Who are ticks?

What do ticks look like?

The following are distinguished: forms of encephalitis: febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, polio.

In febrile form

With meningeal form

With polio form

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

Who are ticks?

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

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

There are also dust mites or bed mites that live in our homes. They live in sofas, carpets, pillows and blankets. They are very small in size, they cannot be noticed, but they cause great harm, causing itching and red spots on the skin, as well as allergic reactions.

There are also mites - meadow mites, steppe mites, dog mites, scabies mites, eye mites, ear mites and others. But today we will turn our attention to ixodid ticks, typical carriers of encephalitis and borreliosis (and others no less dangerous diseases) is the taiga tick (also called the deer tick) and the European tick ( popular name- encephalitis ticks).

Where do encephalitis ticks live?

Ticks live in forests and taiga areas. They live under a layer of fallen leaves and grass and attack their victims by crawling from bushes, leaves, grass, and also from the ground. But, as many believe, ticks do not jump from trees.
As soon as the sun begins to warm up and the ground is freed from snow cover, ticks go hunting. They attach their tenacious limbs to the leaves of plants, move closer to the paths along which humans move, and wait for their prey. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, and they smell fresh blood. But ticks cannot see, since they do not have eyes. But they are able to distinguish day from night. Once on a person or animal, ticks look for a suitable place on the body to attach themselves.

Ticks are especially active and aggressive in early spring, after a hungry winter they need food. So get hooked taiga tick possible from April to June, and even in July, and the European tick is fierce from April to September.

What do ticks look like?

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

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

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

The female is larger than the male. It is believed that only females attach to the body and can suck blood for up to several days. The female's body enlarges when she drinks blood, becomes ovoid in shape and changes color to grey colour. Males only bite humans and are not capable of sucking blood for a long time.

What diseases does a tick carry?

The number of people bitten by ticks is increasing every year. You can increasingly catch a tick not only in the forest, but also on summer cottages, in city parks and squares. Summer residents carry them on their clothes on trains, on buses, in bouquets of flowers, with their harvest. Ticks crawl from the clothes of people visiting the forests onto passengers of public transport, and a person is horrified to discover a bloodsucker that has attached itself to his skin.

Of the diseases carried by ticks, the best known are tick-borne encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever and Lyme disease or borreliosis.

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

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

The following are distinguished: forms of encephalitis: febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, polio.

The first symptoms of the disease appear within 1-2 weeks after the tick bites; the disease begins with a sharp increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. The high temperature lasts for several days. At the first stage of the disease, the virus multiplies in the blood and intoxicates the body.

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

In particularly severe cases, brain cells and spinal cord. A person develops problems with the psyche, vision and hearing, a disturbance of consciousness occurs, numbness of the hands, convulsions, and paralysis are noted. The last two forms of tick-borne encephalitis lead to disability and death.

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

With meningeal form Encephalitis in humans also causes severe headaches, dizziness, photophobia and eye pain, nausea and vomiting, and lethargy. The fever lasts from one to two weeks.

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

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

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

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

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

There are also dust mites or bed mites that live in our homes. They live in sofas, carpets, pillows and blankets. They are very small in size, they cannot be noticed, but they cause great harm, causing itching and red spots on the skin, as well as allergic reactions.

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

Where do encephalitis ticks live?
Ticks live in forest areas. They live under a layer of fallen leaves and grass and attack their victims by crawling from bushes, leaves, grass, and also from the ground. But, as many believe, ticks do not jump from trees.
As soon as the sun begins to warm up and the ground is freed from snow cover, ticks go hunting. They attach their tenacious limbs to the leaves of plants, move closer to the paths along which humans move, and wait for their prey. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, and they smell fresh blood. But ticks cannot see, since they do not have eyes. But they are able to distinguish day from night. Once on a person or animal, ticks look for a suitable place on the body to attach themselves.
Ticks are especially active and aggressive in early spring; after a hungry winter, they need food. So you can pick up a tick from April to June.

What do ticks look like?
The tick's body consists of two sections - the body and the head. There is a hard shield on the back, and in the male it is brown and covers the entire back, while in the female only a third of the back is covered with the shield. The rest of the back is reddish-brown.

