The tick bit, what to do after removal: what to process, possible consequences

Good day! We know a lot of tips on how to remove a tick. Do not pull out sharply, do not try to shake it off, but gradually get it out with tweezers or a special device.

Most are not particularly afraid if they are bitten by a tick, but few people think about what to do after removal. Sometimes treating a wound is not enough, ideally, a bite should be monitored for some time so as not to get a complication. I talk about this in more detail in my article!

What to do after a tick bite

Ticks, gaining access to human blood, can become carriers of all kinds of diseases, for example, encephalitis, borreliosis, rickettsiosis and other infectious pathologies.

Therefore, if a parasite is found on your body, you should remove it, and the sooner, the better. Waiting for the tick to crawl out on its own is completely pointless, because the longer the insect stays in the layers of the skin, the greater the amount of infection will penetrate the body.

What should be done if you find a tick

First, the insect needs to be removed. We must say right away that this is not easy, because during the bite of a tick, salivary fluid is released, part of which serves as a bonding material and acts as an adhesive, so the insect nose adheres firmly to the wound surface.

You just need to grab the insect with your fingers on the sides of the abdomen, as close as possible to the head, and gently pull up.

To safely pull the tick, you can use the usual thread: tighten the loop around the head, the closer to the skin, the better. Then pull - gradually, slowly.

In order to speed up the process, some advise to drip 2-3 drops of sunflower oil, alcohol or strong saline solution onto a tick.

In most situations, this technique allows you to remove the tick without any problems. However, if you are in a hurry, and the head remains in the thickness of the skin, do not try to pick the wound.

Monitor the wound at the same time, even if you successfully removed the parasite. A pink spot that lasts for about 3 days is a normal reaction of the skin.

If the spot grows and darkens, then you should contact a specialist who will examine the wound. You may need to have a blood test done to diagnose encephalitis or borreliosis.

What to do after a bite of a human tick

A tick at the time of a bite does not cause pain and is even not felt at all by a person. The insect bites through the skin, and at the same time, saliva is released, which plays the role of an anesthetic.

This is what makes the bite painless. After this, the parasite absorbs blood from small blood vessels - in this state, it can move deep into the 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 nature, fresh air, away from the bustle of the city. And, of course, we take children with us - they also need active recreation.

To protect against insects, the use of repellents is often sufficient - special substances that repel parasites. Also, great attention should be paid to clothing.

• When going to the forest, wear lightened clothes so that you can spot an insect on it in a timely manner.
• Outerwear, in spite of warm weather, should be as less accessible as possible for tick attacks - long sleeves and trousers, if possible, tucked into socks, as well as a tight collar and cuffs.
• Be sure to wear a hat, preferably with wide brim (for example, panama).
• Walking through the forest, inspect yourself and the child every 1-1.5 hours.
• For a child, use only those insect repellents that are suitable for use in childhood.

Firstly, you should not rush into a 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, then you can contact the nearest emergency room or sanitary and epidemiological station - there they will do it quickly and competently.

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

When a child bites, 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 hospital.

It is advisable to put the removed tick into a closed jar and give it to the laboratory for 2 days to examine for the possibility of infection.

After analysis, depending on the result, the doctor will tell you what to do next. As a rule, the injured child is closely monitored for 3 weeks, paying attention to any symptoms that appear.

After 2 weeks, tests for the presence of antibodies to the encephalitis virus are given, and 30 days after the bite, for the presence of antibodies to borrelia.

In the form of an urgent preventive measure, Anaferon can be prescribed for the affected child, however, only a doctor should carry out such an appointment.

