What to do if a tick is bitten by a person - how to remove the parasite yourself and do you need to take tests after that?

Hello! Once a quite harmless trip to the river for ordinary relaxation ended for us with an unpleasant meeting.

There were four of us, and two people met closely with ticks. Moreover, they did not appear immediately, but after a few hours.

One woman became very panicked when she realized that a tick had bitten her. I had to reassure her and take reasonable action in such a situation. Want to know what to do if a person is bitten by a tick? Then read on. In the article below, I tried to give a detailed guide.

What should I do if bitten by a tick

Ticks are carriers of many diseases, including tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease), rickettsioses and other infections.

It is impossible to delay with removal. The longer the tick drinks blood, the more infection will enter the body.

Parasite removal

If you plan to pass the tick for analysis, it is advisable to remove the tick alive and whole, as a rule, only such ones are taken. To avoid tearing the tick, do not pull it sharply.

It is convenient to remove ticks with tweezers. In this case, the tick should be grabbed as close to the proboscis as possible, then gently pull up, while rotating around its axis in a convenient direction. Usually after 1-3 turns, the tick is removed as a whole with the proboscis.

If there are no tweezers or a special device at hand, then you can simply grab the tick with a piece of bandage, gauze or cotton wool and act as described above.

There is a method for removing ticks by thread. To do this, tie a strong thread into a knot as close to the proboscis of the tick as possible, then twist it in one direction (pulling it up a bit) until the tick is twisted. This method is not always convenient, especially for self-removal and extraction of ticks in animals.

If the tick sucked in a place inconvenient for removing it, and no one can help you, remove it as you can, even if it breaks, this is better than spending a long time looking for help.

If, when removing a tick, its head or part of it comes off, this is not scary, but it is worth considering that the particles of the tick remaining in the skin can cause inflammation or suppuration. Also, when the head is torn off, the infection process can continue.

The tick does not need to be smeared with oil or anything else. Even if the tick comes out on its own, you will lose time, because physical removal will be faster.In addition, such a tick may not be accepted for analysis.

After removing the tick, the skin at the point of suction is treated with tincture of iodine or alcohol, no dressing is required.

After detecting a tick bite on the body, it is necessary to visit a doctor within 3 days to resolve the issue of preventive treatment.

What threatens a bite?

Even if the tick bite was short-term, the risk of contracting tick-borne infections is not excluded.

A tick can be a source of a fairly large number of diseases, therefore, removing a tick, save it for research on tick-borne infections (tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease), if other infections are possible).

The tick should be placed in a small glass bottle with a piece of cotton wool slightly moistened with water. Be sure to close the bottle with a tight lid and store it in the refrigerator.

For microscopic diagnosis, the tick must be delivered to the laboratory alive. Even individual fragments of the tick are suitable for PCR diagnostics. However, the latter method is not widespread even in large cities.

It must be understood that the presence of an infection in a tick does not mean that a person will become ill. A tick analysis is needed for calm in case of a negative result and vigilance in the case of a positive.

Two weeks after a tick bite on antibodies (IgM) to tick-borne encephalitis virus. For antibodies (IgM) to Borrelia (tick-borne borreliosis) - after a month.

If you are bitten by a tick, do not worry in vain

Even if the parasite turns out to be infectious, by taking appropriate measures, problems can be avoided.

However, before you go to nature, you need to prepare in advance, because you are waiting for blood-sucking ticks, which can cause dangerous diseases.

What is dangerous bite

The number of diseases transmitted by ticks is quite large. The most dangerous of them are encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) and tick-borne borreliosis.

Lyme disease (or Lymeborreliosis) is a dangerous disease that can result in death. Also, ticks can infect typhus, as well as some varieties of hemorrhagic fever.

However, what to do if, nevertheless, it was not possible to escape a dashing fate? What to do when a tick is found on your body that has already sunk into the skin?

Remove the parasite

So, if you are in the city, or if you know that there is a medical facility near you, feel free to call an ambulance. Doctors will correctly remove the tick, as well as conduct special tests for its dangers.

