Forest tick: what it looks like, why it is dangerous and what to do after a bite

In spring and summer, as soon as the sun begins to warm up, everyone rushes to nature - to the forest, to dachas, to parks, etc. At the same time, we often do not fully understand what danger forest ticks pose to humans, and to domestic animals too. In fact, a small and inconspicuous forest tick often becomes a carrier of serious diseases, the number of which reaches 60!

In this article, let's get acquainted with these little vampires, their varieties, find out why they are so dangerous, how to deal with forest ticks and how to act correctly when bitten.

A forest tick bite can cause about 60 diseases

a brief description of

Forest ticks love moisture and dark places, so they most often live where there is tall and thick grass that retains moisture well. Ticks are also quite often found on forest edges and along river banks. Their habitat is the southern part of Eurasia.

Ticks love to sit on grass that grows along paths where animals and people often move. Their smell attracts ticks: they understand that they can eat.

The reproduction of forest ticks depends on the living conditions: the more moisture and shade, the more actively they reproduce, producing large offspring. Mating occurs before the ticks drink blood. One male fertilizes several females at once, after which his life cycle ends. Females immediately begin to look for food for themselves. Having attached themselves to a person or animal, they drink blood for 5-10 days, and then lay eggs. One female can lay up to 1000, and sometimes more, eggs at a time. © https://ydoo.info/qa/lesnye-kleshchi.html The recorded maximum number of clutches is 5000. After the female has given birth, she dies.

Not all ticks feed on blood. There are other representatives of this group - saprophages. They do not carry dangerous diseases, but when they come into contact with human skin they can cause irritation and redness. The main food of saprophages is organic matter, which decomposes. These can be worms, as well as cultivated plants, which is why saprophages are considered pests that spoil the crop.

What do forest ticks look like?

The only thing a person knows about what a forest tick looks like is that it is small. It can truly be called one of the smallest representatives of the animal kingdom. The body length of a forest tick is from 0.2 to 0.5 millimeters

After the tick sucks blood, its size doubles, that is, up to 10 millimeters (see photo).

There are two types of bodies:

• whole;
• divided into two parts.

A tick larva has 6 pairs of legs, and an adult (more precisely, after the first molt) already has 4. The first two limbs are grippers, with the help of which the animal captures prey. As a rule, ticks have 4 eyes, but there are individuals that do not have them at all. Depending on the species, the body of ticks can be soft, with a thin chitinous coating or protected by a hard shell.

Lifespan

It is impossible to answer exactly how long a forest tick lives with one number, since its life cycle directly depends on the species. In individuals that feed on blood, the new generation hatches shortly after the female lays her eggs. In humid conditions this occurs within a week.

After the larvae hatch, they must find food for themselves. And during this period they are most dangerous, since it is almost impossible to notice them. Their size does not exceed 0.2 millimeters. But a person should not be afraid of them, since they are not yet capable of breaking through the skin. To adapt to life, they must feed on the blood of a small vertebrate animal for 5 days. Then they leave the body of the prey and molt in the grass, moving into the nymph stage (they already have 4 pairs of legs), and then again look for food. As a rule, by this time the cold weather sets in, and forest ticks in the nymph stage hibernate. How do ticks winter? Falling into suspended animation, forest ticks can remain without food for quite a long time. But if in winter the temperature is very low (-20 degrees and below), then the forest tick will die.

Small parasites are almost constantly in search of food. At the same time, even without food they live for quite a long time. Forest ticks can search for prey for up to several weeks without dying. And when they find prey, they completely restore their strength.

If a forest tick gets into an apartment and does not cling to a person, it dies within 3-5 days (depending on how full it is). In apartment conditions, he is not on his own territory, there is no moist soil and the necessary temperature, so it is more difficult for him to exist. But if a forest tick has entered an apartment and is thoroughly saturated with human blood, then it can “walk” around the rooms for several more weeks.

What are they afraid of?

What are forest ticks afraid of? Many people think that high temperatures. Actually this is not true. When it is very warm and dry, it is more difficult for them to live and find food, but they do not die from the heat.

