Recently, it was reported that Mr. Zhang from Jiangsu was bitten by a tick on his left leg while camping with his family, and half of the worm penetrated into his body. Doctors remind that being bitten by ticks may lead to forest encephalitis, Lyme disease, etc. There have been reports of patients dying after being bitten by ticks.
Tick bites can occur throughout the year, and ticks are active from April to September each year. During this period, people’s outdoor activities increased. Especially children who like to play in the grass and woods are easily “targeted” by ticks if they are not careful.
So, what exactly are ticks? What should I do after being bitten by a tick? In this regard, the reporter of Science and Technology Daily interviewed relevant experts.
blood-sucking arthropods
ticks Bug is a dangerous blood-sucking arthropod, it is also known as grass creeper, dog bean, tick, divided into hard tick and soft tick. Data show that ticks mostly live in forests, bushes and grasslands, and are often parasitic on some animals to feed on blood.
Wang Yang, a dermatologist at Beijing Children’s Hospital, said that ticks especially like to bite the thin and easily neglected parts of human skin, such as the scalp, behind the ears, underarms, groin, Below the ankle, between the toes, etc.
Ticks have complex mouthparts and have some “barbs” that can be buried in human skin to suck blood, which is difficult to remove directly. The blood sucking time can last for several days. Wang Yang said that when not sucking blood, the tick is the size of a sesame grain and adheres to the surface of the human or animal skin like a “small black mole”.
During the process of sucking blood, the tick’s saliva will also secrete neurotoxins, which will lead to obstacles in the conduction of human motor fibers, which will lead to respiratory failure and even death.
According to “Classification and Identification of Important Medical Insects in China”, ticks feed on blood, causing great harm to humans and animals, not only causing blood loss to the host, but also causing skin allergies in the host. In response, ulcers often form at the stab wound. More seriously, ticks can transmit zoonotic diseases. Among insect-borne infectious diseases, ticks have the most types of pathogens. Babesiosis, forest encephalitis, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, North Asian tick-borne spotted fever, Q fever, soil Lafferellosis, Lyme disease, tick-borne relapsing fever, human ehrlichiosis and many other tick-borne diseases.
It is reported that after being bitten by a tick, a person can develop the disease in the shortest 2 to 3 days, usually in 1 to 2 weeks, and some in about 1 month. . Common symptoms after being bitten by ticks are fever, fatigue, muscle aches, chills, etc. The lesions often involve the lungs, lymph nodes, liver, skin, and central nervous system. Severely ill patients may have symptoms such as abnormal consciousness.
Not forcibly pulled out after being bitten
Experts remind that after being bitten by a tick, do not pull it out forcibly, because the head of the tick has “barbs”, and forcibly taking it out will make the head of the tick stay in the body. Do not crush, crush or pierce the body of the tick, crush it or beat it to death. Once the tick’s head is severed in the body and the venom accumulates in the wound, the person may be poisoned.
Li Jian, deputy chief physician of the emergency department of the Third Affiliated Hospital of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, suggested that after being bitten by a tick, you should go to the hospital for treatment. On the head of the tick, then remove the tick with tweezers and disinfect the area. If the patient develops symptoms of poisoning, treatment should be prescribed by a doctor.
In order to prevent being bitten by ticks, experts suggest that you should try to avoid sitting and lying down for a long time in the main habitats of ticks such as grassland and woods. If you need to enter such areas, you should pay attention to personal protection, try to wear long-sleeved clothes and trousers, and do not wear sandals. Be careful to tie the pant legs tightly or tuck them into socks or shoes to minimize exposed areas. In addition, wearing light-colored clothes can make it easier to find whether there are ticks on your body, and try to choose knitted clothes with a smooth surface, so that ticks are not easy to stick to.
Wang Yang reminded that in order to prevent mosquito bites, some people will use DEET-containing insect repellent sprays on exposed skin, but it should be noted that , Newborns under 2 months should not use any insect repellent, and can use mosquito nets for physical shielding.
Experts said that after returning from the suburban grasslands, forests and other places, they should pay attention to checking clothes and various parts of the body, especially the armpits, groin, scalp, behind the ears, etc. Make sure that no ticks are attached, and also pay attention to checking equipment and pets, etc. If you find ticks, remove them immediately.
(Source: Science and Technology Daily)