If it is problematic to call for medical help, then the tick will have to be pulled out independently. Keep in mind that the longer the tick is in the skin, the more virus will enter the body and the harder it will be to remove.

Therefore, it is important here not to hesitate and act quickly, but at the same time soberly, without making unnecessary movements.

Tools made specifically for this purpose are used to extract ticked ticks from the skin. One of the most convenient such devices is a curved two-toothed hook.

The tool is positioned so that the tick is between the teeth, after which they begin to twist it. After 1 - 3 turns, the tick is removed along with the proboscis.After removing, place the tick in a jar or vial.

For lack of a special tool, you can use tweezers. Grab the tick as close to the proboscis as possible, and begin to gently rotate it around its axis.

The wound must be carefully treated with iodine or alcohol, and parts of the tick also need to be placed in the vial. If possible, keep the tick vial in the refrigerator until you take it for analysis.

We give the tick to the laboratory

A tick that bites you must be delivered to a medical institution within 1-2 days for research for its infection with encephalitis and borreliosis. The results of the study become known after a few hours, a maximum of two days.

What to do next?

If the tick bit you in a region that is considered to be unfavorable for encephalitis (or the analysis showed the presence of infection), then in the first 96 hours (and preferably on the first day), an anti-mite immunoglobulin should be injected. One of the main contraindications for such injections is an allergy to blood products.

A special vaccine against borreliosis does not yet exist. The use of antibiotic therapy before the results of a tick test is impractical, since antibiotics can complicate the course of encephalitis, which can be transmitted together with borreliosis.

When to take blood tests

Even after the safety of the tick has been established, many people still have some doubts. In order to fully verify the diagnosis, it is necessary to donate blood for tests. However, there is no point in doing this immediately, since the infectious agent is detected only after 1-2 weeks.

If, 2 months after the bite, no health problems were found, then you can completely calm down.

Symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of diseases after a bite of a borreliosis, encephalitis tick

In Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Western and Eastern Europe and the USA, ticks are carriers and, accordingly, with a bite, they can infect a person with the following infections:

Most often, ticks are carriers of tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis, since these infections are common in almost all countries of Europe, the Asian part of Russia and the USA. That is why the prevention of these infections focuses on after tick bites.

The remaining infections (hemorrhagic fevers) are common only in certain regions, so you can become infected if a person is bitten by a tick living in the area.

And since ticks do not leave their habitat, moreover, they practically do not budge throughout their lives, often spending it on the same bush, then you can become infected with hemorrhagic fevers only if a tick located in the region the prevalence of these infections.

Accordingly, the person himself must also be in a region where hemorrhagic fevers carried by local ticks are common.

So, Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic fever is common only in Crimea, on the Taman Peninsula, in the Rostov Region, Southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Bulgaria. Omsk hemorrhagic fever is common in the territories of Omsk, Novosibirsk, Kurgan, Tyumen and Orenburg regions.

So, since ticks can infect humans with dangerous infections, consider the action algorithms that must be taken in various situations after a bite of a given insect.
What should I do if bitten by a tick?

Action algorithm

Regardless of who the tick bit (child, woman, man, elderly person), it is necessary to do the following manipulations when this fact is detected:

1. Remove the tick in any way possible (see sections below);
2. Treat the place of suction of the tick with an antiseptic (iodine, alcohol, zelenka, Chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, etc.);
3. Place the tick in a closed container and, if possible, pass for analysis in order to determine whether it is a carrier of infections;
4. Take tests for borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis to determine if infection has occurred after a tick bite;
5. Perform prophylactic administration of drugs, the action of which is aimed at the rapid suppression of an infectious disease transmitted to humans by a tick;
6. Observe your own condition for a month after a tick bite.

When a tick bites, it is imperative that the insect be removed as soon as possible and the place of its suction to the skin is treated. The rest of the points of the algorithm can be omitted, with the exception of observing one's own state for a month.

It is advisable to place the tick after removing it from the skin in a closed container only if it can be transported to a specialized laboratory for research for a maximum of 24 hours.

