Tick ​​harm. The most dangerous types of ticks for humans. Rules of conduct for a tick bite

Almost every person in the summer is in the forest. There he collects mushrooms, berries and ... ticks. How dangerous is a tick bite for a person? Every year more and more people are bitten by ticks. These usually include:

• mushroom pickers;
• berry pickers;
• summer residents;
• tourists;
• lovers of outdoor recreation.

What is the danger of being bitten by this small insect? Ticks in nature, there are more than 40 thousand species. Almost all of them feed on mushrooms, vegetation residues, and small living creatures. But some ticks feed on the blood of warm-blooded animals. Their bites bring great harm to a person. When biting through the skin, pathogens of various diseases can be transmitted to a person. The most dangerous of them:

• tick-borne encephalitis;
• monocytic ehrlichiosis;
• Lyme disease.

Encephalitis disease begins in the same way as the flu: there is a high temperature, aching joints, pain in the head. But after a few days, the picture changes dramatically. The temperature jumps sharply, headaches and aching joints intensify. To all this is added vomiting and even a feverish state. Ultimately, this leads to the fact that the bitten person gets damage to the brain and nervous system, epilepsy and paralysis. The risk of death is very high, so the slightest sign a tick bite should immediately seek medical attention.

Ehrlichiosis and Lyme disease begin with a fever. People feel sluggishness in the joints and pain. Then there are disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system, in the activity of the heart and blood vessels musculoskeletal functions are impaired. Severe diseases can also be obtained by removing an insect from a pet, by drinking the milk of a goat or cow infected with an insect.

The greatest activity of ticks is observed in the spring. In May, their numbers increase significantly. But in other summer months, these arthropods are very interested in warm-blooded creatures. Insect bites can be expected even in September and October. The male sucks on pretty a short time. He very quickly restores the stock of spent nutrients in your body. But the female is very gluttonous. After drinking blood, she lays more than 1,000 eggs. After a short time, larvae of microscopic sizes appear from them. Then these larvae turn into nymphs - young ticks. The peak of activity for them will begin in a year.

How to resist ticks

Insects suck unnoticed by humans. Their saliva contains anesthetic substances, due to which the skin completely loses its sensitivity. most great danger represent spring bites. Further, the danger decreases and disappears. In the spring, ticks are hungry, poison has accumulated in their saliva in huge quantities. It is at this time of the year that tick-borne encephalitis causes up to 90% of bites. It is very difficult to recover from it. Of the 40,000 species of ticks, only 2 species are the most dangerous - the taiga tick and the European forest tick.

The taiga species usually lives in Asian regions, the forest species - in the European part of the mainland. They have a powerful shell that is difficult to crush. Females have a special stretching back of the body. They are able to suck blood tens and hundreds of times more own weight. The danger of ticks lies in the fact that it is impossible to separate a harmful insect from other species. There are many sick animals in the forests. The encephalitis virus can develop in the blood of domestic and wild animals. These include small individuals: field mice, shrews, chipmunks, squirrels. An insect, having drunk infected blood, itself becomes infected. The virus from that moment develops in his blood and salivary glands.

To partially protect yourself from bites, you should avoid damp places in the forest. It is in such places that ticks live. It can be:

• willows along streams and rivers;
• bottom of ravines;
• undergrowth;
• grass;
• leafy deposits.

Bloodsuckers have a good sense of smell. They wait for the victim on the forest paths. Insects feel the approach of a person at a distance of about 10 m.

When entering the forest, it is recommended to dress in light-colored clothing that fits snugly to the body. On the head you need to have a scarf or other headdress that fits your head well. It is also good to use drugs that repel ticks. Returning home, you need to carefully examine yourself and your companions.

If an insect is found during the examination, you should immediately go to the emergency room or SES. If such actions are impossible, the tick is removed independently. The body of the insect is tied with a strong thread near the proboscis. Then, with slow movements, you need to pull it out of the skin. At sudden movements the head with the proboscis can come off and remain in the skin - this will lead to inflammation. You can drop vegetable oil on the tick. Panting, he himself will try to pull his head out of the skin.

