What to do, if a tick has bitten you

Spending time at nature with the spring coming is the nicest thing. But you should remember about the danger which is waiting for us in the wild nature. That’s right, we are going to talk about ticks! Together with steadily eye-pleasing thermometer the activity of these arachnoids grows. But it’s impossible to deny yourself with the pleasure of walking in nature! So, we are reminding about the risks which can be caused by ticks and about what can help you to protect yourself from them. 

 Meeting with ticks is dangerous for a man firstly not because of the fact of biting itself, but because of tick-borne infections, most of which lead to persistent neurological disorders. The most dangerous of them are tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis (Lyme disease). And the Krasnoyarsk region is one of the regions, endemic for encephalitis infected ticks. Only for the past week 44 residents of the region suffered of these parasites’ bites, the head sanitary doctor of the region Dmitriy Goryaev informed.

Ticks are not insects. Because of the small size and external similarity they are classified as the repsentatives of this group by mistake, but in fact they belong to the arachnids.

Even though forest and park zones and boulevards are processed from these arachnids repsentatives, Krasnoyarsk citizens and guests of the region should be maximally careful. So, going to the nature (even if these are green oases in the city), please, follow these rules:

► The most important is keeping your body maximally covered. Choose clothes of one light colour – the heroes of our text are best seen on it. Tuck your trousers inside the boots (choose footwear with high tops), put on knee socks or socks with tight bands, and tuck the top part of your outfit into the trousers. The sleeves’ cuffs should tightly adjoin the body, and the shirt’s collar and trousers must have tight zip which will not allow a tick to get inside. You should protect your head with a hood, and if you don’t have it – you’d better put on a headscarf or a cap.

There is also special “anti-encephalitis” outfit which can be bought in the following shops:

— Pokrov www.pokrov.ru

— Amatis  www.amatis24.ru

— Industria  https://cps24.ru

— Vostok Servis https://kras.vostok.ru/

During eating the weight of a female ticks gets 80-100 times bigger. If a man had eaten so much, he would have weighted 600-700 kilograms after lunch!

► Process all the naked parts of your body and clothes with special means from ticks. They are divided into three categories:

— repellent – are applied onto the naked parts of the skin and scare parasites away

— acaricidal – are applied onto the clothes and kill ticks

— acaricidal and repellent –  both scare and in case of a contact paralyze the arachnid. 

► Don’t lie and sit on the grass without need – hungry ticks can be waiting for you there.

► Make regular inspections (each 10-15 minutes) to see the parasite. Before biting ticks can scrawl on the victim’s body for 40 minutes, choosing the most appropriate place. Usually this is a piece of the body with highest concentration of capillary vessels and active blood flow. During the inspection there is a chance to remove the potential carrier of infections from you.  

► Right after coming home take off all your clothes and examine your body. Pay special attention to the most vulnerable places – the parts of the body with excessive sweating (a tick has sensitive receptors and find a victim by smell).

► If you have pets which have to be walked, take care of their safety. Examine your pet after every walk to see a tick. During the period of ticks’ activity process your dog or cat with the remedies from ectoparasites in the form of drops, applying it on the withers, or pills for taking orally (is suitable for dogs) – this way of protection is the most efficient and less toxic.   

A tick can live without eating for about two years

► An important part of the pvention of the tick-borne encephalitis is vaccination - an injection protects from the illness for about 95 per cent. The vaccination can be held at any season, but the most reasonable decision is to count the time so, that the immunity starts to form by the beginning of the season of ticks’ activity. The vaccination is organized according to the definite scheme. 1-3 months after the first injection the second one is done, and 12 months after the second injection the third one is done. Revaccination should be done every 3 years. The immune protection from the encephalitis stats to work after the second doze, ant the third injection forms many-years immunity. It is necessary to monitor the periods, because the break of the scheme pvents the development of the full immune response.

► We also recommend you to take out insurance from ticks. It will provide you with laboratory tests and treatment in case of the infection. It’s better to start organizing this issue before the beginning of the season.  

► If you have found this bloodsucking arachnid on yourself, it is necessary to remove it as soon as possible. The best way is to go to a medical organization (usually it is an emergency room). There you will get an injection of immunoglobulin, and it antibodies will kill the virus which could get into your body with from the tick. If you have no opportunity to get medical care, get rid of it yourself with the help of a thread, a pair of forceps or a special unscrewing tool. After removing a tick put it into a small glass bottle with a tight cap and bring it to a laboratory for tests during two days.

The safest place from ticks in the forest is situated near an anthill – these insects eat ticks’ eggs and weak ticks.

► In Krasnoyarsk you can remove a tick here:

● Emergency room of the Sverdlovskiy, Kirovskiy and Leninskiy districts in Krasnoyarskiy Rabochiy street, 48 V

● Emergency room of the Central and Zheleznodorozhniy districts in Lenin street, 150

● Emergency room of the Soviet district in Dzhambulskaya street, 19

● Emergency room of the Oktyabrskiy district in Bauman street, 20 B

● Medical centre Terve in Krasnoyarskiy Rabochiy street, 150, bld. 48

● Medical centre Terve in Partizan Zheleznyak street, 21 а

► А сдать на исследование тут:

● Centre for Hygiene and Epidemiology in the Krasnoyarsk region in Sopochnaya street, 38, 26 Bakinskikh Komissarov street, 29, Lenin street, 168

● FSRCC of FMBA of Russia in Kolomenskaya street, 26, Bograd street, 13, Vavilov street, 29, Vavilov street, 23 B

Photo: @katya_v_gorah.