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

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

The female is larger than the male. It is believed that only females attach to the body and can suck blood for up to several days. The female's body enlarges when she drinks blood, becomes ovoid in shape and changes color to gray. Males only bite humans and are not capable of sucking blood for a long time.

What diseases does a tick carry?
The number of people bitten by ticks is increasing every year. It is increasingly possible to pick up a tick not only in the forest, but also in summer cottages, city parks and public gardens. Summer residents carry them on their clothes on trains, on buses, in bouquets of flowers, with their harvest. Ticks crawl from the clothes of people visiting the forests onto passengers of public transport, and a person is horrified to discover a bloodsucker that has attached itself to his skin.
Of the diseases that ticks carry, the most well-known are tick-borne encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever and Lyme disease or borreliosis.

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis
Tick-borne encephalitis is transmitted by the bite of an encephalitis tick. Encephalitis is a dangerous viral disease that affects the central nervous system and brain and can lead to disability and even death.
The following forms of encephalitis are distinguished: febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, poliomyelitis.
The first symptoms of the disease appear within 1-2 weeks after the tick bites; the disease begins with a sharp increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. The high temperature lasts for several days. At the first stage of the disease, the virus multiplies in the blood and intoxicates the body.
All forms of the disease begin with a rise in body temperature to 38-40 degrees, marked by fever, general malaise, headaches in the forehead, temples, back of the head, lethargy, weakness, lack of appetite, nausea.
In particularly severe cases, cells in the brain and spinal cord are affected. A person develops problems with the psyche, vision and hearing, a disturbance of consciousness occurs, numbness of the hands, convulsions, and paralysis are noted. The last two forms of tick-borne encephalitis lead to disability and death.

In the febrile form, headaches, nausea, weakness are noted, the temperature lasts for several days, then the fever stops and the person recovers.
- With the meningeal form of encephalitis, a person also experiences severe headaches, dizziness, photophobia and eye pain, nausea and vomiting, and lethargy. The fever lasts from one to two weeks.
- In the meningoencephalitic form, hallucinations and loss of orientation in time and space are added to the symptoms characteristic of the meningeal form. A sick person may experience epilepsy attacks, convulsions, and possible loss of consciousness.
- In the polio form, there is fatigue and severe weakness and pain in the neck, shoulders and arms, decreased skin sensitivity, twitching of the arm muscles, hanging of the head on the chest, a feeling of numbness in the tissues of the arms, legs and muscle atrophy and paralysis of the limbs.

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

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

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

Without treatment, after 1-3 months, the Borreliosis pathogen penetrates through the blood into the internal organs, into the human brain. Patients experience severe throbbing headaches, dizziness, chest pain, and shortness of breath. The cardiovascular system is damaged, heart diseases develop, and heart pain is noted. The nervous system is damaged musculoskeletal system. Patients may experience facial paralysis, serous meningitis, pain in the spine (cervical, thoracic, lumbar regions).
At the third stage (develops from six months to two years), joint pain appears (most often in knee joints), arthritis, polyarthritis, osteoporosis and other diseases develop. Skin lesions often occur.
Lyme disease progresses differently in each person: for some, only the first stage is noted, for others, the disease begins in the second or third stage. But if left untreated, the disease becomes chronic and leads to disability. Borreliosis can also be contracted from unboiled milk of domestic animals.

We invite you to watch a video about Lyme disease here;

What should I do if bitten by a tick?
What to do if you find a tick attached to your body? First of all, you need to seek help at the emergency room, where the tick will be removed from your body and there you will be given immunoglobulin for tick-borne encephalitis.

How to remove a tick?
If it is not possible to seek help from medical institution, you can remove the tick yourself. The tick should be pulled out carefully so as not to damage it. You can pull it out using tweezers, picking up the tick with tweezers near the proboscis, closer to the skin where the tick is embedded. There is no need to pull sharply; you need to pull the tick out carefully, swinging it to the side and pulling it up.

If you don't have tweezers at hand, you can use a strong thread. A loop of thread should be placed closer to the tick's proboscis, tighten and pull the thread up, swinging the tick from side to side. After the tick is removed, lubricate the bite site with iodine or alcohol.

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

If you don’t want to hand over the tick to the SES, you need to destroy it, preferably burn it. Don't forget to wash your hands and tweezers well.