Conclusion on the topic

A tick bite is not terrible for a person, because. completely painless. The scary thing is that along with saliva, an infection can enter the bloodstream. There are thousands of such cases every year. The tick becomes infected when bitten by a sick animal. The carrier of the infection then remains in the body of the insect for its entire life.

It is very difficult to detect a blood-sucking insect that has stuck into the skin due to its small size. Only after 3-4 days his body begins to swell in size. The female tick can dig in and suck blood for about 10 days. The male disappears after 1 hour. The more time it is on the skin of a person, the more infection will enter the circulatory system of the victim.

How dangerous is a tick for a person? In addition to the fact that the insect sucks blood from a person, it injects its saliva into the body of the victim, which contains an infection. That is why mites are the source of a number of heavy and dangerous diseases. Many of them are difficult to treat and cause great harm to the whole organism. In addition to blood-sucking ticks, there are other species that can cause allergies with their bites, as well as a strong pruritus. Why are ticks dangerous? This is what we will discuss now.

Diseases caused by tick bites

How dangerous is a tick bite for a person? Consider the diseases transmitted by these insects and their symptoms.

Lyme disease, characteristic:

• constant state of fatigue;
• appears headache;
• the bite site turns into a noticeable wound;
• a red rash occurs on the body;
• at timely handling easily treated with antibiotics.

Spotted fever, characteristic:

• body temperature rises significantly;
• there is severe pain in the head;
• nausea is observed, and vomiting is possible;
• there is pain in the muscles;
• a rash appears on different parts of the skin, most often on the wrists, arms and legs;
• causes serious complications, in the future, a stroke or impaired renal function is possible.

Tularemia, characteristic:

• body chills;
• a very high temperature rises;
• bothered by a headache;
• nausea;
• lymph nodes are enlarged;
• there is swelling in the bite area;
• an open wound is formed;
• severe consequences are possible, such as pneumonia, peritonitis, gangrene, etc.

Ehrlichiosis, characteristic:

• manifests itself from the first day after the bite;
• persistent nausea and vomiting;
• feeling weak;
• Strong headache;
• inflammation occurs in any organ;
• there may be a state of chills;
• Exodus this disease unpredictable, as the disease can be asymptomatic, and can cause serious damage, even death.

Relapsing fever, characteristic:

• heartbeat increases significantly;
• unbearable pain in the abdomen and head is felt;
• weakness of the whole organism is observed;
• feverish state;
• usually cured without consequences, death is not observed.

Encephalitis, characteristic:

• temperature keeps around 39;
• fever is noted;
• severe chills;
• weakness of the whole body, muscle soreness;
• there is a pronounced detachment in consciousness;
• severe consequences in the form of meningeal syndrome and paralysis;
• manifests itself three days after the bite.

Babesiosis, characteristic:

• constant feeling of malaise;
• complete aversion to food;
• general fatigue is felt;
• concerned about fever and chills;
• anemia develops;
• the disease provokes kidney and liver failure;
• profuse sweating.

I would like to note that even if a preliminary vaccination against a tick bite was carried out, it only helps against encephalitis and does not apply to other diseases.

A photo dangerous ticks for the person you have the opportunity to see in the article.

Periods of tick activity

Seasonality is directly related to the activity of ticks and the danger from their bites.

Features of the behavior of ticks in the spring:

• the end of April is considered the beginning of the attack of ticks on humans and animals;
• in May, the number of individuals increases significantly;
• spring is considered dangerous period, because during the winter they become very hungry and accumulate a lot of toxic substances in themselves;
• the likelihood of contracting encephalitis when bitten infected tick about ninety percent.

Features of the behavior of ticks in summer:

• in early June, females actively attach themselves to mammals in order to start reproducing their offspring when they are satisfied;
• by the end of summer, the harm from tick bites decreases, as they are no longer so hungry and the concentration of poison in saliva decreases.