Such laboratories are usually located in infectious diseases hospitals. However, since in many cities and countries of Europe ticks are, in principle, not examined for whether they are carriers of infections, but they monitor the condition of people after a bite, it is senseless to pack an insect in a container in most cases.

In general, the identification of whether a tick is a vector of infection is not necessary, but is necessary only for an early accurate determination of the subsequent tactics of the behavior of a bitten person.

Indeed, in 80% of cases, the bite of an infected tick does not lead to human infection. Therefore, if a person is bitten by an infected tick, it is necessary to monitor its condition for a month and, if possible, take blood tests to determine whether infection has occurred.

That is, the analysis of the tick allows the person himself to adhere to the right tactics and be ready for a possible disease, and not rely on "maybe".

A more rational (compared to passing a tick to the laboratory) tactics of behavior after a bite is taking blood tests to determine if a human insect has infected any infection.However, you don’t need to donate blood immediately, since the tests will be uninformative.

Not earlier than 10 days after the bite, you can donate blood for the detection of tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis by PCR. If the analysis is performed by ELISA or western blotting (immunoblotting), then to detect tick-borne encephalitis, blood should be donated only two weeks after the bite, and borreliosis - after 4 - 5 weeks.

During PCR, the presence of the pathogen in the blood is detected, so this analysis is very accurate. And during ELISA and Western blotting, IgM antibodies are detected against tick-borne encephalitis virus and the causative agent of borreliosis.

The ELISA method is inaccurate because the percentage of false positive results is high. Western blotting is reliable and accurate, but is mainly done only in private laboratories located in large cities, as a result of which it is not available to every person who has been bitten by a tick.

If the results of any analysis (PCR, ELISA, Western blotting) are positive, then this means that the tick infected the person with an infection. In this case, you must immediately undergo a course of treatment, which will allow you to cure the disease at an early stage.

Despite the temptation to take preventive treatment immediately after a bite in order to protect yourself from the development of infection, if infection has occurred, you should not do this. Doctors and scientists consider the following tactics of behavior after a tick bite to be the most optimal and justified:

If the PCR result is positive for any one or both infections, then medications should be started to prevent the full development of the disease and its cure at the stage of the incubation period.

To prevent borreliosis, antibiotics Doxycycline + Ceftriaxone are produced, and encephalitis - Iodantipirin or Anaferon. If the result is positive for both infections, then antibiotics and iodantipyrine are taken simultaneously for preventive treatment.

Accordingly, when receiving a positive test result, antibiotics or Iodantipirin should be taken, depending on which particular infection was detected (encephalitis or borreliosis).

Taking antibiotics and Yodantipirin immediately after a tick bite without analysis is justified only in cases where the incident occurred away from civilization (for example, a camping trip, a bike ride, etc.) and it is impossible to get to medical laboratories.

In this case, to prevent infection with encephalitis and borreliosis, it is necessary to take both antibiotics and Iodantipirin, since it is not known what kind of infection the tick is.

General rules for removing the parasite

If a person is bitten by a tick of any age and gender, then first of all it is necessary to remove the insect as soon as possible, since the longer it is on the skin, the higher the probability of infection with infectious diseases.

These processes make the proboscis of the tick look like a harpoon, so just pulling the insect out of the skin will not work.For the purpose of removal, you can not drip oil, glue, milk on the tick, cover it with a jar and perform any other actions aimed at blocking the spiracles of the insect located on the back of its body.

The fact is that when closing the spiracle, the tick cannot breathe normally, and this makes it aggressive, as a result of which it splashes out its saliva into the blood very intensively and in large quantities. Namely, saliva contains the pathogens of the infection that the tick carries.

Thus, blockage of the spiracle of the tick increases the risk of human infection with encephalitis or borreliosis.

You can remove the tick with your hands, tweezers, a tight thread or special devices of domestic or foreign production (Tick Twister, The Tick Key, Ticked-Off, Anticlash), which are sold in pharmacies or in Medtekhnika stores.