However, there are a few things that wood mites don't like:

1. Essential oils. As a rule, they cannot tolerate the smell of citrus and eucalyptus. Also, forest ticks do not like the smell of geranium, mint, cedar, and cloves.
2. Liquid smoke.
3. Tar soap. Before going to nature, you can wash your clothes with soap - and not a single tick will attack.
4. Anthill. These insects secrete acid, which mites cannot tolerate, so it is impossible to find them near ants.

In folk remedies that do not like forest ticks, wormwood is often used. It is planted in vegetable gardens to repel pests from cultivated plants. In addition, sprays are prepared based on wormwood.

When will it be possible to go out onto the site after treatment?

After about 2-3 hours. In fact, normal life activities can be carried out on the site once the chemical has dried on the sprayed grass and soil. Since the treatment is carried out only in dry weather, the specified 2-3 hours are required for such drying.

If the treatment is carried out in the morning, then after lunch you can already walk on the site

You can simply walk along the paths on the site almost immediately after finishing the work. It is important at this time not to go onto the lawn, grass, or garden, so as not to shake off drops of acaricide from the plants onto the ground.

Types of forest ticks

There are now 54,000 species of forest ticks known. Interestingly, 144 of them are fossils and are no longer found in nature. Each variety differs from others in appearance, lifestyle, and the harm it causes.

Below are the most common types of forest ticks with photos.

Ixodidae

Ixodid ticks, or encephalitis, have more than 650 species. It is among them that carriers of dangerous diseases such as tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme disease are found. The peculiarity of ixodid ticks is that they live everywhere.

Externally, the female and male differ from each other. The female is larger and reaches a size of 10 millimeters after eating. Her body is light brown (see picture), and after the female is satisfied, it becomes even lighter. The size of males does not exceed 3 millimeters. On the back of the male individual there is a hard shell that covers the entire body, while in females the shield is small and covers only a third part.

Ixodid ticks attack people and animals (domestic and wild), including cattle. When the parasite appears on the body, it does not bite immediately, but takes a very long time (2-3 hours) to choose a place and only then attacks. The danger lies in the fact that, when biting the skin, the tick secretes saliva, which neutralizes pain, which is why a person does not even realize that he has become prey.

The parasite infects both humans and animals. The most common diseases carried by ticks are:

• encephalitis (affects the brain and spinal cord, and mortality is 80%);
• Lyme disease, or borreliosis (symptoms appear only 10 days after the bite).

If you do not seek help from a hospital in time, both the person and the animal may die. In some cases, even with timely treatment, people remain disabled.

Argaceae

Argasid ticks, or, as they are also called, chicken (pigeon) ticks, are no less dangerous than ixodid ticks. Their life cycle is up to 2 years. They are carriers of diseases such as avian spirochiosis, chicken plague, as well as a large number of viruses to which humans are also sensitive.

The main habitats are bird nests, barns and attics, and argasid mites can penetrate into living spaces. In the wild they can live in rodent nests.

The body length of argas mites is small - 3 millimeters, but after they have eaten, their size increases 10 times. The parasite does not have a shell; its body is soft and covered with small folds on top (see photo). The color of a tick depends on whether it has eaten or not: a hungry tick is gray in color, and a well-fed tick is purple.

The Argas mite carries pathogens such as:

• borreliosis;
• typhus;
• hemorrhagic fever.

But if a person can recover by seeking help in a timely manner, it is more difficult for animals. After a tick bite, they develop a fever, increased excitability, and itchy skin. All symptoms appear gradually, and while the tick feeds, they only get worse. The heart rate increases, profuse salivation begins, and foam begins at the mouth. The extreme stage is paralysis and death. The animal cannot tell what is happening to it, and the owner does not always manage to recognize the problem, so very often the animals die.

Armored

There are more than 6,500 species of oribatid mites. They are not dangerous to humans, which cannot be said about animals. Their distribution area is the northern part of Africa and Eurasia (not including the Arabian Peninsula), Australia, South America and a small part of North America. They live mainly in trees and in the ground.

The appearance of the oribatid mite is characterized by the presence of a durable coating on top (see photo). The body size is small - from 0.2 to 1.4 millimeters. On top it is covered with a shiny dark brown or black shell. The tick's main food item is plants and mushrooms that have already died and begun to rot.