Features of the behavior of ticks in the fall:

• in September, activity drops significantly;
• with a warm autumn, a tick bite can be obtained in October.

If the summer is very hot, then the activity of ticks drops noticeably, as they cannot tolerate heat above thirty degrees. These insects hibernate at plus four.

What ticks are considered dangerous to humans

Types of dangerous ticks

Among the ticks that harm human activity, the following types are distinguished.

Barn pliers, characteristic:

• settle in flour and cereals;
• getting on a person, cause an allergy;
• they do not stay on the body for long, as they mostly prefer plants;

Bed mites, characteristic:

• meet in bed linen, carpets and mattresses;
• eat dead human cells and scales;
• can provoke an allergy in the form of a rash and itching, in rare cases cause bronchial asthma.

Dust mites, characteristic:

• live in an apartment on furniture among the dust;
• a person is allergic to them;

Scabies mites, characteristic:

• very small size, almost impossible to detect on the human body;
• transmitted through touch or common household items;
• conducts its activity directly under the skin, gnawing tunnels in it and thereby causing severe itching.

Which tick is the most dangerous for humans

Ixodid ticks, description:

• the shape is oval, the body itself is flat;
• colors vary from light shades brown to black;
• covered with durable and elastic chitin, which cannot be crushed, but at the same time, as it is filled with blood, it stretches well;
• mite eggs are oval, no more than a millimeter;
• the stages of development are larva, nymph and imago.

Among all diseases transmitted by ixodid ticks, encephalitis is considered the most dangerous. It can be mild or severe. In the first case, a person has a febrile condition, which completely disappears after a couple of weeks. In the second, the brain is affected, leading to paralysis, mental disorders, or even lethal outcome.

Tick ​​habitats

To avoid tick bites, you should know where they live. Ticks prefer to settle and attack their prey in the following places:

• in areas with dense and wet vegetation;
• in shaded areas full of foliage;
• in the undergrowth;
• in the meadows;
• at the bottom of ravines full of moisture;
• in thickets near water bodies;
• in the grass on the trodden paths.

That is why you should be wary tall grass, with which ticks can jump on a person or animals, and not trees, as many believe.

Bite symptoms

The fact is that it is impossible to immediately determine and detect the moment of a tick bite, since it does this absolutely painlessly due to the introduction of natural anesthetics under the skin. However, after a few hours, the following symptoms may appear:

• slight pulling pain;
• mild subcutaneous itching;
• increase in body temperature;
• headache;
• visible enlargement of the lymph nodes;
• rash over the body.

These symptoms indicate the penetration of the infection into the blood and the onset of infection.

How to detect a tick bite

• in the armpit;
• on the shoulders and forearms;
• on the inside of the thighs;
• in the inguinal zone;
• in the place where the elastic band from the pants is located;
• behind the ears;
• between the shoulder blades;
• under the knee;
• in the chest area and under it.

Children should be especially carefully examined, because their skin is thin and delicate, which makes it easy for a tick to cling to any part of the body. Most importantly, when an insect is found, do not panic, do not try to brush it off and tear it out.

What should I do if bitten by a tick

Self-extraction of a tick

• a thread is taken, and a loop is tightened as close as possible to the proboscis;
• then the insect is carefully pulled out, making sure that the head does not come off and does not get stuck in the skin.

• to extract, you will need ordinary tweezers or tweezers;
• the tick is clamped and begins to slowly twist in one direction.

• take the usual insulin syringe for five cubes;
• the beginning of the syringe is cut off with a knife along with the tube;
• the desired area is moistened with water and the prepared syringe is tightly applied to it;
• slowly pull the piston, thereby sucking out the body and head of the tick.