What to do after a tick bite

1. Firstly, the best remedy for a tick bite is prevention.Wear proper clothing, use appropriate insect repellents, and periodically examine yourself and your child for ticks.
2. A means of preliminary prevention of diseases caused by ticks is vaccination, which includes the introduction of several doses of the vaccine at regular intervals. Vaccination should be done at least a month and a half before the onset of the “dangerous” season.
3. Remember that the most favorite place for ticks to enter is the hair on the head, the subscapular areas, the spine, the perineum, the umbilical zone, legs and arms.
4. When a tick is bitten, in order to accelerate its removal, you can drop a few drops of vegetable oil or a sharp-smelling substance (ammonia, ethyl alcohol, acetone, kerosene, etc.) onto an insect.
5. Reliably sunken tick should be removed gradually, swinging left and right, without sudden movements.
6. After removing the insect, it is necessary to carry out mandatory treatment of the wound.
7. If the tick has not been completely removed, you can consult a doctor for medical advice.
8. An extracted tick is recommended to be examined in the laboratory of the epidemiological station for infectiousness.
9. It is imperative to observe the general condition of the victim - to control body temperature for 3 weeks. If symptoms such as fever, pain in the head or muscles, nausea, or the appearance of the wound (redness, pain, swelling) worsen, you need to urgently consult 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’t leave the insect in the wound (say, get drunk - it will fall off itself). A tick can exist in the thickness of the skin for about 10 days. During this time, the infection can not only enter the body, but also spread and develop to the fullest.
• You can’t try to sharply tear out the insect, pull it up with force, 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 staggered or twisted out of the wound.
• You can’t put pressure on a tick, pierce it, burn it with matches or cigarettes - this increases the risk of infection, even if the skin is not damaged. Yes, and it will be much more difficult to remove a crushed insect.
• After removing the tick, you must not leave the wound untreated - use any disinfectants available at hand - iodine, alcohol, vodka, alcohol solutions, zelenka, etc.
• After a tick bite, one should not ignore symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle weakness, redness of the skin, vomiting, etc. Be sure to consult a medical professional immediately!

If a tick has bitten you and you have not previously been vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis, then you can take urgent preventive measures with the help of immunoglobulin - a medical specialist introduces prepared antibodies obtained from human blood serum.

Such antibodies can inhibit the development of tick-borne encephalitis in the body. Immunoglobulin is administered during the first 96 hours that have passed from the time of the insect bite.

If the tick is infected, and the victim has suspicious symptoms, then he is urgently sent to a hospital.

He will be assigned the strictest bed rest and a sufficiently long course of treatment in the infectious diseases department of the hospital.

Fortunately, not all ticks are infected. The danger is precisely the encephalitis tick, which externally is no different from the usual representative.

For this reason, any bite should be carefully considered, since it can have extremely adverse consequences.

Therefore, the recommendations listed by us can help in organizing first aid for the injured, and also direct them to competent further actions.

How and how to handle a tick bite in a person at home

How to handle a tick bite depends on the severity of the consequences. In most cases, a small red spot appears, swelling, slight itching.

With increased sensitivity of the skin, an allergic reaction develops, requiring special treatment. When using non-sterile tools in the process of extracting a tick, an infection gets into the wound, and the use of local antibiotics is subsequently required.

How to treat a tick bite in a person with a normal reaction

After extraction of the parasite, swelling, redness, inflammation, and slight itching remain. To improve the condition of the epidermis, speed up the recovery process, it is necessary to disinfect the wound, then apply a remedy with a calming, anti-inflammatory effect.

For disinfection use any antiseptic:

1. medical alcohol;
2. ammonia;
3. iodine;
4. hydrogen peroxide;
5. tincture for alcohol - motherwort, valerian, hawthorn, calendula, etc.

To speed up the recovery of the epidermis, ointment or cream is applied:

• Menovazine;
• Calendula;
• Balm Asterisk;
• Bepanten;
• Boro Plus;
• Rescuer.

If there is nothing at hand, at home or in nature, folk remedies are used.

1. Shaving foam - apply for 5 minutes.
2. Toothpaste with menthol - wash off after 5 minutes.
3. Pasta from baking soda - diluted with water to the state of slurry, applied until dry.
4. Vinegar solution - 1 cup 1 teaspoon of the product. Lubricate the wound after a bite or apply a compress for 20 minutes.
5. A slice of lemon - anoint a tick bite, repeat the procedure twice more per day.
6. Vodka - you need to lubricate the wound or apply a compress for 5 minutes.

The condition of the skin is normalized within 3 days, the traces of a tick bite completely disappear after a week.

How to treat a wound after a tick bite for allergies

You can determine the presence of an allergic reaction by severe itching, large-scale redness, additional rash, and inflammation.

If the tick is pulled out, you should immediately disinfect the wound with an antiseptic. After that, smear the affected area with an antihistamine, anti-allergic effect.

Unpleasant symptoms disappear almost immediately, the skin after regular treatment of the wound is restored in 3 days.

Effective remedies:

• Fenistil-Gel;
• Psilo-Balm;
• Advantan;
• Elokom;
• Betamethasone;
• Hydrocortisone ointment.

The cost of the drug is from 200 rubles. up to 800 rub. You can buy in pharmacies. They are released without a prescription. If the bite site becomes inflamed after removal of the tick, itches, cannot be treated at home, after 3 days you should immediately seek help from specialists.

