Attention ticks. Reliable protection - vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis

Forest, mountains and Fresh air- this is certainly good! After a long cold weather, it is so nice to break out into the nature awakening from hibernation and enjoy the warm gentle sun.

However, trips to the forest in spring and early summer, in addition to positive emotions, are fraught with the danger of being bitten by a tick. The topic is not particularly pleasant, but it is better to study it in advance in order to be fully armed, in which case.

In this article I will tell you how to protect yourself from meeting this unpleasant arachnid, as well as what to do if he nevertheless bit you.

Although mites are as nasty as insects, they still belong to the class of arachnids and not to the class of insects. This is easy to verify, because the tick has 8 legs.

In females, the integument of the rear part is able to greatly stretch, which allows them to absorb a large number of blood, hundreds of times more than a hungry tick weighs.
Males are somewhat smaller than females. Female ticks feed for about 6 days, while absorbing an incredible amount of blood, a well-fed female becomes the size of a phalanx of the little finger, her integument becomes dirty gray with a metallic tint, and her weight increases more than a hundred times compared to the weight of a hungry individual.

Males cling to 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 and are able to stick only for a short time (less than an hour).

Interesting Facts

In the surrounding world, ticks are guided mainly by touch and smell; ticks do not have eyes. But the sense of smell of ticks is very acute: studies have shown that ticks are able to smell an animal or a person at a distance of about 10 meters.

Novosibirsk scientists conducted an experiment to find out who is most often bitten by ticks and got an interesting result: it turns out that ticks are more attracted to the smell of a female pheromone, which contains the smell of fatty acids, which are so attractive to ticks from a nutritional point of view. However, they attack men more often, since the thermal radiation of a potential victim serves as a stimulus for the attack, and the stronger sex, as you know, has a higher metabolic rate.

It is also interesting that the same scientists put forward the hypothesis that encephalitis is inherited, and therefore sexually, too, but most physicians did not agree with them. I don’t know which of them is right, but it’s probably better to refrain from sexual intercourse for a couple of weeks after the bite, as scientists advise. Little whether that? 😉

Tick ​​habitats
ticks appear in early spring as soon as the first thawed patches appear. The activity is highest in May and remains high until mid-June, when most of the ticks begin to die out due to lack of essential nutrients. The second peak falls on August-September.

Ticks are moisture-loving, and therefore their number is greatest in well-moistened places. Ticks prefer moderately shaded and humid deciduous and mixed forests (parks) with dense herbage and undergrowth. They are sedentary and rarely overcome more than a few tens of meters on their own in their lives. Usually they sit on the grass and wait for the victim to pass by in order to cling to it with their tenacious paws. The common version that a tick falls on a person from a tree is, oddly enough, erroneous. Ticks hide where you don't expect to see them. On the branches of bushes, in the grass, along the edges of trodden paths, in thickets.

How to protect yourself from a tick bite

The most best protection from ticks - avoid their habitat and observe safety precautions. However, this does not mean that you need to give up trips to nature at this time. You just need to follow simple rules:

1. Going on vacation, take care, first of all, of protecting your legs. Suitable option there will be sweatpants made of smooth fabric with elastic bands at the bottom, and even better tucked into socks. Yes, it doesn’t look very good, but it’s reliable 😉 From shoes, it’s better to give preference to rubber boots, on which the tick cannot hold on.
2. Choose plain and preferably light-colored clothes - it will be easier to notice a tick on it
3. Headgear is required, hair must be tucked under the headgear
4. Unless absolutely necessary, try not to climb the thickets. undersized shrub pluck branches from trees.
5. Check yourself and your partner hourly, especially children and animals. The tick is quite selective in choosing a place to bite. Favorite places are those where the skin is thin and delicate: inner surface thighs, groin and armpits, neck. It is these areas that should be given maximum attention during the inspection. In addition, a tick crawling on the skin is not so difficult to feel and shake off. And it takes him up to two hours to suckle, so regular checkups are a good option avoid being bitten.
6. Process before your trip outerwear and shoes by special means repelling ticks. Typically, the action of such funds lasts up to 2 weeks.