• if the head of the tick remains under the skin, then a sewing needle can help;
• it is burned until it darkens, and the bite site is moistened with alcohol;
• the needle is carefully inserted under the head of the tick, then lifted, thereby removing the remnants of the insect;

Precautionary measures

Ticks are dangerous, you already know. Are there any precautions? These tips are familiar to many, and it is simply necessary to follow them:

• avoid damp places with tall grass;
• you need to be especially careful during the period of activity of ticks (May-June);
• if a walk in nature is planned, clothing must match; it's best if she white color, tight, covering the body to the maximum;
• do not forget about the headdress, because it is very difficult to find a tick in the hair;
• you can pre-vaccinate, which can protect against encephalitis;
• before the walk, treat open areas of the body by special means from ticks;
• upon returning home, you should carefully examine yourself;
• since the tick tries to get to soft places before biting, their inspection should be taken more carefully;
• if, nevertheless, an encephalitic tick bite was committed, then within three days you need to have time to give an injection of immunoglobulin, which will block the virus.

Stick to these rules and be healthy!

Each of us, of course, heard about very "bloodthirsty" animals called ticks, and many of us met them personally in natural (and not only) conditions. In fact, ticks, like any other animals, cannot be classified only as extremely harmful or deadly creatures.

Any species or taxonomic group of species should be considered only in conjunction with the characteristics of their phylogeny (origin), habitat, and relationships with other animal and plant species. The complex of these factors determines its place in nature, while the consideration of any species from the point of view of usefulness or harmfulness seems to be an outdated and primitive approach that does not correspond to modern scientific ideas.

Who are ticks

The branch of zoology that studies ticks is called acarology. According to one of the accepted modern classifications of invertebrates, ticks belong to the phylum Arthropoda, the subphylum Cheliceraceae, the class Arachnida, the subclass of ticks, which currently has a little over forty-eight thousand species.

Unfortunately, in recent times negative impact ticks on human health is becoming more and more pronounced, as will be discussed in detail below.
A detailed analysis of the role of ticks in nature would take too much time, so we confine ourselves to a brief excursion into the main points of their participation in processes in environment as well as in the human economy.

Blood-sucking mites

The greatest danger to humans and animals is blood-sucking mites, primarily because they are able to retain and carry pathogens of a number of severe infections from animals to humans. It is they who, as a rule, are given the most close interest in various kinds publications intended for a wide range of readers, which is not surprising, since almost everyone has heard about dangerous diseases, often fatal, spread by blood-sucking ticks.

How to remove a tick yourself

You can try to remove the tick yourself at home, although some sources do not recommend doing this, and this seems to be correct. If you already do it yourself, then it is most convenient to do this with small curved tweezers.

The tick is captured as close as possible to the proboscis, and by sipping and rotating the tick around its own axis, they are removed along with the proboscis. You can use a loop of thread, grabbing the tick as close to the head as possible. Do not crush the tick with your fingers, and also lubricate it with various fats, such as oil.

If the proboscis still remains in the wound, then this is not fatal. With a proboscis sticking out above the surface of the skin, you can unscrew it with tweezers, or contact a surgeon at a clinic. You can’t cut or pick at the bite yourself. Also, you should not try to burn the tick with a cigarette.

Diseases caused by ticks

Diseases of humans and animals caused by ticks are called acariases. Diseases that have developed as a result of the transmission of the pathogen through blood-sucking arthropods (in particular ticks) are called transmissible. There are specific carriers, that is, those in which the pathogen goes through any stage of its development (or multiplies), and mechanical, in which the infectious agent does not develop and does not multiply, but once on the mouth apparatus or in the intestine is transmitted directly through a bite or contamination (infection) of wounds and mucous membranes of the host.

The causative agent of any infection can be transmitted only through a carrier (obligate-transmissible diseases, such as leishmaniasis), or in other ways (through animal products, through the respiratory system). Not all ticks acquire pathogens through direct contact with them.

In 1940, Academician E.N. Pavlovsky put forward the doctrine of the natural focality of diseases. According to him, these diseases are closely related to a complex of natural conditions and exist in the natural environment independently of a person. A natural focus is a certain geographical landscape in which the pathogen circulates from the donor to the recipient through the carrier. Donors of the pathogen are animals that have become ill with any transmissible infection, or are natural reservoir pathogen, without infecting the carriers themselves. Recipients of the pathogen are sick animals (or humans) that become donors after infection.