These devices have different shapes and methods of application, therefore it is recommended to choose the best variety in Medtekhnika and use it as needed. Such devices for removing ticks need to be bought in advance and carried with you on various outings.

If there are no devices, then you need to remove the tick with the usual improvised means, such as tweezers, thread or the fingers themselves.

Regardless of how the tick is removed, you can not touch the insect with your bare hands. This is due to the fact that when removed, the tick can be damaged and then the contents of its intestinal tract will fall on the skin, with which it can penetrate the systemic circulation if any small wounds invisible to the naked eye appear on it.

After removing the tick, the wound must be disinfected by treating it with any available antiseptic, such as iodine, Chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, calendula tincture or alcohol. Optionally treat the wound remaining from the tick with alcohol or iodine.

After treatment, the skin is left without a bandage. If a person wants to pass a tick for analysis to determine whether it is a carrier of any infection, then the insect should be placed in a jar along with a piece of cotton wool moistened with water, close the container and store in the refrigerator.

If a person does not want to give the tick for analysis, then the removed insect can simply be burned in the flame of a match, a lighter or a fire, or crushed by shoes.

How to properly remove ticks in various ways

Tick ​​removal with Tick Twister. This device is best for tick removal for two main reasons. Firstly, Tick Twister allows in 98% of cases to completely remove the tick without tearing it and without leaving, thus, the head of the insect in the skin.

And, accordingly, the tick head located in the skin continues to be a source of infection for humans.

Secondly, the use of Tick Twister avoids pressure on the digestive tract of the tick, as a result of which there is no risk of ejecting a large amount of insect saliva containing pathogens.

When using tweezers, thread or fingers, there is often strong pressure on the digestive tract of the tick, as a result of which it injects a large amount of saliva into the skin, which contains tick-borne infections. Accordingly, such an injection of saliva increases the risk of contracting an infection if this has not already happened.

Using Tick Twister is very simple: you need to grab the tick between the teeth of the device, then turn it around its axis counterclockwise 3 to 5 times and easily pull it towards you. After several turns counterclockwise, the tick is easily pulled out of the skin. After removing the tick, the place of its suction is treated with iodine or alcohol.

Tick ​​Removal Guidelines with The Tick Key. This device allows in most cases to successfully remove the tick without tearing it apart, as well as not to press on its digestive tract, preventing the release of saliva into the blood.

However, The Tick Key is slightly worse than the Tick Twister in its characteristics, since it is inconvenient to use in some hard-to-reach areas of the body, such as the inguinal and axillary folds, the area under the breast in women, etc.

Use The Tick Key to remove the tick in three steps:

1. Put the device on the skin so that the tick is inside a large hole;
2. Move The Tick Key, without tearing off the skin surface, so that the tick gets into a small hole;
3. Turn The Tick Key counterclockwise 3 - 5 times, and then pull the tick towards you.

After removing the tick, the place of its suction is treated with iodine or alcohol.

Tick ​​removal with Ticked-Off. The Ticked-Off device is as convenient and practical as the Tick Twister, however, unfortunately, in most cases it can be bought in the CIS countries only through online stores.

Ticked-Off to remove the tick should be used as follows: put the spoon vertically to the skin, and then push the sticking part of the tick into the hollow.

Having fixed the tick in this way, you should rotate the device 3-5 times around its axis counterclockwise, after which it is easy to pull it towards you. After removing the tick, the place of its suction is treated with iodine or alcohol.

Rules for removing a tick with the Antic tick tool. The anti-mite is a special tweezers made of wire, which allows you to reliably capture the tick and, at the same time, does not put pressure on its digestive tract, which ensures quick, effective and safe removal of the insect from the skin.

To remove the tick, the Anti-Tick device must capture the insect as close to the skin surface as possible. To do this, by pressing the thumb and forefinger on the middle of the tweezers, part its tips apart and place them so that the head of the tick is between them.

After removing the tick, it is necessary to treat the place of its suction with iodine or alcohol.