On the Internet I found advice from experienced tourists on how to protect yourself from tick attacks. It seemed funny, but suddenly someone will really take advantage of the advice 🙂

• buy two pairs of inexpensive nylon tights, the size of which will suit you;
• cut off the feet from one pair of tights and make a large hole in the crotch area; fill the edges with nail polish or glue so that they do not spread - this is how you get a nylon T-shirt;
• Wear the second pair of tights over your pants in the usual way.

I also found information about special anti-encephalitis clothing with tick traps. I haven't used it myself, but my friends wear it and it has good reviews.

What to do with a tick bite

The classic method of extraction is to wrap a loop of thread or tweezers around the tick and drop Vaseline or oil so that the tick is completely covered. So he will start to choke and get out on his own.

After 5 minutes, start periodic pulling on the thread - with due patience and without fanaticism. Gradually, the tick will be removed (may take 15-20 minutes, be prepared for this).

However, I recently learned that doctors use oil do not recommend. The tick will really begin to suffocate, but in this case it will release the maximum amount of saliva into your blood, since it will begin to feel very sick, namely, saliva contains pathogens.

After extraction, the wound must be carefully examined for the head or proboscis remaining there. If parts of the tick remain there, then you can try to pull them out with a needle calcined on fire, as we usually do with a splinter and treat the wound with iodine. And of course, in the very near future, go to the emergency room for an injection of immunoglobulin.

And it also helps to process the clearing where we set up the camp, and especially the place where children play with special means against ticks. They become many times less. Just pour the whole bottle directly on the grass and the ground around and wait until it dries.

See you! And safe travels!

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Spring "joys"

The peak of piroplasmosis occurs in the period from April to June and from September to October. But there are cases of infection in the period from June to August. The earliest cases of piroplasmosis were noted already in March, the reason for this was early spring and the warm sun. And do not think that ticks live only in the forest. They are found everywhere, in parks, city squares and even on the street.

Myths about ticks and piroplasmosis

A common myth that the “head” of a tick will crawl under the skin and live there is nothing more than a myth. The head does not live separately from the animal.

Immunity to piroplasmosis is not developed and, having been ill once, a dog can become infected again.

Piroplasmosis affects only dogs, at present there is no reliably confirmed evidence that cats can become infected with this disease. Infection with piroplasmosis occurs only through the bite of a tick. From dog to dog, and even more so, to humans, the disease is not transmitted.

Tick-borne encephalitis is not like piroplasmosis. These are two different diseases.

When to see a doctor?

How to warn?

The main prevention of piroplasmosis is the treatment with anti-tick drugs and the prevention of tick bites. When treating a dog, carefully read the instructions, correctly calculate the dose of the drug. Usually on the package it is written for dogs of what weight the product is intended. When treating small dogs with drugs intended for large breeds, poisoning is possible. With a strong infestation of the area with ticks, combined treatment with drugs with different active ingredients. After each walk, carefully inspect the dog, especially in areas where ticks are most likely to be present.

The form of processing also matters. Sprays begin to act immediately after treatment. Drops at the withers should be absorbed into the skin and distributed over it, this usually takes at least a day. The most effective today are drugs based on imidacloprid, permethrin and fipronil. But it should be remembered that no treatment by any means provides 100% protection. (author of the article Skorodumova S veterinarian) If you liked the article and the advice was useful, you can thank the author:

Where live?

How do they hunt?