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

What to do if the tick breaks off when you remove it yourself? You just need to carefully pick it up with tweezers and pull it out. If the head or proboscis of the tick is deep in the wound and you are afraid to pull it out, you can go to the clinic. Or you can simply lubricate the wound with iodine and after a while, the remains of the tick parts will appear on the surface of the skin along with the abscess and come out like a splinter.

There is an opinion that an attached tick can be forced to crawl out of the skin by lubricating it with oil. But experts do not advise doing this, since the tick will suffocate and die from the oil, regurgitating the contents of its stomach into the wound, and the infection will quickly penetrate the human body.

Prevention from tick bites

Vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis
To avoid catching this after a tick bite dangerous disease, like tick-borne encephalitis, vaccinations are provided. The course consists of three vaccinations, immunity from tick-borne encephalitis lasts up to three years.

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

Every 15-20 minutes, inspect your clothes, your fellow travelers, and if you find a tick, remove it, but do not crush it with your hands; it is better to burn it with a lighter or match. After the hike, carefully examine your entire body, paying special attention to the ears, armpits, groin areas, and neck. Also carefully examine your clothes and things that you took with you to the forest or to the dacha.

Chemical protection
To prevent tick bites, use chemicals - creams, aerosols, which are sold in stores and pharmacies - these are repellents (repel ticks), acaricidal agents (kill ticks), as well as insecticidal-repellent agents (repel and kill).

Process chemicals clothing - cuffs, collar, belts of trousers, as well as clothing around the ankles, knees, lower back, waist, open areas of the body - face, neck, arms.

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

Medical insurance against tick-borne encephalitis
Insure yourself and your children against tick bites every year. The cost of the insurance policy is not high, from 200 to 250 rubles. If you are bitten by a tick, then health care is free of charge (examination by a doctor, removal of a tick, administration of immunoglobulin, treatment in case of illness). Without an insurance policy, you will have to pay for all medical services and treatment.

Be careful when walking through the forest, working or relaxing in your summer cottage.

Take care of yourself and watch your health!

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

Who are ticks?

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

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

There are also dust mites or bed mites that live in our homes. They live in sofas, carpets, pillows and blankets. They are very small in size, they cannot be noticed, but they cause great harm, causing itching and red spots on the skin, as well as allergic reactions.

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

Where do encephalitis ticks live?

Ticks live in forests and taiga areas. They live under a layer of fallen leaves and grass and attack their victims by crawling from bushes, leaves, grass, and also from the ground. But, as many believe, ticks do not jump from trees.
As soon as the sun begins to warm up and the ground is freed from snow cover, ticks go hunting. They attach their tenacious limbs to the leaves of plants, move closer to the paths along which humans move, and wait for their prey. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, and they smell fresh blood. But ticks cannot see, since they do not have eyes. But they are able to distinguish day from night. Once on a person or animal, ticks look for a suitable place on the body to attach themselves.

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

What do ticks look like?

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

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

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

The female is larger than the male. It is believed that only females attach to the body and can suck blood for up to several days. The female's body enlarges when she drinks blood, becomes ovoid in shape and changes color to gray. Males only bite humans and are not capable of sucking blood for a long time.

What diseases does a tick carry?

The number of people bitten by ticks is increasing every year. It is increasingly possible to pick up a tick not only in the forest, but also in summer cottages, city parks and public gardens. Summer residents carry them on their clothes on trains, on buses, in bouquets of flowers, with their harvest. Ticks crawl from the clothes of people visiting the forests onto passengers of public transport, and a person is horrified to discover a bloodsucker that has attached itself to his skin.

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

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

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

The following are distinguished: forms of encephalitis: febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, polio.

The first symptoms of the disease appear within 1-2 weeks after the tick bites; the disease begins with a sharp increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. The high temperature lasts for several days. At the first stage of the disease, the virus multiplies in the blood and intoxicates the body.

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

In particularly severe cases, cells in the brain and spinal cord are affected. A person develops problems with the psyche, vision and hearing, a disturbance of consciousness occurs, numbness of the hands, convulsions, and paralysis are noted. The last two forms of tick-borne encephalitis lead to disability and death.