Thus, we see that the following components are included in the natural one:

1. the causative agent of the disease;
2. carrier of the pathogen;
3. pathogen donor;
4. pathogen recipient;
5. certain natural biotope.

The frequency of infection of the recipient in the focus, as well as the pathogenesis of the disease, will depend on the degree of pathogenicity of the pathogen, its dose, the frequency of the vector attack on the recipient, and the presence or absence of prior vaccination.

Now let's move on to a more detailed consideration of various infectious diseases, pathogens that cause them, and an assessment of the role of species and groups of ticks involved in the transfer process.

People and animals are attacked by ticks that belong to the following families: Gamasoidea (gamasid mites), Argasidae (argas), Trombidiidae (red ticks), Ixodidae (ixodidae). The argasids and ixodids are combined into the superfamily Ixodoidea. Interestingly, some types of ticks never attack a person, others only in cases where there is no main host (so to speak, from starvation), and for others, a person serves as a common victim.

Russia, due to the vastness and heterogeneity of its territories, is one of the largest global areas for infectious diseases carried by ticks. In general, they spread more than 20 infectious diseases in the CIS.

One of the most dangerous infections transmitted to humans through ixodid ticks are various encephalitis.
In a broader sense, encephalitis is a neuroinfection, most often viral nature, can also sometimes occur as a complication of certain infectious diseases. As a rule, they proceed severely, with lesions of the nervous system in the form of paralysis, deafness, respiratory failure, convulsions may develop, and deaths are not uncommon, especially in late diagnosed cases.

Tick-borne encephalitis(CE), also spring-summer or taiga - primary viral encephalitis, caused by arboviruses, occupies a leading position in Russia and in many European countries. You can also become infected with it by eating raw cow or goat milk(alimentary path). The incubation period is 5-25 days, with alimentary penetration 2-3 days. It has three main genotypes of the virus - Far Eastern, Western, and Ural-Siberian.
The disease begins acutely, there is chills, fever to pyretic and hyperpyretic levels, severe headache (cephalgia), myalgia, lethargy, drowsiness, less often arousal. The skin of the face, neck, upper part of the body is hyperemic.

It usually takes place in three forms: febrile, meningeal (with the addition of meningeal signs) and focal (convulsions, impaired consciousness are characteristic), the latter being highly lethal. This disease has several characteristic features that are specific to it. One of them is severe lesions of the nervous system, expressed as paralysis and paresis of the neck and upper limbs, muscle atrophy, as well as in some cases of the Kozhevnikov epilepsy syndrome. Also characteristic feature CE is the possibility of developing a chronic progressive process, almost invariably leading to death. Currently, there is no radical treatment for the consequences of CE. But against this formidable disease, nevertheless, you can protect yourself by carrying out prevention - the introduction of a vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis.

As for the dynamics of the spread of this infection, according to Rospotrenadzor data over the past fifteen years, the territory where tick-borne encephalitis is endemic is steadily expanding, and there has also been an increase in the number of individuals in whose bodies the causative agent of this infection has been directly isolated.

Among the leading regions in terms of the incidence of this disease are the Perm and Krasnoyarsk Territories, Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Kirov, Kostroma, Kurgan, Tomsk and Tyumen region, as well as the republics of Buryatia, Altai, Udmurtia and Karelia. In these territories, the number of infected patients significantly exceeds the Russian average of 2.18 per hundred thousand inhabitants.
AT Nizhny Novgorod region, the situation is as follows: since April 1, 2014, medical assistance in connection with the suction of ticks has been provided to two thousand two hundred and thirty eight Nizhny Novgorod residents, and according to the results of laboratory tests, fourteen ticks out of one thousand nine hundred and seventeen examined individuals contain the antigen of the tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Thus, the risk of infection in the spring-summer period with infectious diseases carried by ticks is quite high, and every year statistics show a negative trend in this regard. The most characteristic carriers are the taiga tick (Ixodes persulcatus), the dog tick (Ixodes ricinus) (carries the virus western form CE), Dermacentor silvarum (distributed in the Far East).