The tick climbs onto a blade of grass, raises its paws and moves them from side to side. He sniffs the air - his organs of smell are on his paws. Clings with lightning speed and tenaciously, using special hooks-suction cups. Thus, the tick cannot jump or fly, it adheres harmoniously like a burdock. Both males and females hunt, larvae and nymphs do not pose a threat. In the male, a rigid shield covers the entire back, in the female - only the front. This explains the bloodthirstiness of females: they enter more. They still have children to give birth to, they need a lot of food. Males bite quickly, sometimes a person does not have time to notice them. Females hang and drink for up to several days. A sucked tick secretes saliva into the wound, its first portion glues the trunk to the skin. This "cement" is also contagious, so tearing the tick should be avoided when removing it. Having clung, the tick from five minutes to an hour (depending on how quickly it finds a good place to bite) moves in a straight upward direction, during which time it can be noticed and caught.

IN sunny days ticks are oppressed by heat and dryness, so they are active mainly in the morning (8-10 hours) and after four. With abundant dew, the morning peak comes later, from 11 o'clock. On a hot day, ticks are more active in damp grass. If it is warm and humid, then they can hunt at night. At cloudy weather- on the contrary, they inhibit moisture and cold, and ticks are more active where the air is drier. On days with variable weather, the behavior of ticks is difficult to predict. Spring spike in tick attacks (just eat and survive) usually between early May and mid June when it's 7-15°C outside. In late June - early July, there is a lull (the ticks are full - or they are waiting out the "bad weather") and lasts until August-September (depending on the weather). Autumn outbreak (to eat before wintering) - from September to early November.

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

Why are there more and more ticks?

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

How to protect yourself from ticks?

The main protection is proper clothing and timely inspection. Going to the “kleschatnik” (uncultivated territory), seal the body as best as possible: tight cuffs on the sleeves, elastic bands. Tuck your shirt into your pants, pants into your socks. Ideal clothing: type of thermal underwear. Fans of lying in the grass can get a tick by the collar, so the collar should not be free. Experienced tourists fix the sleeves and legs with elastic bands - any that attract you aesthetically, albeit “money”, will do. On the head - a bandana, a thick cap. Avoid tall grass, bushes, do not sit down on fallen trees, spruce branches, logs. Examine each other every 15-20 minutes, special attention to all sorts of bodily folds and neck under the hair. Look at the clothes.

Remedies for ticks are divided into three groups: repellent - repel ticks, acaricidal - kill, insecticidal-repellent - kill and repel.

The first group includes products containing diethyltoluamide: "Biban" (Slovenia), "DEFI-Taiga" (Russia), "Off! Extreme" (Italy), "Gall-RET" (Russia), "Gal-RET-cl" (Russia), "Deta-VOKKO" (Russia), "Reftamid maximum" (Russia). They CAN be applied to the skin as well as clothing. Read the instructions, it tells you when to reapply the product.

The second group includes products containing permethrin: "Pretix", "Reftamid taiga", "Picnic-Anticlesh", "Gardex Aerosol Extreme" (Italy), "Tornado-Antiklesh", "Fumitoks-Antiklesh", "Gardeks-Antiklesh" , "Permanon". They should NOT be applied to the skin. Only for clothes. All these drugs are extremely poisonous! Do not process clothes on yourself, do not breathe a poisonous cloud. Remove it, process all edges (cuffs, collars, trousers, trousers edges), dry it, and only then put it on.

After returning home, do not throw things (in backpacks, bags) into the room - first inspect and shake them somewhere on the balcony or above the bathroom. The same goes for flower bouquets. Do not let pets run around the house after a natural outing, carefully inspect their coat for intruders.

How to delete?

The sooner you remove the tick, the better. There is a chance that he has not had time to infect you yet. The principle is this: with a small amount of the virus, your body is able to cope on its own, with a large amount no longer. Buy a special hook to remove ticks from the pharmacy or use any other clamp (tweezers, harsh thread). Do not squeeze the tick with tweezers so as not to squeeze the contents into the wound salivary glands. Twist the thread closer to the trunk, stretch the ends and twist, rotating around its axis. We apply force to twisting, and not pulling out, so as not to tear - we pull quite a bit. If it is still torn, cauterize the wound with alcohol and pull out the head like a splinter with a hot needle. During the removal of the tick, we pull it strictly perpendicular to the plane. You don’t need to act out on a tick, as many “experienced” do - you can’t lubricate it with oil, cauterize it and in every possible way contribute to its dying. Before dying, he will release all sorts of rubbish into the wound, possibly infected. Someone claims that when oiled, the tick suffocates (does not die) and releases the victim. Experience shows that oil is on his drum. If you are not sure that you can pull out the tick, get to the doctors.