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

With meningeal form Encephalitis in humans also causes severe headaches, dizziness, photophobia and eye pain, nausea and vomiting, and lethargy. The fever lasts from one to two weeks.

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

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

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

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

Who are ticks?

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

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

There are also dust mites or bed mites that live in our homes. They live in sofas, carpets, pillows and blankets. They are very small in size, they cannot be noticed, but they cause great harm, causing itching and red spots on the skin, as well as allergic reactions.

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

Where do encephalitis ticks live?

Ticks live in forests and taiga areas. They live under a layer of fallen leaves and grass and attack their victims by crawling from bushes, leaves, grass, and also from the ground. But, as many believe, ticks do not jump from trees.
As soon as the sun begins to warm up and the ground is freed from snow cover, ticks go hunting. They attach their tenacious limbs to the leaves of plants, move closer to the paths along which humans move, and wait for their prey. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, and they smell fresh blood. But ticks cannot see, since they do not have eyes. But they are able to distinguish day from night. Once on a person or animal, ticks look for a suitable place on the body to attach themselves.

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

What do ticks look like?

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

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

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

The female is larger than the male. It is believed that only females attach to the body and can suck blood for up to several days. The female's body enlarges when she drinks blood, becomes ovoid in shape and changes color to gray. Males only bite humans and are not capable of sucking blood for a long time.

What diseases does a tick carry?

The number of people bitten by ticks is increasing every year. It is increasingly possible to pick up a tick not only in the forest, but also in summer cottages, city parks and public gardens. Summer residents carry them on their clothes on trains, on buses, in bouquets of flowers, with their harvest. Ticks crawl from the clothes of people visiting the forests onto passengers of public transport, and a person is horrified to discover a bloodsucker that has attached itself to his skin.

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

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

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

The following are distinguished: forms of encephalitis: febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, polio.

The first symptoms of the disease appear within 1-2 weeks after the tick bites; the disease begins with a sharp increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. The high temperature lasts for several days. At the first stage of the disease, the virus multiplies in the blood and intoxicates the body.

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

In particularly severe cases, cells in the brain and spinal cord are affected. A person develops problems with the psyche, vision and hearing, a disturbance of consciousness occurs, numbness of the hands, convulsions, and paralysis are noted. The last two forms of tick-borne encephalitis lead to disability and death.

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

With meningeal form Encephalitis in humans also causes severe headaches, dizziness, photophobia and eye pain, nausea and vomiting, and lethargy. The fever lasts from one to two weeks.

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

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

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

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

Who are ticks?

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

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

There are also dust mites or bed mites that live in our homes. They live in sofas, carpets, pillows and blankets. They are very small in size, they cannot be noticed, but they cause great harm, causing itching and red spots on the skin, as well as allergic reactions.

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

Where do encephalitis ticks live?

Ticks live in forests and taiga areas. They live under a layer of fallen leaves and grass and attack their victims by crawling from bushes, leaves, grass, and also from the ground. But, as many believe, ticks do not jump from trees.
As soon as the sun begins to warm up and the ground is freed from snow cover, ticks go hunting. They attach their tenacious limbs to the leaves of plants, move closer to the paths along which humans move, and wait for their prey. Ticks have a well-developed sense of smell, and they smell fresh blood. But ticks cannot see, since they do not have eyes. But they are able to distinguish day from night. Once on a person or animal, ticks look for a suitable place on the body to attach themselves.

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

What do ticks look like?

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

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

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

The female is larger than the male. It is believed that only females attach to the body and can suck blood for up to several days. The female's body enlarges when she drinks blood, becomes ovoid in shape and changes color to gray. Males only bite humans and are not capable of sucking blood for a long time.

What diseases does a tick carry?

The number of people bitten by ticks is increasing every year. It is increasingly possible to pick up a tick not only in the forest, but also in summer cottages, city parks and public gardens. Summer residents carry them on their clothes on trains, on buses, in bouquets of flowers, with their harvest. Ticks crawl from the clothes of people visiting the forests onto passengers of public transport, and a person is horrified to discover a bloodsucker that has attached itself to his skin.

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

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis

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

The following are distinguished: forms of encephalitis: febrile, meningeal, meningoencephalitic, polio.

The first symptoms of the disease appear within 1-2 weeks after the tick bites; the disease begins with a sharp increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. The high temperature lasts for several days. At the first stage of the disease, the virus multiplies in the blood and intoxicates the body.

