Ticks start their "hunt" as soon as the ground warms up to about 5 degrees Celsius. This is not even summer yet, it's late April to early May at the latest. It's the time for picnics, barbecues, and gardening. A tick, ready to attack, can be waiting for us on any blade of grass or branch. It is ready to bite its victim at any time of day. And the tick does its job diligently - it incapacitates a person for 2-3 weeks, or even for life.

A hungry tick is no bigger than a flaxseed. But it's a seed equipped with four pairs of tenacious legs, a piercing-sucking proboscis, and a pair of sharp "knives." Its purpose is to cling and attach to anyone walking through grass or the woods.

On the body of a potential "feeder," it unerringly chooses a spot with the thinnest skin and blood vessels close to the surface. In humans, these are the hairy parts of the head, the area around the ears, the elbow and knee bends, and potentially the arms and legs.

The tick bite is insidious because a person practically does not feel it, as the tick injects an anesthetic substance with its saliva while piercing the skin with its proboscis. Only on the 2nd-3rd day does the bite site become slightly painful.

What can ticks infect humans with?

First, tick-borne encephalitis. Tick-borne viral encephalitis is an acute infectious viral disease with predominant damage to the central nervous system. The disease is characterized by spring-autumn seasonality, associated with the period of highest tick activity. The incubation period lasts 10-14 days. The disease begins acutely, accompanied by chills, severe headache, a sharp rise in temperature to 38-39 degrees, nausea, and vomiting. Muscle pain is bothersome, most often localized in the neck and shoulders, thoracic and lumbar spine, and limbs. The patient's appearance is characteristic – the face is hyperemic, and hyperemia often spreads to the torso.

The most common mode of infection is transmissive, i.e., during the blood-sucking of hungry ticks infected with the virus through saliva. Another mode of infection is alimentary, through the consumption of raw goat milk and products made from it. Human infection can also occur when a attached tick is crushed and rubbed in.

Lyme disease is found throughout the republic much more frequently than tick-borne encephalitis, which is why ticks are mainly tested for its pathogens. The causative agent is a bacterium of the genus Borrelia. From the moment of the tick bite to the appearance of the first clinical symptoms, up to 30 days pass. Most often, a pink spot (erythema migrans) appears at the site of the bite in 75% of patients. General malaise, fever, headache, muscle, and joint pain may be noted. The disease can also occur without the above symptoms, immediately with chronic manifestations of the joints, heart, skin, and nervous system, several months or even years after being bitten by an infected tick.

How not to become a victim of a bloodsucker?

The first means of protection against ticks is clothing: long sleeves, a tightly fastened collar, a hat, and closed shoes. When moving, try to stay in the middle of the paths, avoiding tall grass and bushes. Most often, ticks jump onto their victim from tree branches and shrubs. Before biting you, it can crawl on your clothes, in a basket with berries, mushrooms, or a bouquet of flowers for hours.

Therefore, upon returning from the forest, thoroughly shake your clothes and inspect all areas of your skin.

How to properly remove a tick?

A tick can be removed using a cotton thread or a sterile needle from a disposable syringe. Do not use oil or greasy cream to extract a tick, as this can block the tick's breathing holes, which provokes further release of the pathogen into the wound.
- A strong thread is folded in half, used to grasp the tick as close to its proboscis as possible, and then twisted counterclockwise.

It is good if you manage to preserve the tick's body or its fragments. Place it as soon as possible in a tightly sealed container (test tube, vial, jar), in which, in order to create increased humidity, it is necessary to pre-place a slightly moistened hygroscopic paper. The tick can be stored for no more than 2 days and then transferred to a medical facility for examination.

Under no circumstances should ticks be crushed. Crushing them can lead to infection, especially if you have abrasions on your hands. If a tick is accidentally crushed, wash your hands immediately with soap.

All the preventive measures listed above are quite simple, but they can reliably protect you from dangerous diseases.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF AND STAY HEALTHY!