Waking ticks are a “silent” danger that lies in wait for vacationers who choose an independent vacation. You can “pick up” parasites from March to September, but the peak is in April-May, when the temperature rises to + 5C ° -7C °, Rambler said, who spoke with Russian doctors. The topic is especially relevant now: due to the closure of most foreign destinations, our compatriots “switched” to traveling around their native expanses.
Where do ticks live and how do they get to people?
Many people think that ticks fall from trees, but this is not true. They rarely live high – usually no higher than 1 meter above ground level. They live in shrubs or on tall blades of grass. For “hunting”, ticks choose places with high humidity: glades, banks of ravines and reservoirs, garden plots.
When a tourist enters the access zone, the tick clings to a person’s clothes or hair, and then looks for a suitable place to bite. These arachnids can even withstand scratching or rubbing for up to 15 days. And all this for a long time to drink blood.
Let's list the most vulnerable places:
- head under the hair
- groin area
- armpits
- ears
- neck
Why are ticks dangerous?
Ticks are the causative agents of borreliosis (Lyme disease) and encephalitis. Blood loss is usually not a problem. The tick is very dangerous due to the transfer of diseases to humans and animals. When bitten, the tick injects anesthetics so that the moment of the bite does not cause pain. You can not notice a tick for several days.
How not to pick it up?
There are elementary rules, following which, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of meeting a bloodsucking parasite. Doctors gave the following recommendations:
- Choose light monochrome or solid color clothes for walking – this way the tick will quickly give out its presence.
- Tuck in your clothes and get your hair out. The upper part is inside the trousers, and the trousers, whatever fashion dictates, in socks with a tight elastic band or boots. The cuffs of outerwear should fit tightly around the arms. With loose hair and an uncovered head, you should also not move around dangerous areas, you should wear a hat, cap or scarf.
- Regularly inspect clothes on the street – preferably every 15-20 minutes.
- Use tick repellant.
- Check clothing and body when you return home. If the traveler took a pet with him, then he must also be carefully examined.
- Bringing home clothing, plants, and items that may have ticks is dangerous – all these should be inspected before entering the house.
What to do in case of a bite?< /p>
If the tourist noticed that the tick has already done its job, you should immediately seek medical help. After removing the tick, it cannot be thrown away, it must be delivered to the laboratory for testing for its infectivity.
Doctors never tire of noting that the main prevention of tick-borne diseases is vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis. This is especially true for travelers who choose to “wild” holidays and go to areas where ticks appear from year to year. According to Rospotrebnadzor, the regions of the Northwestern Federal District, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East are recognized as the most unfavorable for the spread of tick-borne encephalitis.
What is tick-borne encephalitis?
As doctor of medical sciences Vladimir Podkhomutnikov explained to the portal, tick-borne encephalitis is a viral disease that can affect the central nervous system.
“The centers of the disease are all the forest and taiga regions of Russia. The risk of morbidity is especially high in the Urals, in the Urals, in Siberia. The Kaliningrad and Leningrad regions are endemic for the disease. In Moscow and the region, tick-borne encephalitis is rare,” he said.
There are three main forms of tick-borne encephalitis:
- Feverish: it accounts for half of all infections.
- Meningeal: occurs in 30 percent of cases.
- Focal: in the rest of the cases. May cause severe consequences.
All three forms have similar primary characteristics: an acute flu-like onset is chills, muscle pain, weakness, a sudden rise in body temperature. Convulsions and vomiting are not excluded. The progression of the disease depends on the location of the pathological foci in the body.
For those who care about a healthy lifestyle, we recommend reading: “Doctors named common signs of cancer.”
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