What to do after a tick bite?

Ticks, getting access to human blood, can become carriers of various diseases, for example, encephalitis, borreliosis, rickettsiosis and other infectious pathologies. Therefore, if a parasite is found on its body, it should be removed, and the sooner the better. Waiting until the mite comes out on its own is a completely pointless exercise, because the longer the insect stay in the layers of the skin, the more the infection will enter the body.

What should I do if you find a tick?

First, the insect must be removed. Immediately say, this is not easy, since during the bite a saliva fluid is released from the mite, some of which serves as a fastening material and acts as an adhesive, so the insect spout firmly adheres to the wound surface. What to do? If the mite has not yet advanced deeply, then you can move it 1-2 minutes to the left and right, after which it should smoothly exit. It is not recommended to force or pull out the tick with tweezers: so you can remove the tick, but its head will remain in the thickness of the skin, which in the future will cause an inflammatory process. Simply grab the insect with your fingers over the side surfaces of the abdomen, as close to the head as possible, and gently pull upward.

To safely stretch the mite, you can apply the usual thread: tighten the loop around the head, the closer to the skin, the better. Further we pull - gradually, slowly. In order to speed up the process, some advise dripping 2-3 drops of sunflower oil, alcohol or strong saline to the mite.

In most situations, this technique allows you to remove the tick without problems. However, if you hurried, and in the thickness of the skin there was a head - do not try to pick open the wound. Usually, for 1-2 days, the skin covers the foreign body itself. But, in order to avoid inflammation, it is necessary to lubricate the bite place 2-3 times a day with alcohol, diamond green or other disinfectant.

Simultaneously, monitor the wound, even if you successfully pulled the parasite. A pink speck that lasts for about 3 days is a normal reaction of the skin. If the speck grows and darkens, you should consult a specialist who will examine the wound. Probably, it is necessary to hand over the analysis of a blood for diagnostics of an encephalitis or a borreliosis.

What to do after a person's tick bite?

The tick at the moment of bite does not cause pain and even absolutely is not felt by the person. The insect bites the skin, and at the same time the saliva is released, which plays the role of an anesthetic. This is what makes the bite painless. After this, the parasite sucks blood from small blood vessels - in this condition it can move deeper into tissues, being in the thickness of the skin for up to 10 days.

What to do after a tick bite in a child

With the onset of warm days, we increasingly want to go to nature, to fresh air, away from the city bustle. And, of course, we take children with them - they also need active rest. However, simultaneously with access to nature, we can expect a danger - just at this time in the forests and plantings ticks are activated.

To protect against insects, it is often enough to use repellents - special substances that repel parasites. Also much attention should be paid to clothing.

• Going to the forest, wear clothes lighter, so that you can notice the insect on it in time.
• Outer clothing, despite the warm weather, should be as accessible as possible for the encroachment of the tick - long sleeves and pants, if possible, tucked into socks, as well as a tight collar and cuffs.
• It is mandatory to wear a headdress, preferably - with wide margins (for example, Panama).
• Walking through the forest, inspect yourself and the baby every 1-1.5 hours.
• For a child, use only insecticides that are suitable for use in childhood.

Nevertheless, let us return to the question: what is there to do if the tick has already bitten the child?

First, do not panic. It is necessary to pull yourself together and try to remove the insect from the thickness of the skin. If you do not undertake to do it yourself, you can go to the nearest trauma clinic or sanitary epidemiological station - there it will be done quickly and competently. If you carry out the removal yourself, then do it slowly, gradually shaking the insect, without tearing it away, so as not to tear off the head.

After the procedure, it is necessary to treat the wound with alcohol, iodine or brilliant green.

When the child is bitten, the process of neutralization does not end there. Even if you safely removed the insect, you should immediately take the baby to the clinic or to the hospital. It is desirable to put the withdrawn mite in a closing jar and send it to the laboratory for 2 days to examine for the possibility of infection. After the analysis, depending on the result, the doctor will tell you about what to do next. As a rule, the affected child is closely observed for 3 weeks, paying attention to any symptoms that appear.