It is worth noting some more transmissible viral diseases, such as Omsk and Crimean hemorrhagic fevers.

Omsk hemorrhagic fever- acute viral disease, in the transmission of which blood-sucking mites also participate. The infection penetrates through broken skin at the site of a tick bite or small wounds upon contact with a muskrat or water rat, which are the natural reservoir of the pathogen. Major carriers ixodid ticks Dermacentor pictus, Dermacentor marginatus. The disease is characterized by a hemorrhagic rash, headaches and muscle pains, nasal, pulmonary, intestinal bleeding is possible, blood vessels, kidneys and nervous system. Etiotropic (directed to the cause) treatment for this moment not developed.

Crimean hemorrhagic fever Caused by the so-called Congo virus. It is characterized by fever, severe intoxication, up to infectious-toxic shock, and hemorrhages on the skin and internal organs. Reservoir in nature - wild mammals, livestock, birds. Carriers - ticks Hyalomma marginatus, Ixodes ricinus, Dermatcentor marginatus. In Russia, outbreaks of this infection are noted in the Astrakhan, Rostov, Volgograd regions, Crimea, Stavropol, Krasnodar territories, Dagestan. Kalmykia. It is found in Ukraine, Central Asia, Africa. Treatment is etiotropic and symptomatic, various immunoglobulins are used.

Continuing the list of diseases carried by ticks, it is also worth noting ixodid tick-borne borreliosis (ICD), also called Lyme disease, tick-borne erythema, systemic tick-borne borreliosis. It is also a natural focal infectious disease belonging to the group of spirochetosis, bacterial etiology, transmissible. It can turn into a chronic or recurrent course and affect the brain, heart, liver, eyes, joints. It is caused by Borellia from the family of spirochetes contained in the intestines of the carrier tick. In the patient's body is excreted from the blood, CSF, synovial fluid. The infection is widespread in the USA, Canada, most of Europe, also in Russia, Mongolia. Japan and several other countries. The peak incidence usually falls on the spring-summer (April-June) and summer-autumn (August-October) periods. The disease can proceed in three stages, differing in duration and severity of the course, as well as characteristic symptoms. Treatment is carried out with antibiotics and restorative drugs. The already mentioned dog and taiga ticks, as well as the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and Ixodes damini, which are found in the USA, may be involved in the transmission of Lyme disease.

The bites of a chicken tick that lives in poultry houses, when attacked by a person, can cause acute dermatitis.

Also, ticks are involved in the transfer of pathogens of such infections as erlichiosis. It is caused by erlichia, a bacteria related to rickettsiae. They are distributed mainly in the USA and Japan. There are two epidemiologically and etiologically different forms: monocytic and granulocytic human ehrlichiosis. Clinically, they are practically indistinguishable; they are characterized by headache and muscle pain, chills, fever, and a decrease in the level of platelets and leukocytes. Flow from mild to severe. Treatment with antibiotics.

Another infection, also probably known to many, is tularemia. This infection typical for Russia, North America, Europe, Japan. It is transmitted by ticks, also by insects, or by contamination with sick and dead animals, with contaminated water and food. Symptoms are fever, night sweats, pain, swelling and often suppuration of the lymph nodes. There are different forms - intestinal, bubonic, pulmonary, etc. Mortality is low, treatment with antibiotic therapy.

