As you know, the bites of ticks-bloodsuckers are extremely unpleasant, painful and extremely undesirable. The fact is that these insects are carriers of various diseases, some of which are very dangerous for human health. Every year their number is increasing, so it is necessary to take all available measures to stop this undesirable trend. In this article you will find out what danger these insects are, the activity of ticks by months, as well as the safety measures that should be taken when going to nature.
Consequences of a bite
Ticks are carriers of a wide variety of protozoal, rickettsial, viral and bacterial diseases, which include tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis (Lyme disease), Congo-Crimean hemorrhagic and spotted fever of the rocky mountains, typhus and relapsing fever, babesiosis, tularemia, and others.
Perhaps the most dangerous is tick-borne encephalitis - a viral disease that occurs in acute form. It affects the nervous system, and as a result, significant, and sometimes irreversible, changes occur in the human brain.
Infection
Encephalitis infection occurs through the bite of pasture ixodid ticks. This disease has a pronounced seasonality, which falls just at the peak of tick activity.
Encephalitis can be infected not only from an insect bite, but also by drinking raw goat's milk, provided that the animal is grazed in places full of ticks. Another method of infection can be the destruction of blood-sucking insects with bare hands, when there are small cracks or micropores on the fingers.
Symptoms of the disease
The first signs of illness appear on the 7-14th day after the suction of the insect. First, a headache appears in the frontotemporal region, then bruising, lethargy is felt, arms, legs and lower back begin to hurt. Sometimes the disease begins to appear suddenly - in this case, the body temperature rises sharply, which can reach 39-40 ° C. At the same time, redness is observed on the skin and mucous membranes. A little later, meningeal symptoms and stiffness of the muscles of the arms and neck appear.
Tick-borne encephalitis, as a rule, occurs within 5-8 days and is accompanied by high body temperature. With the severe development of the disease, a person has signs of damage to the nervous system, in which, in addition to weakness, the muscles feel numb, they become thinner and “lose weight” over time. In especially severe cases, patients have convulsions, and hearing and vision are sharply worsened.
The restoration of the previous functionality of the muscles is very slow. This process can take years. With very severe violations, it is already impossible to fully restore motor function, so a person remains disabled for life.
Climate impact
In these blood-sucking insects, the duration of activity directly depends on the climatic characteristics of a particular area. In addition, it can vary significantly in time. For example, in the Perm region, the period of the highest tick activity lasts on average 7 days in a young birch planting and twice as much in an old forest. At the same time, in the Krasnoyarsk Territory this interval is much longer - from 2 to 60 days, if we take into account the time when insects leave for the litter.
Usually, the colder the air temperature, the lower the individual activity of the encephalitis tick. It is also influenced by weather conditions and relative humidity. For example, in Karelia, the greatest number of tick attacks is observed at a temperature of 5 to 15⁰C and relative humidity of 55-80%. At 20 degrees and above, they generally go into the litter. But in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the period of tick activity occurs with a combination of air temperature from 0 to 15⁰ C, as well as relative humidity, which starts from 60% and above.
Dangerous season
Blood-sucking insects living in a temperate climate attack almost throughout the spring, summer and autumn. Knowing the activity of ticks by months, their bites can be quite easily avoided. In Karelia, European and taiga forest ticks become active in early spring, when the air temperature rises above 3⁰C. They can wait for their prey on last year's grass, in a pile of brushwood or on newly emerged thawed areas. The taiga tick remains active throughout June. In rare cases, it can be found in July.
The onset of tick activity in the European zone falls in April. These insects can attack both humans and animals until the very end of September. Sometimes they are found on hunting dogs, even in October and November.
The smallest number of cases accompanied by the attack of blood-sucking insects is observed in the early hours. But, in general, the tick activity time is not limited, therefore, they can be aggressive around the clock, but the maximum number of attacks still occurs before dawn. In addition, these insects are sensitive to both sunlight and cloudy weather.
The period of the highest tick activity occurs at the end of April and all of July. At this time, anyone who likes to go to the forest or work there, must follow basic precautions that prevent the attack and suction of these dangerous insects.
How to protect yourself
Prevention of encephalitis disease is to increase the body's resistance to its pathogen, as well as to carry out effective protection of people in general and each person individually. For example, before taking a walk in the forest, it is necessary to observe several conditions under which the possibility of insects getting under clothes will be completely excluded.