Armored mites are dangerous because they carry helminths (tapeworms). Even short contact can become dangerous.

Due to its low metabolism, the oribatid mite goes through its growth stages very slowly, and therefore its life cycle can drag on for years. On average, he lives about 2 years.

Gamazovye

There are more than 6,000 species of gamas mites, which are distributed almost throughout the world. The body shape is oval, the color is brown, and the length is from 0.2 to 2.5 millimeters. Gamasid mites live in the soil, on grass, as well as in the nests of birds (including domestic birds) and rodents. Very often they get into houses through cracks.

Gamasid forest ticks live no more than six months, but during this time they manage to parasitize different individuals and give birth to large offspring. They especially like to live on chickens, as well as mice and rats. The latter can carry numerous diseases, transmitting them to domestic animals. It is extremely rare for a person to be attacked.

Pasture

Pasture, or meadow, ticks, along with ixodid ticks, can carry dangerous diseases, and therefore are dangerous for humans and any animal. Their habitat is almost the entire territory of Russia and the southern part of Europe. They are also found in Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Western Siberia. The pasture tick loves deciduous and mixed forests, choosing clearings, meadows and lawns to live.

The pasture tick forms huge colonies where cattle are grazed, on which it parasitizes. As a rule, most activity occurs at the end of April - May. At the beginning of September, the second peak of activity begins. The pasture tick is distinguished by the fact that it tolerates frost well and is able to survive even at low temperatures.

The body of the parasite is oval and slightly flattened, the color is from light brown to dark gray (see photo). The maximum size does not exceed 3 millimeters. The body of males is completely covered with a strong shell, while that of females is only a small part near the head.

It is the females that feed on blood and parasitize animals and humans. They need this for a normal life cycle and the production of offspring. Males prefer to eat plants.

Do all ticks die, or do some of them remain alive?

Let's put it this way: in 92% of the areas that we process, not a single tick is found on people, animals, or grass until next year. In 6% of areas treated in the spring, single ticks were found in the fall, and in 2% in the summer.

If the treatment is carried out annually, in the spring, then after two years of such systematic protection, ticks are not seen in the areas at all.

We believe that after high-quality treatment there are no live ticks left on the site at all. Those that appear here over time penetrate here on their own, or are brought in by wild animals (mice, hedgehogs, lizards), or by the wind. But it is impossible to prove this with any research. You won’t inspect every blade of grass and pebble on 10-20 acres of a garden or vegetable garden. Yes, it is not necessary - if ticks do not bother people, then this is exactly the result that is required from the treatment.

Hedgehogs are one of the most active spreaders of ticks

In a separate article, we examined in detail the effectiveness of treating an area against ticks...

What danger do they pose to humans?

Contrary to popular belief, only a small part of forest ticks pose a danger to people. Once on the body of a person or animal, such a parasite finds a suitable place. You can even find ticks in the armpit, behind the ear and in other secluded places. They specifically climb to places where they are difficult to find, there is little light, and they can easily feed for several days. By biting through the skin, the forest tick secretes saliva, which temporarily numbs the bite site and through which the infection is transmitted. After some time, the bite site may turn red, and itching may also occur. But, as a rule, people do not attach much importance to this. If you don't notice a tick, it lives on the body for up to two weeks, after which it falls off on its own. As long as the tick feeds on blood, the condition of the host worsens. The most dangerous thing is the diseases that the parasite transmits from animal to animal and to humans.

Spotted fever

Spotted fever is an acute infection caused by the bacterium Rickettsia, which is found in the saliva of ticks. The incubation period is up to a week, and the shorter it is, the more severe the disease.

Symptoms develop gradually in the following order:

• Strong headache;
• chills;
• muscle weakness;
• high temperature (up to 40 degrees);
• rash on the wrists, palms, soles (quickly spreads throughout the body);
• insomnia;
• rave;
• coma.

In very rare cases, hypotension (low blood pressure) and jaundice develop. Nausea and vomiting may also occur. The mortality rate is quite high - 5-8%, but since spotted fever began to be treated with antibiotics, it is better tolerated.

The danger of the disease lies in the fact that at the stage of the first signs, not everyone can understand what happened. Spotted fever is often confused with the flu and only after the appearance of a rash do they consult a doctor. In some cases it is too late.