It is necessary to take antihistamines inside. The dosage is selected depending on the age, body weight of the victim.

Bite infection after tick removal

In most cases, parasites are extracted independently at home. You can remove the tick with the help of a thread, tweezers, special devices, and a syringe.

Sudden movements are not allowed, as the head comes off, remains under the skin. If the tick is improperly removed, a particle of its body remains under the skin, which can lead to inflammation and decay of the wound.

If these rules are not followed, an infection gets into the wound, swelling, inflammation, itching, mucus secretion, pus appear. Symptoms develop a few days after removal of the tick.

The affected area should be smeared with drugs with an antibacterial effect. Local antibiotics are available in the form of ointment, cream, lotion. Processing a meta bite begins with washing the wound with hydrogen peroxide. Remove the accumulation of pus, mucus, dirt.

You can treat a tick bite with one of the following medicines:

1. Vishnevsky ointment;
2. Tetracycline ointment;
3. Levomekol;
4. Eloc C;
5. Salicylic ointment.

You can buy medicines at the pharmacy. Cost from 50 rub. up to 500 rub. There are contraindications, age restrictions.

If a tick has bitten, an infection has got into the wound, it is not allowed to use antiallergic drugs. But the use of combined drugs is allowed, which includes a glucocorticosteroid, an antibiotic.

Severe consequences

Ixodid ticks spread dangerous diseases - Lyme disease, tick-borne encephalitis. The incubation period lasts an average of 14 days.

With borreliosis, at the place where the tick has stuck, eczema appears. Its size reaches 60 cm in diameter. In this case, independent treatment is not allowed, you need to immediately seek help from specialists. How to treat the skin, the doctor will tell. For the treatment of borreliosis, a course of antibiotics is prescribed.

Wound after a tick bite

Do not panic if you are bitten by a tick. The fact that you noticed the place of the bite is already half the battle, and you can assume that you are even lucky to some extent.

It is much worse and more dangerous for health if the symptoms of the bite have already begun to appear, and the victim still cannot figure out their source, and therefore, neutralize and check for the presence of viruses of the tick itself.

What can happen with a bite and how to behave

The first thing, of course, is to remove the tick. Observe the following rules:

• You can not water the sucking tick with oil, kerosene, glue and other substances, which in theory should make it suffocate. Before he has time to die, he will pour out all the accumulated harmful substances into the victim’s blood, the risk of contracting a virus will only increase.
• It is advisable not to remove the tick with your bare hands, but use tweezers, special tweezers or a loop.
• The tick must be “twisted” smoothly from the skin counterclockwise. It is very important not to crush the tick!
• If possible, keep the tick for research in the laboratory. If it is confirmed that he is not a carrier of the virus, then you will not need injections “just in case”, the chores will be put to an end.

What to do after a tick bite

Then the question naturally arises - how to treat the place of a tick bite after its removal?

1. First of all, carefully examine the wound after a tick bite to understand if any part of it has remained there. If necessary, carefully remove it with tweezers, it is advisable not to use sharp objects, so as not to increase the area. This is very important, because if this is not done, then due to the head remaining under the skin of the head or the proboscis of the tick, the wound may fester. If necessary, contact the clinic.
2. Before treating a wound after a tick bite, wash your hands with soap. Next, disinfect the inflamed area around the bite with any antiseptic. Most often, hydrogen peroxide, iodine is advised, but any alcohol-containing lotion is also suitable.
3. Now you can proceed to the bite itself. So, how to treat a wound after a tick bite in a person? Since a tick bite is an open wound, antiseptics will only provoke a burn. The only thing you can smear with a tick bite is the usual greenback.
4. Do not wrap, bandage and pull the wound.

Let the correct treatment of the wound after a tick bite does not eliminate the need to visit a doctor and check the tick for encephalitis and other infections, but remember that even without a tick bite it can cause inflammation, suppuration, and other absolutely undesirable consequences.

How and how to treat a wound after a tick bite

When you see a tick on your skin, you want to pull it out right away. But this cannot be done. A tick is not a harmless insect; it can be a carrier of serious infections.

Incorrect removal of the insect, errors in the treatment of wounds can cause negative consequences. There are a number of simple rules on how to handle a tick bite site. They should not be neglected.

How to treat a wound correctly

After carefully removing the tick with tweezers, the loop must carefully inspect the wound. The photo shows a tick bite wound, which is a reddish round spot with a hole in the middle.