If you are not vaccinated against encephalitis, two weeks after the bite, you can do a blood test for antibodies, if you are vaccinated, this is not necessary. Monitor your condition carefully. An analysis for Lyme disease is taken three weeks after the bite. In any case, after a bite, contact the nearest first-aid post. Blood for tick-borne encephalitis is examined in any laboratory, including paid ones.

How to deliver a tick for analysis

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

What diseases does the tick carry?

Tick-borne encephalitis. viral disease. Incubation period: 3-25 days. Characterized high temperature, headache, convulsions. Despite the danger of the disease, some people tolerate it without any special consequences, but in general the risk of getting serious complications is very high.

Lyme disease. bacterial disease. A person brings borrelia, combing the wound. Therefore, the bite site should be thoroughly washed. The disease is treated with antibiotics, there is no vaccine against it. Incubation period: 1-20 days (usually 7-10) days. The main symptom: after 7-10 days, the spot at the site of the bite spreads in breadth, malaise appears, headache, nausea. Lyme disease is not worse than encephalitis, but on the contrary, since humanity has learned to deal with bacterial infections, unlike viral ones.

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

When and how to administer gammaglobulin

An injection of gammaglobulin (immunoglobulin) is administered within three days from the moment of the bite. It is pointless to put it on the fourth day and later. If you are vaccinated, but you are bitten by several ticks at once, an injection is also given. Immunoglobulin does not provide a 100% guarantee against infection, but it softens the course of the disease. The patient pays the cost himself (about 700 rubles), children under 16 and pensioners are free. Course: three injections. It is important to know that the introduction of immunoglobulin is an emergency measure and has its own side effects. It can lead to a weakening of immunity in the future, as there is a powerful rise, and then a decline. After the injection, you need to monitor your condition. Pregnant and lactating mothers should decide on the introduction of immunoglobulin with a doctor, since this drug has not been tested in this category of the population, and the risk must be justified. There is stupid advice about giving an injection as a prophylaxis before resting - the condition may worsen. And you don’t need to bring immunoglobulin with you either. Although some use a special container for storing ampoules with a cold element (for example, if they live in the country for a long time) or simply store them in the refrigerator door.

From the memo of rusmedserver (rusmedserv.com):

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

Do I need to take antiviral drugs, antibiotics?

Antibiotics are taken only after positive result blood test for borreliosis. If a tick has infected you with encephalitis, antibiotics will make the illness worse. Drugs such as Anaferon, Arbidol and the like have no effect against TBE ( tick-borne encephalitis). In the world, there is not a single drug against TBE; vaccination is considered the only method of prevention. There is no consensus among doctors about the drug iodantipyrin. It is actively advertised, but Jodantipyrin did not pass proper international standards tests and cannot be considered a remedy against TBE. The substance antipyrine is not harmless, rather toxic. According to the “better than nothing” principle, you can take it with you into the forest and, in case of a bite, take it according to the scheme, but keep in mind that positive feedback there is more about iodantipyrine in advertising articles than from venerable doctors who are extremely skeptical about it.

Information from the rusmedserver memo:

Clinical trials of the domestic drug iodantipyrin do not meet modern requirements to the evaluation of the effectiveness medicinal product. This drug CANNOT be recommended for use. Recommendations for taking jodantipyrine instead of immunoprophylaxis should be considered a mistake.