also in last years on the territory of Russia are marked new forms of tick-borne fevers- the so-called Kemerovo and Lipovnik fevers. The first is characteristic, as the name suggests, for Kemerovo region, the second one is described for a number of European countries. Called by arboviruses. Reservoir - small mammals, birds. The main vectors are ixodid ticks of the genus Dermacentor. The clinic is expressed by fever, intoxication, rash, hemorrhages, sometimes signs of meningoencephalitis.
Some ticks from the superfamily Argazidae can also play a significant role in the transmission of dangerous infections to humans. About 12 types of them certain conditions attack a person, these are the genera Argas and Ornithodorus. Their bites cause an itchy, red rash. The saliva of argas mites contains potent toxins. For example, the population of Mexico is very afraid of the attacks of the tick Ornithodorus coriaceus no less than rattlesnakes, since its bites are extremely painful. An interesting fact is that in the Khan's Bukhara, argases multiplied in such innumerable quantities (for example, in prisons and "bug pits") that some prisoners were simply sucked to death by hordes of hungry ticks.

Among the dangerous argazids, it is worth highlighting the Caucasian tick, which is involved in the transfer of the tick-borne relapsing fever we have already considered, as well as the Persian tick, the shell tick, and the village tick, which carries the tick-borne relapsing encephalitis.

In some individuals of ticks and their larvae, causative agents of several diseases present at the same time, such as tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne borreliosis, or a combination of babesia and ehrlichi with viruses. When the host organism is infected with more than one infectious agent, so-called mixed infections occur, characterized by a significant increase in the severity of clinical manifestations, an increase in the number of symptoms and the duration of their course. The most common human mixinfection is babesia and Lyme disease pathogens.

Such short review the main dangerous infections that a person can become infected with through blood-sucking ticks. Obviously, on the territory of Russia, the risk of contracting one or more infections in warm time years is high enough. Their clinical diagnosis is difficult, and the laboratory is not always effective, especially in the early stages.

Measures aimed at improving them and involving in this process the latest data from epidemiology, ecology and zoology are priorities for health authorities around the world. Precautions and protection are quite simple: when visiting forests and meadows, use overalls, use repellents, and carry out self- and mutual examinations in a timely manner.

If a tick is found, you should immediately contact a specialist - a doctor - a therapist or an infectious disease specialist (it is undesirable to try to remove the tick yourself). It is advisable to conduct a study of the tick for the presence in it possible pathogens, as well as submit necessary tests. In general, be vigilant and observe the elementary aspects of prevention and protection, and then a walk in nature will not be overshadowed by a subsequent stay in infectious diseases hospital and a long recovery period.

Lyme disease

After determining that the insect has been infected, antibiotics are recommended when therapy is not started on time, pathologies of the joints, heart, and nervous system are possible.

spotted fever

This disease can most often be transmitted during the greater activity of insects. This disease is deadly. Complications include inflammation of the brain, lungs, and heart. Featured kidney failure, possible amputation of the affected limbs, death.

Tularemia

The disease is one of the rarest serious illnesses, which can be cured only after detection on early stage with the help of antibiotics. Complications include pneumonia, meningitis, pericarditis, and osteomyelitis. In time, not started treatment leads a person to death.

erlichiosis

Conclusions about the disease, occurs after clinical results. People who did not receive on time medical care, may be subject to grave consequences. This is especially true for patients with weakened immune systems, this category is more at risk of life-threatening manifestations. Transmissible ehrlichiosis has its consequences: heart and kidney failure, coma, disruption of the process in the respiratory system, convulsions.

Typhus relapsing

Transmitted through a tick bite relapsing fever marked by febrile attacks that last for several days with a frequency of up to 4 times. With proper treatment, recovery occurs in short time. Of the complications, it can be noted in the field of neuropathy.

babesiosis

What is the danger of a tick bite for a person who has become infected with Babesiosis? This disease can destroy red cells, causing special kind anemia (hemolytic). This leads to jaundice, dark urine, yellowing of the skin. The consequences are most active in people with weak immune system, especially patients with cancer, lymphoma, AIDS. Complications include instability of blood pressure, hemolysis, thrombocytopenia, dispersal of coagulation (leads to bleeding, clot formation). Possible allergic reactions, pathological malfunctions in the liver, lungs, kidneys, sometimes fatal.

Symptoms

Most diseases transmitted by ticks are similar to flu-like symptoms.