Tick-borne encephalitis

Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral infection that affects the central and peripheral nervous system.

Main symptoms:

• chills and fever up to 39 degrees;
• muscle pain;
• numbness of facial skin;
• severe headache;
• nausea, vomiting;
• insomnia.

Symptoms do not appear immediately, but within 21 days. Every day a person’s condition worsens, and only after the virus enters the bloodstream does the worst begin. The virus is carried into the brain through the bloodstream, and it is already difficult to cure the person. Quite often people remain disabled.

Tularemia

Tularemia is a febrile disease. The bacillus enters the body not only through an infected tick, but also through:

• drinking contaminated food or water;
• inhalation;
• in direct contact with the body through microcracks on the surface of the skin.

Tularemia is carried not only by ticks, but also by flies, fleas, and deer. But humans are not carriers of the bacillus.

The incubation period is up to 10 days. During this period, symptoms may not appear.

Clinical manifestations of the disease:

• headache;
• chills;
• nausea and vomiting;
• fever with high temperature (up to 40 degrees).

After a day or two, a papule forms at the site of the lesion, which develops into a pustule, and then into an ulcer.

Babesiosis

Babesiosis is an infectious disease whose main carriers are rodents. The tick bites a sick mouse or rat and transmits the disease. It is worth noting that a person rarely gets sick with babesiosis, but if this happens, then his immunity is formed, and it is no longer possible to get sick again.

You can catch the disease not only through a bite, but also through:

• blood transfusion;
• childbirth (from mother to child).

The incubation period of babesiosis is long - from 10 to 15 days. Symptoms appear sharply and consistently:

• body temperature rises to 39 degrees;
• a sharp headache appears;
• vomiting begins;
• the skin first turns pale and then turns yellow.

Diagnosis of the disease is carried out by donating blood for analysis.

Lyme disease

Lyme disease, or borreliosis, is the most common, and it is with this disease that ticks most often infect humans.

Symptoms appear in three stages:

1. The stage of local infection, when the disease is localized at the site of the lesion. Lasts up to a month. During this period, swelling may appear at the site of the bite, a rash on the body, a slight rise in temperature, pain in the joints and muscles, and fatigue. The skin becomes sensitive, the neck muscles are in constant tension.
2. Dissemination stage. Lasts from 1 to 3 months after a tick attack. At this stage, the disease begins to spread from the site of the bite throughout the body. The lymph nodes and nervous system are affected. Photophobia appears, the headache intensifies, the temperature rises, and attention decreases. At the same time, insomnia, mood swings, shortness of breath, and tachycardia appear.
3. Stage of persistent infection. Lasts from 1.5 to 2 years (with strong immunity). At this stage, autoimmune disorders are observed, affecting the joints, heart and nervous system. This is the final stage, at which epileptic seizures, memory disorders already appear, the skin atrophies, and purple spots appear all over the body.

Lyme disease very often leads to meningitis, as well as paralysis, but even in the last stage there is a chance to recover, although not completely. Some body functions may be so affected that it will be impossible to return them to normal.

Relapsing fever

Relapsing fever is an acute infectious disease characterized by constant changes in body temperature.

Symptoms of the disease appear unexpectedly:

• chills, fever and headache;
• pain in joints and muscles (most often in the calf);
• increased heart rate, dry skin;
• the appearance of a rash;
• If the bacterium enters the liver, jaundice develops.

The first clinical manifestations last up to 6 days, after which the condition returns to normal, but after a week the attack recurs. Symptoms can repeat in a circle up to four times. Each time they can be easier. In most cases, with proper medical care, a person develops immunity.

Is it possible to treat the clearing where we want to have a picnic with something?

Theoretically, this can be done with the same means used to treat the area. But in reality, effectively spraying a clearing will take longer than the picnic itself, and will take so much effort that you will no longer be able to enjoy being in nature here. It is wiser to dress for a picnic in such a way that a tick that accidentally gets on your clothes is visible and can be removed immediately. Or use repellents applied to the skin to prevent the tick from even getting on you. This will be enough to relax calmly and safely.

What to do if you are bitten?