Vaccinations

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccines registered in Russia:

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine culture purified concentrated inactivated dry. (Enterprise for the production of bacterial and viral preparations of the Institute of Poliomyelitis and Viral Encephalitis named after M.P. Chumakov RAMS Federal State Unitary Enterprise) - for children over 4 years old and adults.

EnceVir (FSUE NPO Microgen, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation) - for children over 3 years old and adults.

FSME-IMMUN Inject (Austria) - from 16 years old.

FSME-IMMUNE Junior (Austria) - for children from 1 to 16 years old. (Children should be vaccinated during their first year of life if they are at risk of contracting tick-borne encephalitis.)

Enzepur adult (Germany) - from 12 years old.

Enzepur for children (Germany) - for children from 1 to 11 years old.

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

Vaccination schedules:

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

EnceVir: The second dose of the vaccine is given 1-7 months later. The most optimal is the interval between the first and second administration of the vaccine 5-7 months. Third dose 12 months after the second. Revaccination every three years. Emergency vaccination scheme (0-14 days-12 months).

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

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

Immunity appears two weeks after the second dose, regardless of the type of vaccine and the chosen regimen. The third dose is administered to consolidate the result. The fastest protection appears with emergency vaccination with encepur - after 21 days (second vaccination after 7 days). With emergency vaccination with FSME-IMMUNE or Encevir - after 28 days. Emergency schemes are not designed to protect after a tick bite, but to develop immunity as quickly as possible if the standard vaccination deadlines were missed. Revaccination against tick-borne encephalitis is carried out every 3 years after the 3rd introduction of the vaccine. Revaccination is carried out by a single introduction of a standard dose of the vaccine. Revaccination against tick-borne encephalitis is desirable to carry out when the season of tick activity has not come. If one revaccination is missed, then 1 dose of the vaccine is administered. Thereafter every 3 years. If two revaccinations are missed, the primary vaccination schedule is repeated again. That is, if from 3 to 5 years have passed after the 3rd injection of the vaccine, then a single revaccination is sufficient. If 6 years or more have passed, then vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis is carried out again. (

Where do encephalitic (European) ticks live?

The place of existence and habitat of this type of ticks are forests and surroundings of the taiga. They live under fallen dry leaves, burrow under the grass, jump from various shrubs and trees.
The most dangerous season for people is early spring, the first rays of the sun, from which the snow melts. At this time, ticks move closer to the paths that people walk most of all, hide in order to feast on fresh blood, the victim of which is a person. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, fresh blood, they feel from afar. Ticks cannot see their prey due to their lack of eyes, but they are able to tell day from night. Jumping on a person, ticks determine for themselves comfortable spot on the body for blood supply. After a long winter hunger strike taiga ticks begin to actively hunt people, the duration of their hunting is from April to the very end of June, and encephalitis mites can even stubbornly enjoy until the end of September
.
Appearance of the tick

The tick appearance is made up of two sections, this is the head and torso. On the back of ticks there is a solid shield, in males it Brown and runs along the entire back, and in females it is located only on one third of the back, and the uncovered part of the back has a brown-red color.
Ticks have eight limbs, each of which consists of several segments, which are equally located on the sides both on the left and on the right. Behind the last pair of legs they have airway, also ticks have claws and suckers, with which they can cling and hold onto plant branches on clothes, wool. On the head is a small trunk, on which there is a mouth. The saliva of the tick has an anesthetic substance due to which the person does not feel the absorption of the tick into the body.
Infection with encephalitis and many other no less dangerous diseases occurs precisely through tick saliva, the ticks themselves do not get sick with such diseases.

Types of infection as a result of a tick bite

The number of people infected from a tick bite is massively increasing every year. Ticks can be picked up not only in the forest and in the country, but even in public transport, if a passenger who has a tick hooked on his clothes sits down there, in this position the tick easily moves from one person to another.
The most common tick-borne diseases are tick-borne encephalitis, bolleriosis, and hemorrhagic fever. Symptoms of infection Symptoms of infection appear one to two weeks after a tick bite. The temperature rises sharply to 40 degrees, headache, lack of appetite, nausea, vomiting. In the most severe cases, the disease can affect the head and (or) spinal cord leading to disability and/or death.