• headache;
• feverish state;
• nausea;
• vomiting reflex;
• pain in the muscle tissue;

Attention

A bitten person can feel unpleasant symptoms immediately after an insect bite, and also after 10-15 days.

• With Lyme disease, fatigue, headaches, a wound in the affected area on the skin, a reddish and petichial rash are felt.
• Spotted fever, causes high temperature, severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, pain in the joints and muscles. The rash appears first on the wrists, then moves to the ankles, legs, arms and other parts of the body.
• Tularemia is defined by chills, high dangerous temperature, headache, open wound at the site of the bite, swelling of the glands in the affected area, nausea, vomiting. Symptoms appear within three weeks.
• Ehrlichiosis appears from the first day to the third week. Noted: nausea, malaise, vomiting, chills, rash, headache.
• Relapsing fever has the most pronounced character: palpitations, headache, severe fever, abdominal pain, weakness. Symptoms appear from the third to the tenth day.
• Tick-borne encephalitis is manifested by fever, chills. The incubation period takes place in a short time of 3 to 4 days.
• Babesiosis has manifestations general malaise, decreased appetite, fatigue, fever, chills, sweating, which appear immediately, as well as pass. Manifestations begin from the first to the fourth week after the bite.

Why are ticks dangerous for dogs and cats?

Due to the fact that ticks attack all warm-blooded organisms, the causative agents of serious diseases can enter people's homes on the fur of domestic animals.
Diseases that are transmitted by ticks in dogs have different symptoms.

Granulocytic anaplasmosis

Appears in animals older than 8 years. It is noted by symptoms: chills, loss of appetite, painful sensations in the muscles, lethargy. Sometimes vomiting, convulsions, diarrhea, cough is possible. The incubation period can last from 7 to 15 days.

Piroplasmosis or Babesiosis

Most often manifested in animals of a fighting breed. Symptoms: chills, loss of appetite, lethargy. If not start timely treatment, the animal can endure the disease for a long time. Infection occurs on the first day, the incubation period lasts from 7 to 14 days.

Borreliosis (Lyme disease)

It does not have obvious symptoms, but it is possible to refuse food, swollen lymph nodes, infection begins after a day after the bite. The incubation period is 30 days.

Monocytic ehrlichiosis

Has no exact data on the incubation period. It is characterized by a variety of symptoms associated with general condition animal.

hepatozoonos

It develops when an insect enters the digestive tract of an animal. Symptoms include fever with chills, weight loss, muscle pain, blanching of mucous membranes. The incubation period lasts up to two weeks.

Cyclic thrombocypenia

Incubation period up to half a month. Symptoms in severe form of the disease: swollen lymph nodes, nosebleeds, fever, lethargy, chills.

demodicosis

Wounds on the skin, baldness, loss of the hairline, with ear demodicosis, itching in the ears, a large number of dark gray, redness.

Tick ​​removal

Do not use liquids with a pungent odor (ammonia, gasoline). You should abandon the use of compresses, ointments, actions with fire, cigarettes. You can not abruptly pull out an insect from skin, use a non-disinfected tool, pick the bite site with sharp objects, crush the tick with your fingers.

Following actions

After pulling out the pest, you need to carefully monitor your health for several days. To do this, you need to control body temperature, monitor the general state of health. It is necessary to regularly examine the affected bite site, be sure to see a specialist who will prescribe a course of therapy.

For complete exclusion possible infection required to take a blood test. The test should be done after a few days after the bite. In order to avoid an unpleasant meeting with a small enemy, you need to take preventive measures security.

Prevention

People should not be in nature for a long time, near swamps and tall grass. Avoid areas where ticks can accumulate (shady areas). In the forest, fishing, hunting and just for a picnic, you need to walk in completely closed clothes with trousers tucked into high shoes. Clothing should have a tight-fitting collar and headgear. Before going out into nature, you need to use special repellant products for processing clothes.

If you take special care of your health and your four-legged friend, then you do not have to deal with unpleasant incidents of tick attacks.