What to do if you are bitten by a forest tick? Many people get scared and start doing things that aren’t quite right, dousing the tick with vegetable oil and vodka. It is important to provide first aid correctly, as human health depends on it.

First aid

First aid should be provided by doctors, so it is advisable to go to a special institution so that they can get the forest tick and properly treat the affected area. But if this is not possible, then you should remove the parasite yourself. To do this, you will need forceps, alcohol or chlorhexidine, soap and water.

In almost every pharmacy you can buy a kit that includes tools for extracting forest ticks. You can buy it and take it with you when you go outdoors.

The process itself consists of several stages:

1. First, treat your tools with alcohol. The place where the tick sits should also be treated. If possible, wash your hands with soap to avoid introducing another infection through the wound.
2. Take tweezers and fix it as close as possible to the head of the parasite. This is very important, because when pulling out a tick, you need to remove it entirely. If the body is torn away from the head, then it will be impossible to get it out on your own. Moreover, as long as part of the tick is under the skin, it continues to poison the human body.
3. Having captured the parasite, begin to slowly scroll it counterclockwise. At the same time, you need to pull it slowly and under no circumstances pull it out with all your might.
4. Once you have taken out the tick, place it in a container and take it to the laboratory. There they will conduct research and tell you whether the tick was sick and whether the person became infected.
5. Wash the wound thoroughly with soap, lubricate it with an antiseptic and bandage it.

Mark the day of the bite on your calendar to monitor whether any symptoms develop and, if so, how quickly.

Once a tick is discovered, action must be taken immediately. No pills, syrups or traditional methods will help. To minimize the possibility of infection, you need to remove the entire parasite as quickly as possible.

Do I need to go to the hospital?

Do I need to go to the hospital after a tick bite? Of course yes! Even if you pulled it out yourself, the doctor should examine the bite site and check whether everything was removed. Moreover, the health station records every forest tick bite, and the victims are under observation for some time (even if the tick was not a carrier of the disease).

A week after the bite, the person who was attacked by the tick must have his blood tested. This should not be neglected even if there are no symptoms, since, for example, Lyme disease develops slowly.

It is necessary to go to the hospital as an emergency if a tick has bitten a person with allergies, immunodeficiency, as well as a child or pregnant woman. Here the clock counts. You should not try to do something yourself, as this can lead to undesirable consequences.

Is this treatment harmful to beneficial insects? For the same bees, for example?

By and large, it is harmful. Most drugs are not narrowly targeted acaricides, but are insectoacaricides that act on both ticks and insects.

That is why anti-tick treatment is recommended to be carried out as early as possible in the spring, even before the flowering of fruit trees and bushes and even before the active summer of bees. Most ticks (especially females, who need to be fed in order to lay eggs) emerge from their shelters in the ground in March-April, as soon as the daytime air temperature rises above 12°C. They do this synchronously in order to find hosts as quickly as possible and get enough and lay eggs as early as possible. There are still very few bees at this time, and the trees have not yet begun to bloom. If the treatment is carried out during these periods, the mites will be destroyed, and beneficial insects will not be harmed.

It is advisable to carry out late spring and summer treatments after the flowering of fruit trees and garden crops. In this case, it is advisable to treat lawns and adjacent areas, but not to take over the garden itself, and when treating in the garden, make sure that the spray of the product is directed towards the ground and not towards tree branches.

On the other hand, it is sometimes convenient to combine anti-mite treatment with the treatment of trees against pests “by the ovary”. In Moscow and the Moscow region it is carried out in May-June, and it is convenient to spray the trees, the grass under them, and the rest of the area.

Treatment of the site at the end of May

On a note

By the way, it is often very convenient to simultaneously treat the area against ticks and mosquitoes. To do this, the area is treated with a mixture of drugs, with special attention paid to places where ticks accumulate and vegetation near the water, where mosquitoes hide in large numbers during the day.

Autumn treatment can be carried out at any time - it will not affect bees and other beneficial insects.

All these nuances must be agreed upon with the operator over the phone. We provide tree processing services and will help you choose the optimal period for such complex processing.

How to fight ticks?

It is difficult to fight ticks, because they are very small. The most important rule is prevention. For example, you can get vaccinated against diseases carried by ticks. But, unfortunately, it is impossible to get vaccinated against all such diseases. The vaccine exists only against tick-borne encephalitis.