What to do with a tick bite

If a tick is found in the body, first of all it is necessary to contact the trauma center or ambulance to safely remove it from the human body, then the doctor must administer the immunoglobulin vaccine against encephalitis. For those who are not immune from tick bite, there is a paid vaccine, but its cost is high. Safe removal of the tick from the body Using tweezers, you can independently pull out the tick, picking it up by the trunk as close to the body as possible and pulling it out, slowly loosening it from side to side and pulling it up. If there are no tweezers, you can use a strong thread, make a loop and also pull it out.

Prevention and vaccination against encephalitis

In order not to get infected with such diseases, you can take a prophylactic course of vaccinations consisting of 3 vaccines, after taking 3 vaccinations a person develops immunity and serves him up to 3 years.
ID: 4588262

Tick-borne encephalitis is especially dangerous infection, infection which is timed to coincide with a certain season of the year. This disease is also called spring-summer encephalitis, which in itself becomes clear that people are infected with it in spring or early summer.

Despite the name, you can get infected in late summer - early autumn.

Tick-borne encephalitis belongs to the group of so-called natural focal diseases, of which there are hundreds in nature.

These are the areas where any pathogen circulates, called a natural focus.

Academician E.N. Pavlovsky noted that the natural focality of diseases transmitted by any blood-sucking invertebrate animals (ticks, mosquitoes, mosquitoes, flies, etc.) is a process when the pathogen passes from the carrier to animals and from them back in a natural way, which ensures the survival of the pathogen agent as a species.

Such a center exists indefinitely. for a long time regardless of the person. If a person enters the focus, he can join the circulation chain of the pathogen and become infected.
The causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis is a virus.

Thus, the virus, having deceived the cell, ensures the construction of child viral particles, which leads to a diseased state of the cells, and sometimes to their death.

Outside the cellular organism, the virus is very vulnerable, and quickly dies even when room temperature, when boiled and exposed to various disinfectants. Nevertheless, medicines for treatment viral infections not yet created.

This is the biggest difficulty in treating any viral infections, so it is better not to get infected, if possible, and use your physical data to create a strong immune system in your body.

Tick-borne encephalitis is widespread throughout Russia, diseases have been recorded in 50 subjects Russian Federation, in the northern regions of Kazakhstan, in Belarus, Ukraine, in the Baltic countries, and is also noted in European countries (Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Poland, Germany, the Balkans, Finland and Sweden).

Such a wide spread of the disease across the territory of the Eurasian continent is facilitated by a wide range of ticks of the genus Ixodes.

So, the custodian of the tick-borne encephalitis virus in nature is mainly ticks. In Siberia and the Far East, this is Ixodes persulcatus, in the European part of Russia - Ixodes ricinus, although Dermacenthor sylvarum and Hyemaphysalis concinna can also be carriers of the disease, but their epidemic significance is limited, because. they do not stick to people, but feed on large and small cattle.

In the body of a tick, the virus can multiply and persist throughout its life. In some birds and mouse-like rodents, prolonged viremia (survival of the virus) was noted, which contributes to the preservation of the outbreak, because. such animals are sources of infection of ticks if the period of viremia coincides with the timing of bloodsucking ticks.

Transmission of the virus during metamorphosis in ticks has been established: from an egg to a larva, from a larva to a nymph, and from a nymph to an adult tick. However, with each generation, the concentration of the virus and the number of virusophoric ticks decreases. At the same time, the infection of ticks with the virus can fluctuate in wide range from 0.5% to 10%.

Many animals of natural foci are included in the virus circulation chain. The person is not obligatory element this biocenosis. Moreover, the penetration of the virus into the human body turns out to be a biological dead end for him, because. in this case, its cycle stops.
The attack of ticks and their blood-sucking is the main way of infecting people.

