Tick bite: symptoms, signs, treatment
With the arrival of spring, not only leaves and flowers bloom, but also various insects and mites wake up and become active. Ticks are arthropods; the bite of infected individuals can cause various diseases. Fortunately, no more than 20% of ticks are infected. But still, everyone should know where these pests are found, how to scare them away and what to do if the pest bites.
Contents
Where do ticks live?
The largest number of bites by these pests is recorded in the central, Ural, and Siberian regions, the smallest in the south and North Caucasus. They wake up at an average daily temperature above 0-3 ̊C and live until late autumn.
The habitat of the forest tick is damp and dark wooded places. Ticks live in dry grass or bushes in damp and dark wooded areas. They cannot jump or fly, but they cling very tightly to clothing and then crawl to open areas of the skin. Ticks can sense their approaching prey from tens of meters away, so special protective equipment with a strong odor helps in the fight against bites by interrupting the human odor.
How a tick bites
Most often, pests choose a place to bite in the armpits, neck, head, lower legs, abdomen, groin area, other folded areas. They may not bite immediately, but instead crawl on the skin for several hours. When a tick bites, it pierces the skin and attaches to it using a specific organ called the hypostome. The organ is a kind of outgrowth that performs the functions of sucking blood and attaching to the human body.
While sucking blood, the volume of the pest increases many times over. In this case, males become sated in 1-1.5 hours. Females can remain in this state for up to 10 days; they are insatiable.
Signs of a tick bite
A person practically cannot feel that he has been bitten by a tick. The pest has a very small size; in addition, during the sucking process, it injects its saliva, which plays the role of an anesthetic and makes the bite invisible. After puncturing the skin, it attaches to the capillaries and draws blood. As a result, his body increases in size, and it is no longer difficult to see him.
The site of the bite will also have characteristic signs corresponding to the type and health of the tick and the duration of its attachment. If a sterile individual that is not a carrier of diseases has bitten, then at the site of suction there will be a small red spot with a bite mark inside.
As a result of an allergy to substances contained in the pest’s saliva, swelling may occur on the body near the bite. If the body reacts strongly, the area of redness may be more than 100 mm in diameter, and severe swelling may be observed.
Additional signs are:
- the appearance of causeless drowsiness, fatigue;
- aches and pain in the joints, accompanied by chills;
- the appearance of photophobia.
As a rule, a stronger reaction occurs in weak and sick people, children, and the elderly with chronic diseases. It is for them that it is very important to quickly detect the site of a tick bite and take preventive measures.
Tick bite - symptoms
Symptoms of a bite sometimes do not appear immediately, it depends on the state of the victim’s immune system. A slight increase in body temperature and blood pressure may indicate other diseases. But in combination with the appearance of rashes that itch, enlarged regional lymph nodes, and increased heart rate - these are clear symptoms of a tick bite.
If a person is in poor health, the reaction can be very strong, for example:
- nausea or vomiting will appear,
- wheezing will occur, it will be difficult to breathe,
- headaches will appear
- a state of nervous excitement may occur, up to the appearance of hallucinations.
It is very important to monitor the condition of the victim not only immediately after the bite, but also for several days. If in the first hours an elevated temperature indicates an allergy to tick saliva, then in the subsequent hours it indicates the onset of an infectious disease.
For each infectious disease there are characteristic changes in body temperature:
- Tick-borne encephalitis. When infected, the victim's temperature rises 2-4 days after infection. The febrile state lasts 2-3 days, then the temperature returns to normal. A week later the cycle repeats.
- Lyme Borreliosis is accompanied by a slight increase in the victim’s body temperature, always in combination with other symptoms: chills, joint pain, headache.
- Monocytic ehrlichiosis causes an increase in temperature 8-14 days after infection, fever lasts about 3 weeks.
- Granulocytic anaplasmosis causes an increase in temperature on the 14th day after infection.
The occurrence of at least one of the above symptoms is a reason to consult a doctor.
How to remove a tick
If you find an attached tick, you must quickly remove it, while trying not to damage its belly. Otherwise, the risk of infection from it increases significantly. It is not easy to tear off the pest; when sucking, it releases a special substance that glues the proboscis to the skin.
- First of all, you need to shake the tick’s body a little, this will destroy the adhesive layer between it and human skin.
- Using tweezers, a special device, or a loop of thread, you need to grab the pest as close to the head as possible and gently pull. Hand movements should be perpendicular to the surface of the skin at the site of the bite.
The most important thing is not to damage the pest’s belly. Otherwise, the sucked blood with possible pathogens will go directly into the wound. It is also not recommended to touch the tick with your hands; you should use gloves and a handkerchief.
Prevention after a tick bite
After removing the pest, the wound is washed with soap and then treated with iodine or brilliant green. If the head remains in the skin, then it can be removed, acting similarly to the principle of removing splinters, using a sterile needle.
There will be redness around the wound for several days, which will disappear within a week. This is a normal reaction of the body. But if the mark does not pass, but increases in size, then the likelihood of infection is high. And you need to get tested.
Tick bite - treatment
A live tick can be tested to rule out the possibility of infection, but a more accurate result will be obtained from a blood test of the victim. If the test results confirm the presence of one of the dangerous diseases, then you must immediately contact a medical institution for the administration of immunoglobulin and other treatment procedures. The earlier the disease is detected, the greater the likelihood of a mild course of the disease.
Timely vaccination, which is carried out, including children over 1 year old. When visiting forests It is recommended to wear light, closed clothing and use special sprays and ointments against various types of pests.