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

In particularly severe cases, cells in the brain and spinal cord are affected. A person develops problems with the psyche, vision and hearing, a disturbance of consciousness occurs, numbness of the hands, convulsions, and paralysis are noted. The last two forms of tick-borne encephalitis lead to disability and death.

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

With meningeal form Encephalitis in humans also causes severe headaches, dizziness, photophobia and eye pain, nausea and vomiting, and lethargy. The fever lasts from one to two weeks.

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

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

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

ATTENTION: PLIERS!

With the onset of time for picking berries and mushrooms, a person in the forest faces danger in the form of a small, but dangerous insect tick.

Ticks can carry various diseases, including tick-borne borreliosis or Lyme disease(Lyme disease), tick-borne encephalitis.

Lyme disease has been known for a long time. This is a chronic or recurrent disease that affects the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, joints and muscles. Lyme disease can lead to long-term disability, and with severe manifestations, late presentation or late treatment - even to the patient’s disability.

The main carrier of the pathogen (Borrelia) is pasture ticks of the genus Ixodes. Infection of adult ticks with borrelia reaches 60%, but in only 6-8% of ticks borrelia penetrate the salivary glands, and then from there into the human and animal body.

Natural carriers of Borrelia in nature are small mammals, rodents, and artiodactyls. The pathogen can affect domestic animals - cats, dogs, small and large cattle, horses.

The disease is not transmitted from a sick person to a healthy person, but infection of the fetus from the mother during pregnancy is possible.

Infection occurs during the period of high tick activity - April - May and late summer - early autumn in suburban forests, as well as in forest parks within the city, in garden plots.

SIGNS OF THE DISEASE:

· 1-3 weeks after a tick bite, malaise, weakness, muscle pain, fever (from slight to 39°) and other phenomena that usually accompany any infection may occur.

· in more than half of patients, a characteristic two-color reddening of the skin with a darker ridge on the periphery appears at the site of the tick bite and gradually increases in size (sometimes reaching 60 mm or more).

· the skin in the affected area is often painful to the touch. The redness in the center becomes bluish in color and then fades.

If left untreated, serous meningitis, neuritis of the cranial nerves, radiculitis may occur, disturbances in the functioning of the heart, decreased memory, attention, and increased excitability may occur. Later, large joints (usually the knees) are affected.

Tick-borne encephalitis – acute illness people, flows with

inflammation of the central nervous system

It has been found in our country for a long time, but has been studied relatively recently.

Infection occurs when bitten by a tick, if it contains the causative agent of tick-borne encephalitis. Infection is also possible by crushing an infected tick, when the virus gets into microtraumas on the skin and mucous membranes, or by consuming raw milk from goats and cows grazing in tick habitats.

SIGNS OF THE DISEASE

· The latent period in most cases lasts 7-12 days. Sometimes the disease develops after 8-14 days, less often after 20-30 days.

· In many cases, the disease is almost unnoticed by a person.

Possible mild pain in the muscles or lower back, pain in the arms and legs, slight headache.

· Along with weakness, a feeling of slight numbness in the hands may appear.

· There may be slight dizziness, nausea, groundless anxiety and fear.

· often the disease begins suddenly. Already on the first day, body temperature rises to 38°, on the second day – to 39-40.5°. Fever lasts 7-8 (less often 12-14) days. Patients have severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, aggravated by a concussion or during transportation. Possible blackouts, delirium, drowsiness, convulsions and epileptic seizures.

When the immune system is weakened, the body is weakened by OTHER diseases, severe physical or mental stress, stress, hypothermia or overheating when drinking alcohol, the disease is more severe

It is very important to identify the disease in the early stages - this will facilitate the course and outcome of the disease

HOW TO PREVENT FROM THESE DISEASES?

· clothes must be tucked in, sleeves buttoned (or have a tight elastic band), hair tucked under a headdress or headscarf, and the collar must fit tightly around the neck.

· every two hours, conduct self- and mutual examinations of clothing and body, including the scalp, where there may also be ticks.

· Ticks can be brought into your home with bouquets of flowers, herbs, berries, mushrooms, or on the fur of pets. Animals, gifts of nature and dishes (baskets, baskets, buckets) must be carefully inspected.

