How to Protect Yourself and Your Children from Ticks?

In recent years, ticks have become a real disaster, and they do not let you relax in the woods or in the city! Children are particularly vulnerable.

• Ticks cannot travel long distances, they sit on the high blades of grass. Once a person passes by or an animal runs, ticks cling to the skin or clothing and quickly move on the body to find a suitable place for a bite.
• Usually they choose delicate skin: inguinal folds, neck, the area behind the ears, or the back of the head. The infections that get into the blood of humans and animals with tick saliva or when crushing it can have tragic consequences.
• According to recent data, encephalitis is transmitted by about 6% of all ticks, Lyme disease is carried by about 13-20%, and nearly 35% of the bloodsuckers are infected with piroplasmosis.
• Vaccination will help, but only in case of encephalitis.

Important Information

• Some people use mosquito repellent to scare ticks. Do not do it! When in the effect zone of this medication, the ticks get too excited and do not move all over the body, choosing a better place (usually it takes about 2-3 hours, and during that time one is likely to either remove or shake it away); instead, a tick bites you at any place.
• Because of the duration of the warm season, ticks remain active for a longer period. One should be aware of them from early April to late November. Peak activity is observed from May to June and from late August to September.
• One of the ways to protect yourself against ticks is vaccination, but only from encephalitis – there is no vaccine from other diseases transmitted by ticks. Kids under 2 years are not vaccinated , and older children can be vaccinated only if they were completely healthy during a month before the procedure.

Find the right way to protect yourself

• Children under 5 years should not use sprays because all anti-tick products are very toxic!
• Dress your child in light-colored clothing where the tick is better seen.
• Trouser legs should be tucked into socks. Spray the top of your socks and lower pant legs tucked into socks with aerosol.
• If a kid is in the stroller, treat not only the wheels with spray, but the sides of the stroller as well.
• Every 20 minutes, inspect the child to remove ticks from the clothes in time.
• All the products that protect you from ticks should be applied only on clothes!
• There are no reliable anti-tick products to apply on the skin.
• It is also desirable to spray the sleeve cuffs. Do not leave your neck and head uncovered.
• After returning from a walk, thoroughly inspect yourself and your baby.

If a tick bites you

• Immediately turn to a medical facility.
• If this is not possible, grasp the tick carefully – not to crush it – and turn it 90° counterclockwise, twisting it up.
• There is no need to drip oily solutions onto the tick – this only makes it more difficult to remove it!
• After a successful removal, the bite should be treated with an antibacterial solution and sealed with a bactericidal plaster.
• After 3 hours, the bandage should be removed; lubricate the wound with an antiseptic ointment.
• It is recommended to send the removed tick to the laboratory within two days after extracting it.
• Place it in a glass jar with a paper towel moistened with water.

Tick borne encephalitis

Encephalitis affects the central nervous system and causes paralysis (the first symptoms appear within 2 weeks after the bite).

Piroplasmosis is fatal to animals in 98% of cases; this is an acute disease that can kill in 2-3 days. The incubation period lasts from 5 days to 3 weeks. The symptoms include fever, drooling, lethargy, refusal of food and water, dark brown urine, and convulsions.