The size, intensity of redness, swelling depend on the individual properties of a person, more severe manifestations are noted in allergy sufferers, people with weak immunity.

Once the insect is removed, wash your hands well with soap. The wound from a tick bite must be treated: the area of ​​the skin around the site of the bite should be disinfected with an antiseptic.

For example, hydrogen peroxide or iodine, alcohol or some kind of liquid containing alcohol (toilet water, lotion) is suitable. It is not recommended to fill the wound with such means in order to avoid tissue burn.

And how can I treat a tick bite site? The only remedy that can be used to treat an open wound is brilliant green. After treatment, the wound should be observed.

If the inflammation intensifies, symptoms of the development of an infectious disease appear, it is urgent to consult a specialist. Some tick-borne infections can cause disability, death.

Possible consequences

Incorrect actions when a tick is detected can have serious consequences. It is often advised to lubricate the sucked insect with oil.

The insect will not be able to breathe, but before suffocating, it will burp the entire contents of the stomach, including possible viruses, microbes, into the wound.

If you are not sure, it is better to contact a medical professional. After removal, the insect should remain intact, it must be submitted for examination in order to accurately determine whether it was infected.

Proper treatment of the wound after a tick bite will ensure a quick tightening, healing of the bite site. If the wound is not treated, it can become inflamed due to dirt and secretions of the tick, even if it was not infected with encephalitis or other serious illness.

Tick ​​bite

A tick bite is a dangerous phenomenon that can have very serious consequences, therefore it is advisable to detect it early and immediately take up treatment. It will be possible to do this only knowing all the main features of the problem, which will be discussed later in the article.

What should I do if bitten by a tick

The most important thing is first aid for a tick bite, but you can not stop at the stage of extraction of the parasite. Immediately after the wound, it is important to treat with any antiseptic, wash hands.

And the tick itself should be placed in a jar, bottle or plastic bottle and taken for examination. Specialists should check whether the tick was infectious or not, and prescribe treatment if necessary.

A tick bit what to do after removal

Many people think about when a tick bit, what to do, where to go. The first instance is a virologist.The specialist will inspect and give direction to all of the following tests.

A laboratory test determines whether arthropod enzymes contain pathogens. This will help the patient to understand whether it is worth worrying, and doctors - to identify the foci of the virus and to track the boundaries of the spread of infection.

To do this, in a container with a tick, you need to throw a piece of a damp rag, fleece or napkin - without water, it will quickly die. If you fail to contact the laboratory, the arthropod should be destroyed - burn or scald with boiling water, for example.

Tests after a tick bite

There are two main analyzes after a tick bite - for borreliosis and encephalitis. Both problems can be identified using venous blood tests and PCR studies of the parasite.

Analysis for antibodies to diseases should be done no earlier than a couple of weeks. Prior to this, the result in 99% of cases will be negative. Simply put, at this stage the study will simply be meaningless.

Tick ​​bite - consequences

If you do not engage in professional treatment of the problem on time, you can encounter a number of very serious consequences. The reaction of each organism is unique.

Allergy sufferers are much harder. People with strong immunity suffer the consequences of a tick bite of a poisonous simpler, but nevertheless one has to deal with them sooner or later anyway.

Encephalitis Tick Bite

How serious the complications will be depends on the general immunity and how much virus has managed to enter the body. An important role is played by the time of initiation of treatment.

Encephalitis after a tick bite in adults in the initial stages can be cured. If the disease develops so much that the nervous system is affected, there may be such residual effects as mental disorders, paresis, paralysis. In children, a tick bite symptoms are more acute and irreversible complications occur more often. Among them:

• flaccid paralysis of the hands;
• twitching of different muscles;
• atrophy of the muscles of the shoulder girdle.

Borreliosis tick bite

The worst consequence is Lyme disease. It manifests itself with various signs, but almost all patients necessarily complain of the appearance of migratory erythema.

True, not everyone notices her in time, and the ailment is complicated to the next stage. If a tick bite caused a second stage borreliosis, damage to the nervous system, epidermis, cardiovascular system and musculoskeletal system may begin.

Heart problems are not so common and are usually manifested by inflammation of the myocardium or impaired conduction of an electrical pulse. Damage to the nervous system is accompanied by severe pain - in the head, joints, lower limbs.

The most dangerous third stage. The disease at this stage can either be in the acute phase or “hide”. The characteristic symptoms in this case can be considered:

1. short-term, but very severe pain in the face;
2. memory impairment;
3. decrease in mental abilities;
4. disruption of the pelvic organs;
5. paralysis of the limbs.