Rules for removing ticks with tweezers. In order to remove the tick with tweezers, you need to grab it by closing the tips of the tool as close to the skin surface as possible. Then, holding the tick in the grip, it is necessary to rotate it around its axis counterclockwise 3-5 times.

After this, it is necessary to easily pull on the insect, which should easily come out of the wound. If the tick cannot be pulled out, turn it several times counterclockwise and pull it again. After removing the tick, the place of its suction must be treated with iodine or alcohol.

Then put a loop on the skin so that a tick gets into it.Tighten the loop firmly, connect both ends of the thread into one and start twisting your fingers counterclockwise. When the thread is tightly twisted, you should pull it towards you, and the tick will easily be removed from the wound. Treat the wound remaining at the site of the tick with iodine or alcohol.

Rules for removing ticks with fingers. Wear gloves on your hands, or cover your fingers with several layers of a bandage or a clean cloth. Then, using your protected fingers, grab the tick and rotate it around its axis counterclockwise 3-5 times.

After that, pull the tick towards yourself, and it will easily be removed from the wound. Treat the tick suction area with iodine or alcohol.

Rules for Removing Wound Residues

If the tick was not completely removed, and any parts of its body (most often the head with the proboscis) remained in the skin, then they must be pulled out.

Removing tick residues from the wound is done in the same way as a splinter is removed, that is, with a needle. The needle is pre-sterilized by treatment with hydrogen peroxide, alcohol or holding in a flame for 1 to 2 minutes. Then, with a sterilized needle, the remains of the tick are removed from the wound and treated with iodine or alcohol.

How and how to handle the bite site?

After the tick has been removed from the skin, it is necessary to treat this place with any antiseptic. Alcohol and iodine are best suited for this purpose, but you can use hydrogen peroxide, and Chlorhexidine, and green, etc.

Any existing antiseptic is poured onto a piece of clean cotton wool and liberally lubricate the wound remaining after removing the tick. After this treatment, the skin is left open and no bandage is applied.

At the site of the tick bite, redness, swelling and itching may persist for 3 weeks.

In this case, it is recommended to lubricate the inflamed area with iodine and calendula tincture daily, and take any antihistamine inside (for example, Erius, Telfast, Suprastin, Fenistil, Tsetrin, etc.).

How to transport ticks to the laboratory for analysis?

To transport the tick to the laboratory, it is necessary to place a live insect in a container that can be tightly closed, for example, in a jar with a lid, etc. In a container with a tick, you should definitely put a small piece of cotton wool soaked in water.

Until the moment of transportation, the container with the tick must be kept in the refrigerator. Remember that only a live tick is suitable for analysis, so if an insect died during removal from the skin, then transporting it to the laboratory does not make sense.

How and which tests to take?

Currently, the following blood tests are performed to determine whether a tick has infected a person with encephalitis or borreliosis.

The most informative are blood tests performed by PCR and Western blotting.Therefore, it is best to perform these tests for early detection of possible tick-borne infections. ELISA should only be used if PCR or Western blotting is not available.

For example, if the first analysis was performed by PCR, then the second should be performed by the same PCR method. Moreover, the second time the analysis is surrendered only if the results of the first were negative.

If the first and second tests for both infections are negative, then the tick did not infect the person. In this case, you can simply forget about this unpleasant episode of your life. If the second analysis turns out to be positive, then a course of preventive treatment should be taken, which will suppress the disease at the stage of the incubation period.

If the first analysis showed a negative result for one of the infections and a positive result for the second, then the tactics change somewhat.

For the second infection, the analysis for which turned out to be negative, they re-test one month after the first. Accordingly, with a negative analysis, you can completely relax and forget about the tick bite. And with a positive analysis - undergo a course of preventive treatment with the necessary drugs.

How and what medicines to take after a tick bite to prevent the development of tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis? To prevent the development of borreliosis after a tick bite, a person of any age and gender must take two antibiotics:

1. Doxycycline - 100 mg once a day for 5 days;
2. Ceftriaxone - 1000 mg once a day for three days.

Taking these two antibiotics can prevent the development of borreliosis (even if the tick has infected a person) in 80 - 95% of cases.