80% of all cases of the disease in Russia are caused in this way. The transition of the virus from the tick to the human body occurs during bloodsucking. The longer it is, the more viral particles enter the bloodstream and the more likely the development of a serious illness.

Here is the first thing you need to pay attention to. The process of sucking a tick is quite long, as well as the beginning of bloodsucking, and lasts several hours, so regular inspection of each other, at least every two hours, or inspection of yourself will protect you from sucking a tick.

In addition to infection from a tick, there is another way for the virus to enter the human body, in which 20% of patients become infected. This infection is through food products, in particular through the consumption of goat's milk, if dairy goats are grazing in places that are not safe for tick-borne encephalitis, tk. This virus persists in goat milk for up to seven days.

The conclusion suggests itself: goat's milk must be boiled or pasteurized. At the same time, as Academician E.N. Pavlovsky, eating raw cow's milk is the main way of natural immunization of the population of natural foci. So drink raw cow's milk!

When infected with tick-borne encephalitis, the disease manifests itself after 3-14 days, and sometimes later - at 21 days, but during the incubation period, people may experience disease precursors (weakness, fatigue, loss of interest in work, drowsiness, poor appetite, sometimes headaches, short-term fever) - a typical acute respiratory disease.

With such symptoms, the patient should draw the doctor's attention to the fact that he was in nature, had contact with a tick, and accurately indicate the date and place of stay. The sooner the disease can be diagnosed, the more successfully you can start the necessary treatment.

Now it is possible to establish the disease in the preclinical period of the disease. To do this, the sucking ticks are examined for the content of the pathogen in them, tk. in dead ticks, the virus persists for up to two weeks or more if they are stored at low temperatures.

But more often the disease begins acutely and even suddenly. The transition from health to illness passes so quickly that the sick can even indicate the hour of illness. Increasing headaches, general weakness, feeling of heat and often chills appear.

There is increased irritability, often vomiting, sometimes multiple. Less often, in the first days of the disease, muscle weakness, double vision, difficulty in speech and swallowing, and sometimes seizures and convulsions appear. A person becomes lethargic, apathetic, reluctant to communicate, because. every mental strain increases his headache.

Therefore, the patient is burdened by the attention of others, relatives and friends. The severity of the disease increases quite quickly and is accompanied by a rise in temperature to 38.5-39 and above.

From the first days of the disease, the so-called meningeal phenomena occur due to irritation of the meninges, which turn out to be the most stable symptom of the disease.

One of their manifestations is the stiffness of the neck muscles, the inability to straighten the leg in knee joint if it is bent at the hip joint at a right angle, etc.

Unfortunately, deaths from tick-borne encephalitis are quite common. So, we know the enemy by sight, what means of destruction he uses, we know. And once the enemy is studied, we must find his weaknesses and use them to fight him, or at least try to reduce the harm caused by him.

Contrary to popular belief, ticks do not jump from trees and bushes onto their prey. They cannot do this due to their body structure and physical capabilities. With the onset of heat and the appearance of the first thawed patches, the tick begins to show activity. As a rule, ticks are distributed unevenly over the territory of the outbreak.

They are not found in thickened areas of the forest, where the movement of any animals is difficult.
Ticks are concentrated along animal trails, paths, forest roads, next to burrows and dens, if they have been used continuously for many years, i.e. where a meeting with a host is most likely.

Do not look for ticks in dense spruce forests, in chapyzhnik - they are not there. To attack the victim, the tick rises along the dry stems of cereals, wormwood, Chernobyl to a height of 30-50-70 cm, up to a maximum of 1 m, and freezes in anticipation of its victim.

It is sensitive to the temperature of warm-blooded animals and their smells. The victim finds the tick herself, i.e., moving along the animal path, touches the plants on which the tick lurks, and it instantly hangs on the animal's fur or human clothing in the knee area or a little higher.