Symptoms after a tick bite in humans

If contact with an uninfected tick occurs, the first signs of a problem - redness, mild swelling, itching - go away within a few days by themselves. Worse if the parasite was contagious. Symptoms after a tick bite can be as follows:

• chills;
• tachycardia;
• general weakness;
• drowsiness;
• photophobia.

In some patients:

1. the neck is numb;
2. temperature rises;
3. lymph nodes increase;
4. difficulty breathing;
5. nausea and vomiting appear;
6. hallucinations develop.

What to do after removing the tick

With the advent of spring, ticks leave their minks and sit on blades of grass near the ground and only wait to pierce their jaw hung for fresh blood.

In order not to become a victim of this bloodsucker, which can endure diseases dangerous to humans, we are correctly equipped for hiking in the forest or the countryside.

In the spring-summer period, the probability of getting a tick bite is significantly increased. This should be taken very seriously.

Bloodsuckers are the carriers of certain infections that are dangerous to human life and health. Every year, almost half a million Russians turn to medical institutions for parasite bites, many of them children. How many cases remain unregistered is unknown.

After removing the tick, treat the wound with any antiseptic (iodine, brilliant green, betadine, alcohol, chlorhexidine, hydrogen peroxide, cologne, etc.) and wash your hands thoroughly.

The wound must be treated with an antiseptic every day, it is not necessary to fix it with a bandage. The wound usually heals within a week.

After removing the tick, you must save it for analysis.

Place the removed tick in a clean dish (test tube, vial, jar, etc.), in which previously place absorbent paper slightly moistened with water (filter, paper towel, etc.) - it is important that the body of the insect is in a humid environment.

For research on encephalitis and borelliosis, you can bring both live and dead, and part of the tick, but it is desirable to keep the tick whole and alive, because not all laboratories have equipment for analyzing a dead tick or its parts.

What not to do:

• Do not take or crush the tick with your bare hands - the infection can enter the bloodstream through microcracks on the skin.
• Do not remove the tick with your teeth, in this case, infection by pathogens through the mouth is not excluded.
• Do not pick out the tick with sharp objects.
• The tick cannot be squeezed, dragged by the abdomen and pulled sharply.
• The tick does not need to be poured and smeared with anything.
• The tick does not need to be cauterized.
• Do not brush the bite site.

If an unabsorbed tick is found, it is removed and destroyed (thrown into a fire, in a jar of hot water (> 60 degrees Celsius) or an oily liquid).

Make a tick test within 2 days of being bitten

Within 2 days (48 hours), transport the saved tick for laboratory testing for the presence of tick-borne infections.

Some laboratories take a tick up to 5 days from the day of the bite, but the most informative study of the tick is on the 1st day (24 hours) from the time of removal.

The address of government agencies (Hygiene and Epidemiology Centers, Infectious Hospitals, Laboratories), where you can analyze, you can find:

1. from a landline telephone number 03;
2. from a mobile phone at 112;
3. in the Internet.

Analysis time is 2 days (1st day - delivery, 2nd receiving test results, sometimes on the same day if you brought a tick in the morning).

It is better to order a comprehensive analysis of the tick for infections (necessarily - for tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne borreliosis, preferably for other infections).

The analysis of the tick will relieve anxiety in case of a negative result and will allow you to act consciously and rationally in case of a positive result.

If the tick is infected

If the tick is infected, seek medical attention within 4 days (96 hours) after the bite. You can go to the clinic at the place of residence or to a paid clinic to a general practitioner or infectious disease specialist.

The doctor will prescribe the appropriate treatment for the pathogen. You need to have a passport, a compulsory medical insurance policy (or VHI, if any) and tick bite insurance (if any) with you.

The most severe infections caused by a tick bite, which are very difficult, have a chronic course and a long rehabilitation period (up to 1 year) and can lead to disability and death:

• Borreliosis or Lyme disease (bacterial infection)
• tick-borne encephalitis (viral infection),
• ehrlichiosis (caused by intracellular parasites).

Treatment usually consists of a course of antibiotics and immunomodulators. It is better to start taking them on the first day after a tick bite. Treatment should be prescribed by a doctor.

Immunoglobulin is administered to individuals unvaccinated against tick-borne viral encephalitis; received an incomplete vaccination course; having defects in the vaccine course; not having documented evidence of preventive vaccinations, as well as vaccinated persons in the case of multiple suction ticks.