If you go outdoors, buy special products that repel not only forest ticks, but other insects that are abundant in the open air. Apply the preparation to your clothing, as well as your ankles and wrists. Put a cap or hat on your head, and choose clothes that cover all parts of your body. It is advisable to choose a light-colored fabric: forest ticks will be clearly visible on it. If you stay in the forest overnight, you need to spray not only your clothes, but also your tent and bedding.

There are 3 types of anti-tick products:

• repellent (scares away);
• acaricidal (kill);
• insecticidal-repellent (they repel and infect the tick, but it dies after a while).

When choosing a place, try to give preference to those where there is no tall grass, and there are dry trees and anthills nearby.

In an apartment or house

To prevent ticks from getting into your apartment or house, you need to carefully inspect your clothes after going outside. You can pick up parasites not only in the forest. They live anywhere where there is tall grass. While walking your pet, there is every chance of bringing a tick into the house. Therefore, you need to examine not only yourself, but also the animal. Pay attention to the ears (inside and outside) and coat. The pet should be checked before it enters the apartment.

If, after all, a forest tick got into the house, then you need to go through all the blankets, rugs and shoes, since it is unknown how long it traveled around the apartment. There may already be a clutch of eggs. Vacuum the coverings, wash the floors, and then treat the house with an insecticide against forest ticks (for example, Anti-Tick or Tsifoks).

Quite often, mites live on house flowers. They especially love orchids. Such mites are not dangerous for people, but they will destroy the plant. You can fight them only with the help of specialized means that should be suitable for a particular flower.

Shouldn't government health services poison ticks for free?

No, they shouldn't. State sanitary services generally do not have such an obligation to poison ticks. Their task is to control and record the sanitary situation in premises and territories. And maintaining a normal situation (including the extermination of ticks) is the task of either the owners of the plots or the authorities managing certain territories (including, for example, arable land, cemeteries, territories owned by state corporations).

Specifically on private territory, the owner of this territory must ensure the absence of ticks. If he cannot treat the area on his own, he needs to order such treatment from a special sanitary service.

Treatment of the park area

Similarly, the local area within the city, near an apartment building, must be treated by a private SES on the order of the management company or the authorities of the district in which this house is located. In fact, such treatment is most often ordered independently by the residents of the house themselves, having cooperated and raised funds collectively. And, by the way, since the common area of ​​the house is usually small, clearing it of ticks is not at all expensive for each specific apartment.

Where to go if bitten by a tick (list of emergency rooms in Yekaterinburg)

Let us remind you that you cannot delay this! Firstly, the tick needs to be removed as quickly as possible, and secondly, if you go to the emergency room, say, 4-5 days after the bite, there is no point in giving immunoglobulin! In addition, the specialist will remove the tick correctly.

Leninsky and Verkh-Isetsky district (South-Western part) - MBU GB No. 36 “Traumatological”: st. Saperov, 3, tel. 257-57-01, 251-40-51 (24 hours a day)

Verkh-Isetsky and Zheleznodorozhny districts - MBU Central City Hospital No. 2: st. Chelyuskintsev, 3/5, 389-90-71 (24 hours a day)

Oktyabrsky, Zheleznodorozhny (center), Verkh-Isetsky (except for the South-Western) districts - MBU GB No. 36 “Traumatological”: st. Bazhova, 124, a, tel. 350-25-82, 350-32-59 (24 hours a day)

Oktyabrsky district (Kompressorny village) - MBU GB No. 36 “Traumatology” (emergency department): st. Central, 2, tel. 252-00-12 (24 hours a day)

Kirovsky district - MBU Central City Hospital No. 7: st. Vilonova, 33, tel. 341-73-03 (24 hours a day)

Ordzhonikidze district (Elmash) - MBU Central City Clinical Hospital No. 23: st. Old Bolsheviks, 9, tel. 389-93-40 (24 hours a day)

Ordzhonikidze district (Uralmash) and Zheleznodorozhny district (sorting) - MAU GKB No. 14: lane. Suvorovsky, 5, tel. 380-13-95, 380-13-93 (24 hours a day)