Then the tick crawls up the clothes and looks for an open area of ​​​​the body. It takes time for the tick to do all this, and if the animal cannot throw it off the coat, because. does not see it and does not feel it, then the person is able to see the attached tick and remove it from himself, IF HE IS ATTENTIVE.

This is the first weak point of our enemy - his slowness.

Second weak side. Clinging to clothes, the tick is looking for a naked area of ​​​​the body in order to start bloodsucking. This also takes a lot of time. Having found a naked area of ​​the body, the tick does not immediately dig into the body, and also looks for a suitable place, which may be the area where the skin is the thinnest and richest in blood vessels.

Therefore, the tick also travels through the human body in search of such a place. Not everything suits him for many reasons. In some parts of the body, the clothes are so close to the body that when the muscles move, it also constantly moves and does not allow the tick to “do its job”, while other places, such as arms and legs, are simply difficult for it to reach.

Therefore, most often ticks stick in the neck, for auricles, on the chest, in the armpits, in the inguinal folds. It is these parts of the body that need to be examined first.

The third weak side of the enemy.

Attaching a tick to the skin does not mean bloodsucking. To do this, it must be firmly established. The introduction of the proboscis does not occur immediately, it can last several hours, or even a day after the skin is pierced.

THAT'S WHY SELF AND MUTUAL EXAMINATIONS ARE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE AND ALLOW YOU TO DETECT TICKS IN TIME AND REMOVE THEM BEFORE SUCTION OR BLOODSUCKING. It must be remembered that human infection occurs during the entire period of bloodsucking.

Many different repellents have now been developed, which are used to process cattle before pasture to pasture, means of protection against blood-sucking insects and ticks for individual use, means of protecting dogs and cats from insects and ticks, etc.

Can pick up protective clothing and shoes. You can be vaccinated in advance before a long stay in nature, stock up on anti-encephalitis gamma globulin and other means. But all this should not discourage a person who is in a potentially dangerous area, because all these funds do not give a 100% guarantee against infection.

The summer period is an active time for the reproduction of blood-sucking arthropods, which need the blood of warm-blooded animals for this. We have already talked about ticks. Mosquitoes are the main danger for humans.

Mosquitoes are also carriers of arbovirus infections, which include: Batai virus, Tyagin, Crimean hemorrhagic fever (CHF), Californian encephalitis and others.

By the end of summer, the number of mosquitoes decreases, and other species are active than in spring or early summer, but the number of infected individuals increases and the concentration of viral particles in them increases.

Therefore, viruses transmitted by mosquitoes are possible. People may have a sharp rise in temperature, lethargy appears, sometimes accompanied by febrile phenomena. The first diagnosis is a cold. After three to four days, the symptoms of the disease disappear and the person, as a rule, forgets about it.

I want to warn you about another serious disease that you can catch in nature, sleeping in a haystack or straw, especially in old haystacks. This disease is called hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS).

Severe illness with blood vessels, when the walls of capillaries and arteries become fragile, like glass, and if they break, heavy internal bleeding is possible, with serious consequences and even death.

The HFRS virus is concentrated in the body of murine rodents and is excreted in the urine of these animals. Infection occurs by inhalation of dust that contains viral particles. The disease manifests itself acutely, with a high temperature, followed by febrile symptoms on the 7th - 10th day after the virus enters the body.

There is no cure for all viral infections. It is necessary during this period to support the body with vitamins, to be at rest and not to allow yourself sudden movements and physical activity. With proper treatment, fever disappears in 3 to 4 weeks, but weakness remains for a long time.

Let me finish where I started. ATTENTION, ATTENTION AND AGAIN ATTENTION TO YOURSELF AND OTHERS.

NOTE: ARBOVIRAL INFECTIONS are infections transmitted by blood-sucking invertebrates (mosquitoes, mosquitoes, flies and ticks).