The effectiveness of administering immunoglobulin is greatly affected by the speed of seeking medical help after a tick bite, especially for children.

After the introduction of immunoglobulin, antiviral drugs of the interferon group and vitamin C are also prescribed to stimulate immunity.

In cases of:

1. the impossibility of introducing immunoglobulin,
2. in the absence of the possibility of a laboratory study of a tick or blood,
3. if you went to the doctor when more than 3-4 days passed after sucking the tick,
4. you don’t have money for immunoglobulin,

The doctor may prescribe emergency prophylaxis of tick-borne encephalitis with the antiviral drug iodantipyrine.

Iodantipirin tablets are taken orally after a meal:

• 300 mg (3 tablets) - 3 times a day for the first 2 days;
• 200 mg (2 tablets) - 3 times a day for the next 2 days;
• 100 mg (1 tablet) - 3 times a day for the next 5 days.

Only 45 tablets in 9 days. Together, immunoglobulin and iodantipyrine are not recommended.

Iodantipyrine can also be used as an additional measure if you have been vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis. For some doctors, iodantipyrine is not credible as a drug for the treatment of tick-borne infections.

Some experts recommend in regions where there is a high risk of infection with borreliosis, within the first 3 days after a bite (the sooner the better!), Begin the prevention of borreliosis with antibiotics, without even waiting for the results of the tick analysis.

Take a blood test

If after a tick bite:

1. You did not pass the tick for analysis;
2. or according to the results of the analysis, it turned out that the tick is a carrier of tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis;
3. or any symptoms appeared (fever, headache, weakness, malaise, etc.)

Take a blood test for tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne borreliosis and other tick-borne infections, even if you feel good.Borreliosis (Lyme disease) can be asymptomatic.

Blood is donated on an empty stomach (at least 4 hours must pass after eating), do not smoke for 30 minutes before blood donation. You need to have a passport, a compulsory medical insurance policy (or VHI, if any) and tick bite insurance (if any) with you.

Blood for tick-borne infections is given for analysis 10-20 days after the bite:

• after 10 days - for borreliosis and encephalitis by PCR (using PCR to determine the presence of tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis, monocytic ehrlichiosis);
• after 2 weeks (14 days) - for antibodies like IgM against tick-borne encephalitis virus,
• after 3 to 4 weeks (21-30 days) - on antibodies like IgM against the causative agent of borreliosis.

Before taking the tests, consult with your doctor or laboratory doctor, in what time frame and what kind of tests you need to pass. If the test results are positive, it means that the tick infected you with an infection.

You can donate blood for analysis at a clinic in the community. To do this, you need to contact a therapist or infectious disease specialist. Or in paid labs. The analysis is ready for about 1 week. If the blood test did not confirm the infection, there is no danger, but well-being must be observed.

After the course of treatment, another blood test is performed, with a positive result, treatment is continued, and with a negative result, it is advisable to repeat the blood test after 3-6 months to exclude relapses.

Did not pass a tick or blood for analysis

If for some reason you did not pass the tick or blood for analysis, you should be observed by an infectious disease specialist for 1 month from the time of the bite. Also, monitor your well-being: will there be any symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis or other infections.

Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne borreliosis usually occur within 2 weeks after a bite. Symptoms may occur earlier and later - 1 month after infection.

Borreliosis is very well treated in the early stages, in advanced cases it becomes difficult to cure. In case of any deterioration in your health condition, immediately contact a medical institution for examination and possible subsequent treatment.

Tick ​​bite prevention

The main and main measure for the prevention of diseases transmitted by bloodsuckers is vaccination. The event significantly reduces the risk of infection after tick bites.

Vaccination is necessary for people living in epidemiologically hazardous areas or people whose work is related to forestry.

The drug requires very strict storage rules, compliance with a certain temperature and light conditions, which is impossible to do at home. Therefore, it makes no sense to purchase an expensive drug and store it in the refrigerator.

There are two vaccination options:

1. Preventive vaccination. Helps protect against tick bites during the year, and after additional vaccination - at least 3 years. Revaccinations are carried out every three years.
2. Emergency vaccination. Allows you to protect yourself from tick bites for a short time. For example, such a procedure will be necessary for urgent trips to regions with high tick activity.While in epidemiologically hazardous areas, iodantipyrine is recommended.

The introduction of the vaccine is carried out only after a detailed survey, visual inspection and temperature measurement. Persons with inflammatory diseases are not vaccinated until they recover completely.