IF A TICK IS ENTERED......

· it is necessary to cover the tick with a drop of oil for 20-30 minutes, place a thin thread under its head, and tighten it. Then, loosen it and remove it. Treat the suction site with iodine solution.

· Monitor your health for a month.

· If any signs of the disease appear, immediately contact an infectious disease doctor at the clinic at your place of residence.

Reliable protection – vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis

For questions regarding the prevention of these diseases, please contact:

Along with the awakening of nature, those whom we are not at all happy to see have also awakened - ticks. It is in April, as well as in September - October, that the peak activity of these insects dangerous to humans is observed.

The main way a tick gets on a person is when the latter hooks a branch or blade of grass on which the tick is sitting, ready to attack.You can also advise avoiding dry, dead branches - ticks love dead trees more than living trees, and in a mixed forest, ticks prefer deciduous trees. When walking the route, it should be taken into account that ticks prefer moist, shaded places with dense undergrowth and grass. There are even more of them along trails, roads and in places where livestock graze.

Danger of ticks

When a tick lands on a person’s clothing, it begins to move in search of a place to suction; ticks especially like the armpits, groin folds, neck, ears and scalp. If the tick was not noticed immediately, then unpleasant sensations begin to bother you only after about 1-2 days, and they manifest themselves in the form of a nagging, mild pain that occurs due to the beginning of the inflammatory process at the site of the bite. The wound itself, which remains after tick bite It itches and may not heal for a long time.

If this is not possible, then the tick must be removed as follows: grab the tick exactly at a right angle, without bending it, and turn it, as if turning it clockwise.

If you do tear a tick or the tick is so embedded that you can’t cling to it, treat it like a splinter: sterilize the needle (even with a match), and move on.

It is better to perform the entire procedure with thin gloves or a handkerchief, since the poison from a crushed insect can enter the human body even directly through the skin.

Tick-borne encephalitis

• high temperature (up to 40°);
• nausea and vomiting;
• acute headache;
• pain in joints, muscles and throat;
• diarrhea;
• sweating;
• general weakness.

Precautionary measures

1. If possible, avoid bushes and do not allow children to climb into them.

2. Beware of dry areas and dead wood, do not walk in thick grass.

3. Remember that ticks prefer deciduous forests. Therefore, a walk in a coniferous forest will be safer.

4. Near reservoirs, it is better to sit on sand, which is almost fatal for ticks.

5. T-shirts with short sleeves and shorts are not suitable for long-term stays in nature. Your clothing should cover all areas of your body as much as possible. Ideal option There will be cuffs on the sleeves and elastic bands on the legs.

6. WITH When going outdoors, you need to think through your outfit in such a way that there are as few exposed areas of the body as possible.A headdress is also required. Even when taking a walk in the park, you shouldn’t neglect it.

7. After you return from a walk, you should very carefully review all outerwear and shake it up. The body should also be examined, and the hair should be combed with a fine comb.

9. When you come from the forest, be sure to inspect your body and clothes, as well as any pets that walked with you for lurking bloodsuckers.
Folk remedies Tar, garlic and some essential oils are used as folk remedies against ticks. Tar and essential oils, in particular tea tree oil, are used externally, that is, they are rubbed on open areas of the body. And garlic is internal, it is usually eaten before a hike. Anti-tick mixture: 10 drops tea tree essential oil50 ml water (or Chypre cologne)Preparation: Mix water and essential oil and pour the mixture into the bottle. Shake before use. Apply a few drops of the mixture to your palms and rub them on your neck, arms, legs and hair. After returning from the forest, treat your clothes with the solution (using a spray bottle). Anti-mite shower oil. 15 drops tea tree essential oil30 ml detergent For shower.5 ml soybean oil.Preparation: Mix vegetable oil and washing oil in a suitable container. Add essential oil and mix thoroughly again. After a walk in the forest, take a shower with this oil.If the tick has already embedded itself under the skin, anoint its abdomen and the skin around it with 100% tea tree oil. Is there some more folk way How to protect yourself from ticks in advance: chew pine needles and swallow saliva. But this must be done slowly and gradually. Since spring. The tick does not cling to such people - it crawls, crawls, sniffs and sniffs the secretions on the skin of the sweat glands, it does not like them, and it will not bite a person with such an odor.

