container and tightly close the lid for analysis, or destroy it, preferably burn it. Crushing won't work very well, because... his body is flat and hard. If you simply crush it and throw it away, it may turn out to be alive, so if you destroy it, then do it to the end. If you still save the tick, then it is better to take it to the laboratory so that doctors can find out whether the tick that bit you is a carrier of some kind of virus. If so, then see a doctor to prevent the disease.

After removing the tick from the body, treat the site of the tick bite with an antiseptic, alcohol or iodine solution.

Important! After removing the hand and the bite site, it is necessary to disinfect it, since infection is possible through the gastrointestinal tract when food is taken with dirty hands. You should not touch your eyes or the mucous membranes of your mouth and nose with untreated hands.

See your doctor immediately if:

— A red spot has formed at the site of the bite;
— ;
— ;
- Muscle pain has appeared;
— A rash appeared all over my body.

According to doctors, every 5th tick in Ukraine is a carrier of encephalitis, so be attentive to the symptoms after a bite, and do not delay visiting a doctor!

For emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis, if anti-tick immunoglobulin cannot be used (presence of contraindications, late seeking help - more than 96 hours have passed since the tick bite), doctors recommend the antiviral drug Anaferon. The drug increases the formation of interferons in the body and is approved for use in children from 1 month. Anaferon is recommended to be used after a tick bite for 21 days. The drug can be prescribed in more late dates(later 96 hours from the moment of the bite), but earlier application is preferable. In addition, Anaferon can be prescribed in parallel with the use of anti-mite immunoglobulin.

Video about ticks

Types of ticks

Here are some of the types of ticks:

The group of ixodid ticks includes two families: Argasidae and actually Ixodidae ticks.

Argasid mites (Argasidae) have soft, leathery integuments. They hide in the cracks of houses or nests of their owners and attack them at night, quickly sucking out required quantity blood. In this they are similar to bed bugs, and the bites cause itching. Species of argasid ticks from the genus Ornithodorus, distributed throughout the world, can serve as carriers of tick-borne relapsing fever (spirochetosis).
In Argasid ticks, the phenomenon of omovampirism occurs - when a hungry individual attacks a well-fed “fellow” and feeds on the blood it drinks.

Ixodid ticks are more or less covered with hard chitinous scutes. They lie in wait for their host in nature and, having attached themselves to him, suck blood for several days, or even weeks.

– the most extensive group of soil mites, most abundant in forest soils and litter. They use their gnawing chelicerae to chew rotting plant debris with abundant microflora. But they are of greatest interest as intermediate hosts of tapeworms that infect sheep and other herbivores, which swallow ticks crawling onto grass blades with helminth larvae inside.