If the examination of the tick showed its infectiousness, then the child will be required to take a blood test. Already after 10 days after the bite, blood should be donated for the presence of borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis with PCR. After 2 weeks, tests are performed for the presence of antibodies to the encephalitis virus, and 30 days after the bite - for antibodies to Borrelia.

In the form of emergency preventive measures, the affected child may be appointed Anaferon, but this appointment should only be done by a doctor.

What should I do after a tick bite?

• First, the best remedy for a tick bite is prevention. Wear proper clothing, use appropriate insect repellent, periodically inspect yourself and your baby for ticks.
• The means of pre-prophylaxis of diseases caused by ticks is vaccination, which involves the administration of several portions of the vaccine at regular intervals. The vaccine should be done minimally one and a half months before the onset of the "dangerous" season.
• Remember that the most popular place of penetration of ticks are hair on the head, subscapular zones, the spine area, crotch area, umbilical zone, legs and hands.
• When you bite the tick to accelerate its removal you can drop on the insect a few drops of vegetable oil, or sharply smelling substance (ammonia, ethyl alcohol, acetone, kerosene, etc.).
• Securely populated tick should be removed gradually, swinging left-right, without sudden movements.
• After extracting the insect, it is necessary to perform the required processing of the wound.
• If the mite has not been completely removed, you can contact the doctor for medical advice.
• An extracted tick is recommended to inspect the Sanitary and Epidemiological Station in the laboratory for infectiousness.
• It is mandatory to monitor the general condition of the victim - to control the body temperature for 3 weeks. If symptoms such as fever, pain in the head or muscles, nausea, or worsening of the appearance of the wound (redness, pain, swelling), you need to urgently seek advice from an infectious disease doctor. As for the child, it is recommended to show it to a specialist in any case.

What can not be done after a tick bite?

• You can not leave an insect in the wound (say, get drunk - it will fall off itself). The tick can exist in the thickness of the skin for about 10 days. During this time, the infection can not just get into the body, but also spread and develop to the fullest extent.
• You can not try to snatch the insect sharply, pulling it upward forcefully, because in such a situation you risk tearing off its body, and the head with the proboscis will remain in the layers of the skin. The tick must be easily loosened or unscrewed from the wound.
• You can not put pressure on the mite, pierce it, burn matches or cigarettes - so increases the risk of infection, even if the skin is not damaged. Yes, and remove the crushed insect will be times more difficult.
• It is impossible to leave the wound untreated after removing the tick - use any disinfecting agents available at hand - iodine, alcohol, vodka, alcohol solutions, greenery, etc.
• After a tick bite, symptoms such as fever, headaches, muscle weakness, redness of the skin, vomiting, etc. Should not be ignored. Be sure to contact your healthcare professional immediately!

If you have been bitten by a tick and you have not been previously vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis, then urgent preventive measures can be taken with the help of an immunoglobulin - the medical specialist introduces prepared antibodies derived from human blood serum. Such antibodies can suppress the development of tick-borne encephalitis in the body. Immunoglobulin is administered during the first 96 hours that have passed since the time of the insect bite. An important point: counting goes exactly from the time of the bite, and not from when the tick was discovered. Vaccination with immunoglobulin can be carried out in childhood.

If the mite is infected, and the victim has suspicious symptoms, then it is immediately sent to the hospital. He will be assigned the strictest bed rest and a sufficiently long course of treatment in the infectious disease ward of the hospital.

Fortunately, not all ticks are infected. The danger is represented precisely by the encephalitis tick, which externally differs in no way from an ordinary representative. For this reason, you should carefully treat any bite, since it can have extremely adverse effects.

What to do after a tick bite? Of course, it's better to immediately apply to a medical institution for help. However, this ideal option does not always work, because where ticks live, the doctor is usually far away. Therefore, the recommendations listed by us can help with the organization of first aid to the victim, and also direct them to competent further actions.