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

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

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

Why are there more and more ticks?

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

How to protect yourself from ticks?

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

Tick ​​repellents are divided into three groups: repellent - repel ticks, acaricidal - kill, insecticidal-repellent - kill and repel.

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

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

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

How to delete?

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

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

How to deliver a tick for analysis

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

What diseases does a tick carry?

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

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

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

When and how to administer gammaglobulin

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

From the rusmedserver memo (rusmedserv.com):

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

Do I need to take antiviral drugs or antibiotics??

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

Information from the Rusmedserver memo:

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

Vaccinations

Vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis registered in Russia:

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

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

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

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

Encepur adult (Germany) - from 12 years old.

Encepur for children (Germany) - for children from 1 year to 11 years.

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

Vaccination schedules:

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine, cultural purified concentrated inactivated dry: the second dose of the vaccine is administered 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 administered after 1-7 months. The most optimal interval between the first and second administration of the vaccine is 5-7 months. The third dose is 12 months after the second dose. Revaccination every three years. Emergency vaccination regimen (0-14 days-12 months).

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

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

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

Warm spring days have arrived. It’s rare that a city dweller doesn’t strive to get out into nature on weekends, breathe fresh air, and relax. But along with the awakening of nature, not the nicest forest inhabitants are waking up - ticks. It is in May that the peak activity of these dangerous arthropod arachnids is observed.

What is the danger of ticks? In nature there are about 40,000 species. Most feed on the remains of vegetation, mushrooms, and other small arthropods. Some have adapted to feeding on the blood of mammals - these are the so-called ixodid ticks. It is they who pose a danger to humans, being carriers of such dangerous pathogens infectious diseases, such as “tick paralysis”, tularemia, tick-borne encephalitis, Lyme disease, monocytic ehrlichiosis and even typhus. The consequence of the disease can be paralysis or even death.

The first symptoms of infection may appear 2 days after the bite, or much later.

The favorite hunting areas of ticks are moist, shaded places with dense undergrowth and tall grass. There are especially many ticks along the sides of forest paths, where they sit on the grass, waiting for their victims. But you can “pick up” a tick not only in nature. A dog or cat walking down the street can bring it into the house; it can also be hidden in a bouquet of wildflowers. But most often the tick attacks by clinging to shoes or the bottom of trousers when we walk through a forest or field in dry sunny weather.

How to protect yourself from ticks?

Here are a few rules that will help minimize the likelihood of meeting them.

Dress correctly: trousers tucked into shoes or boots, long sleeves with tight cuffs, and a hat. Clothing should be light-colored so that the tick can be spotted in time. Check your clothes every 10-15 minutes.

Tuck your pants into your shoes or socks correctly and carefully. A common misconception is that ticks fall from trees. In fact, they crawl from bottom to top, and a person discovers them already on the head or shoulders.

Treat clothing and exposed areas of the body with repellents - means to repel ticks and insects.

The tick never digs into the skin right away, but spends about an hour searching for the bite site - this is a good chance of quickly detecting and neutralizing it. A crawling tick must be shaken off the body without squeezing it with your hands.

Choose the right resting places - away from trees, bushes, and thick grass. Place branches of flowering bird cherry, wormwood or tansy around it - this will repel not only ticks, but also mosquitoes. There are fewer ticks in sunny forest glades than in the shade.

After going to the forest, take off your clothes outside the house and shake them thoroughly. Carefully examine your body, especially the folds - comb the armpits, neck, and hair on your head with a fine comb.

If the tick does stick:

do not try to remove it yourself - its proboscis may remain in the skin;

You must urgently contact an adult or the nearest medical facility, where a doctor will remove the tick;

Place the tick removed from the body into a small glass bottle with a tight lid along with a piece of cotton wool moistened with water and take it to the laboratory for analysis;

Be sure to see a doctor.

It must be remembered that even if an infection is detected in a tick, this does not mean that a person will get sick. To establish a diagnosis, blood must be tested no earlier than 10 days after the bite.

More full information You can learn about ticks by referring to the materials on the site http://encephalitis.ru/

We hope that our tips will help make your outdoor recreation safe and unforgettable!