Chkalovsky district (Khimmash) - MBU Central City Hospital No. 20: st. Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya, 42, tel. 258-22-34 (24 hours a day)

Chkalovsky district (except Khimmash) - MBU Central City Clinical Hospital No. 24: lane. Rizhsky, 16, tel. 297-92-85 (24 hours a day)

All districts of the city (child population) - DGP No. 13: st. Eremina, 15, tel. 388-30-18, (daily from 8:00 to 20:00)

First children's emergency room - Children's hospital No. 13 (Daily from 08:00 to 20:00)

st. Butorina, 10, ​1 floor, tel.+7 (343) 388‒30‒18 (inquiry) +7 (343) 289‒88‒00 (contact center)

Is it possible to protect yourself from tick-borne encephalitis?

Prevention of the disease consists of providing anti-tick protection to humans and increasing the body’s resistance to the pathogen. Anti-tick protection methods are divided into individual and collective.

Personal protective equipment.

When visiting the forest, it is necessary to strictly observe conditions that prevent ticks from crawling and penetrating under clothing. For this purpose, you need to wear special protective clothing - a jacket with a hood and trousers made of thick fabric. You can turn ordinary clothing into protective clothing if you button the collar and cuffs tightly, tuck the shirt into trousers, and the trousers into boots or socks, and put a hood over your head. But it is difficult to work in such a suit in hot weather. And yet, where it is absolutely necessary, such clothes must be worn.

During the day, it is necessary to conduct thorough self- and mutual examinations every 1-2 hours. This measure is simple, reliable and accessible to everyone. During examination, special attention should be paid to the hairy parts of the body, skin folds, ears, armpits and inguinal cavities. When returning home, you need to carefully examine all the folds and seams of your clothing, as ticks may crawl into them without having time to attach themselves. And only after making sure that there are no ticks can you go indoors. It is better to leave the suit and boots outside the living space. It is recommended to change your underwear at home, and take off what you have removed from the living rooms to the balcony, into the barn, or fill it with warm water and wash it. It's nice to take a shower. These simple and effective measures are available to everyone.

Well, if, despite taking precautions, the tick still sticks, how can you remove it along with the head? To do this, you need to lubricate the tick and the area of ​​skin around it with cream, Vaseline, vegetable oil, any fat, and after 30-60 seconds, tilting the tick to the back side, grab it close to the skin with tweezers (you can use two fingers - thumb and forefinger) and quickly, pull out with a sharp movement. The fat closes the breathing holes, and the tick relaxes the muscles of the proboscis for some time. It can be painlessly removed along with the head, which is very important, since the remaining part of the tick’s body can cause an inflammatory process.

P.I. Marikovsky suggests using a thread to remove a tick: it is used to tie the front end of the body at the very surface of the skin and, pulling the ends of the thread up and to the sides, the tick is pulled out.

If the head of the tick comes off and remains at the site of suction, it is removed with a pre-heated needle or pin. The wound is disinfected with iodine.

All ticks found on the body, not attached and removed from the skin, must be destroyed: they are placed in any disinfectant solution (Lysol, kerosene, alcohol, etc.) or burned.

Never crush ticks with your hands! Splashes of the cavity fluid and salivary glands of the tick can get on the mucous membranes of the mouth, nasal cavity, small wounds on the skin of the hands and cause tick-borne encephalitis. After removing the tick, wash your hands thoroughly.

Following these simple and accessible techniques will help you reliably protect yourself from tick-borne encephalitis.

Along with protective clothing, there are special deterrent chemicals called repellents. DEET (diethyltoluamide), carboxide, kuzol, etc. have proven themselves well. DEET is available in the form of a 40% solution in alcohol, cream, and also in aerosol packaging. To protect a person from blood-sucking arthropods, repellents are applied to exposed areas of the skin - face, neck, hands.

Recently, another, more convenient and safer method has been increasingly used - impregnating clothing and head coverings with repellents. On clothing, the drugs retain their repellent properties much longer than when applied to the skin. However, it should be remembered that negative reactions of individuals to repellent odors do occur. Some of them irritate the integument, mucous membranes and cause other side effects. Therefore, it is necessary to use repellents strictly following the rules for their use.