To prevent the development of encephalitis in people of any age and gender after a tick bite, there are two main methods:

Serum administration is an ineffective and dangerous method, as people often develop severe allergic reactions up to anaphylactic shock. Therefore, this method of tick-borne encephalitis prevention is currently not used in Europe and the USA, and it is also gradually being abandoned in the countries of the former USSR.

Iodantipirin after a tick bite should be taken by adults and adolescents over 14 years of age according to the following scheme: in the first two days, 3 tablets 3 times a day, in the next two days 2 tablets 3 times a day, and then for 5 days 1 tablet 3 times a day.

Pediatric Anaferon is given to all children and adolescents under the age of 14 after a tick bite in order to prevent tick-borne encephalitis. Children under 12 years old are given 1 tablet 3 times a day, and adolescents 12-14 years old - 2 tablets 3 times a day.

Anaferon for children in the indicated dosages should be given to children within 21 days after a tick bite.

What to do at home if a tick has bitten?

At home, after a tick bite, it is first necessary to remove the insect from the skin and treat the remaining wound with an antiseptic (iodine or alcohol). After that, if it is possible to take tests at the appropriate time - after 11 days for PCR, after 2 and 4 weeks for ELISA and Western blotting.

However, if it is impossible to take tests for any reason, then immediately after a tick bite it is recommended to take a course of antibiotics (Doxycycline + Ceftriaxone) and Iodantipirin (for adults) or child Anaferon (for children) in order to prevent tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis.

Antibiotics and Yodantipirin or Anaferon children can be taken simultaneously, each according to its own scheme. Moreover, medication should be started as soon as possible after a tick bite.

What to do if a child is injured?

If the tick bit a child, then the algorithm of actions is exactly the same as with respect to an adult. That is, first of all, you need to remove the tick from the skin and treat the suction site with iodine or alcohol. Then, at the appropriate time, take tests for the presence of infections in his body.

Accordingly, if the test result is positive, conduct a course of preventive treatment of the child with the necessary medications (Doxycycline + Ceftriaxone for borreliosis and Anaferon for children for tick-borne encephalitis).

In the case when it is impossible to take tests, it is recommended that as soon as possible after a tick bite, start giving the child both antibiotics (Doxycycline + Ceftriaxone) and Anaferon for children in order to prevent the development of encephalitis and borreliosis.

Antibiotics are given in age-related dosages, with Doxycycline for 5 days, and Ceftriaxone for 3 days. Anaferon children give for 21 days 1 tablet 3 times a day to children under 12 years old, and 2 tablets 3 times a day to adolescents 12-14 years.

What to do if a pregnant woman is bitten by a parasite?

If the tick bit a pregnant woman, then it should be removed from the skin and treat the wound with iodine or alcohol. Then, at the required time, it is recommended to take tests for the presence of tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis.

For the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis, pregnant women should not take any medications, but can only wait and observe their own condition.

If there are signs of encephalitis (temperature, headache, etc.) or feeling unwell within a month after a tick bite, you should immediately consult a doctor, be hospitalized in a hospital and receive the necessary treatment.

No further action is necessary after a tick bite of a pregnant woman.

What to do if the tick is encephalitis?

If you have bitten an encephalitis tick, then it is optimal to prevent the development of an infection that has already entered the body by drinking a course of Iodantipirin (adults and adolescents over 14 years old) or Anaferon children (children under 14 years old).

Iodantipirin should be taken by all people over 14 years of age according to the following scheme:

1. 3 tablets 3 times a day in the first 2 days;
2. 2 tablets 3 times a day for the next 2 days;
3. 1 tablet 3 times a day for the next 5 days.

For children and adolescents under 14 years of age, iodantipyrine is contraindicated. For the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis, they use children's Anaferon.

Pediatric Anaferon is given to all adolescents and children under 14 years of age for 21 days. Moreover, children under 12 years old are given 1 tablet 3 times a day, and adolescents 12-14 years old - 2 tablets 3 times a day.