In order for the encephalitis tick, the period of activity of which occurs in relatively warm seasons, not to get on the skin, you need to wear a special kit consisting of tight trousers and a jacket with a hood. If this was not found, then ordinary clothing can be turned into protective clothing - you just have to tighten the cuffs and collar of the shirt, then tuck it into trousers, and them into socks or boots. Be sure to put a hood on your head or put on a hat. Many will think that in hot weather it will be quite difficult to work or walk in such clothes, but believe me, this is really necessary.
During the period of tick activity, being in a forest or park for a long time, it is necessary to periodically conduct mutual thorough examinations every one or two hours. This precaution is completely reliable and affordable. During the examination, special attention should be paid to the auricles, skin folds, inguinal and axillary cavities, as well as to other hairy parts of the body.
When going home, do not forget about a thorough check of clothes. Particular attention should be paid to places where there are seams and folds on the fabric, as insects that have not yet sucked in could easily crawl into it. Only after making sure that there are no ticks, you can enter the room. At the same time, it is advisable to leave things and shoes outside the house. It is recommended to remove all clothing and underwear, then fill with water and wash thoroughly. These simple precautions during tick activity are very effective and accessible to everyone.
Discovery Actions
In the event that a dangerous insect is nevertheless sucked, it must be immediately pulled out and certainly with the head. There are several ways to remove ticks. One of them uses a thread. First, she needs to bandage the front of the bloodsucker right on the surface of the skin. Then gradually pull the ends of the thread at the same time to the sides and up, and thus stretch the sucked tick.
For the next method, you will need petroleum jelly, cream or vegetable oil, which needs to lubricate the insect itself and the area around it. Fat will block his respiratory organs, and for a while he will relax his proboscis. After about one minute, the tick must be thrown back, and, grabbing it directly at the skin with two fingers or tweezers, pull it out with a sharp movement. So it can be safely removed without leaving a head. This is very important, since a tick that is not completely removed can cause an inflammatory process.
If the tick head still could not be pulled out, and it remained at the suction point, you will have to remove it with a calcined pin or needle. After this procedure, the wound on the skin must be disinfected with iodine.
Precautionary measures
At the peak of tick activity, forest walkers should be extremely careful. It should be remembered that all insects found on the body or on clothing, as well as extracted from the skin, must be destroyed. They can be set on fire or placed in a disinfectant solution, such as alcohol, lysol or kerosene.
It must be remembered that in no case should you push the ticks with your hands. Even small splashes from the salivary glands or the insect's cavity fluid can accidentally get into small wounds on the skin, mucous membranes of the nasal cavity and mouth, which may well cause infection with tick-borne encephalitis. After removing the bloodsucker, do not forget to wash your hands thoroughly with soap.
Chemical Remedies
Special tick repellents called repellents have been developed against tick bites. Such as DETA (diethyltoluamide), cusol and carboxide have already proven themselves well. The first of the above substances is available in the form of a cream, aerosol and 40% alcohol solution. During the period of tick activity, before you go to nature, you need to apply repellent to exposed parts of the body - hands, face and neck.
Not so long ago there was another effective, convenient and safest way to protect yourself from a dangerous bite - impregnation of clothes and hats with repellents. The effectiveness of this method lies in the fact that the chemical preparation is stored for much longer precisely on the tissue, and not on the skin. However, it should be remembered that in some people, repellents can cause adverse reactions in the form of irritation of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth. Therefore, chemical preparations should be used with great care, while observing all the rules for their use.
Prevention
There is a special vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis, which is a drug made on the basis of a dead virus. It was first used in 1939. Since the beginning of the 60s, a more advanced tissue vaccine has appeared. It is painless and highly effective. This drug is vaccinated, starting in October and ending in March-April, just before the onset of heat - the period of activation of ticks.
The vaccination course is carried out in four stages - three vaccinations are given in the fall, and the fourth in the spring. Passive immunization is also used, but only when an insect has already sucked onto the person. In this case, an anti-encephalitic gamma globulin is administered.
Mass destruction of dangerous insects
During the period of tick activity, they often resort to disinfection of large areas in order to protect the population from encephalitis infection. To do this, special pesticides are sprayed that destroy insects right in their natural foci.
But forest cultivation is only the first step on the way to improving the territories. The next step is the creation of parks around the village. For this purpose, thinning, clearing and cleaning of windbreaks, fallen trees and stumps are carried out, as small mammals that are attacked by ticks live there. In addition, it is necessary to regularly cut grass in places where there are bases and rest houses, motels, children's camps, etc.