If the tick is borreliosis

If a borreliosis tick has bitten, then to prevent the development of the disease, it is recommended to drink a short course of antibiotics according to the following scheme:

• Doxycycline - 100 mg once a day for 5 days;
• Ceftriaxone - 1000 mg once a day for three days.

The tick bit, but did not stick. If the tick bit, but did not have time to stick, then you just need to treat the wound with an antiseptic (iodine, alcohol, etc.).

No further action is needed, because during the bite the tick does not have time to infect a person with infections. Indeed, to transmit borreliosis or encephalitis, the tick must be in the skin for at least 6 hours.

Where to go?

If a tick is bitten, then you should contact an infectious disease doctor in a clinic at the place of residence. In addition, you can contact the Centers for Epidemiology and Prevention (former sanitation), available in regional cities and district centers.

If a person lives in Siberia, then you should find out where such a center is located in the nearest city and go there.

First aid for a bite

First aid for a tick bite is to remove it from the skin and treat the remaining wound with an antiseptic (iodine, alcohol, etc.). To stop itching and inflammation at the site of the bite, you can take any antihistamine (Fenistil, Suprastin, Telfast, Tsetrin, etc.).

What to do if the temperature rises after a tick bite. If the temperature rises after a tick bite, you should consult a doctor and take tests for borreliosis and encephalitis. If the tests are negative, then you can not worry, because after a tick bite a person can hold temperatures up to 37.8oC for a month.

What to do if after a tick bite redness appears on the skin? Redness on the skin after a tick bite can be a symptom of an early stage of borreliosis or an allergic reaction. It is not always possible to quickly distinguish what caused the redness in each case - an allergic reaction or borreliosis.

Therefore, with the appearance of redness, it is recommended to take antihistamines (Suprastin, Fenistil, Claritin, Parlazin, etc.).

If under the action of antihistamines within a few days the redness significantly decreases in size, this means that there has been an allergic reaction that will completely disappear within a month.

If, under the influence of antihistamines, redness practically does not decrease, then this means that with a high probability a person develops borreliosis. In such a situation, it is necessary to take tests for borreliosis, and in case of positive results, immediately begin treatment.

Tick ​​bite action

At the site of a tick bite, an inflamed edematous tubercle forms with a dark dot in the middle - the body of the parasite. A hyperemic rim, hemorrhage, is visible along the edge of the papule. The moment of the bite can be imperceptible, since the analgesic substance blocks the sensitivity of pain receptors.

Even if the animal cannot be completely removed, it can be removed in parts. For this:

• treat hands and bite place with soap and water;
• to disinfect skin and tweezers (or auxiliary means - a thread, a special loop);
• grab the tick-shaped body with the tweezers legs as close to the skin surface as possible;
• twist so as not to tear off your head and leave the proboscis in the wound;
• if part of the parasite remains under the skin, it is necessary to remove it with a sterile needle in the same way as a splinter is removed;
• Place the animal in a sterile container with a lid. At the bottom, put a wet cotton swab or bandage;
• treat the wound with hydrogen peroxide, a solution of iodine or brilliant green;
• contact a medical institution, passing a tick for analysis for the presence of pathogens of infectious diseases;
• after the latency period, submit blood for analysis through:
  • 10 days - tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis (PCR);
  • 14 days - antibodies to tick-borne encephalitis virus (IgM);
  • 30 days - antibodies to the causative agent of borreliosis (IgM).

If after a few days in the area of ​​the parasite's bite instead of a papule a reddish rim is formed around, and the center of the bite becomes cyanotic in color, it is imperative to contact an infectious disease specialist, since such a “donut” is a sign of borrelez.

If the victim has a tendency to an allergic reaction, then after a few days allergy symptoms may appear. Self-administration of antihistamines is possible only if there is a risk of developing Quincke's edema.

Only with timely access to medical care and therapeutic measures is the outcome of the disease favorable. Loss of time when infected with tick-borne encephalitis and other infectious diseases can lead to disability or death of the patient.