Recently, some netizens posted on social platforms, recording the whole process of the mother from being bitten by a tick to dying of illness.
The netizen said that at first, the family thought that his mother was just an ordinary cold and fever. After multiple examinations, his mother was diagnosed with "tick disease", infected with the new bunyavirus, and later his condition deteriorated and unfortunately passed away.
From onset to death, it was just 7 days
A tiny tick kills a human being
Why is a "little black dot" so powerful?
How can we prevent it?
What should I do if I am bitten by a tick?
Let's take a look↓
▲ Source: Weibo @CCTV News
Severe tick bites can lead to organ failure
Ticks are blood-sucking parasites, and the size of the tick may be only the size of a sesame seed before sucking blood, but it can grow dozens or even hundreds of times after sucking blood.
Ticks are usually found in dense vegetation such as grasses, bushes, forests, and on the surface of animals. Dog walking, camping, gardening, tea picking, and farming outdoors can all lead to close contact with ticks, and there are precedents for people to become infected with ticks in their yards or communities.
The scary thing about ticks is that they can transmit a variety of diseases, and after being bitten by a tick, the tick's saliva can cause peripheral vasculitis, local congestion, edema, bleeding, and thickening of the stratum corneum.
If there is an insect-borne infection, symptoms such as high fever, headache, vomiting, and diarrhea may occur, and many people will mistake it for a cold and fever, and as a result, treatment will be delayed.
If bitten by a tick carrying the novel bunyavirus, it may cause "fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome", referred to as "fever with syndrome", with fever, thrombocytopenia and leukopenia as the main clinical manifestations, and some patients may die due to multi-organ failure.
How can I prevent tick bites?
Ticks usually live on parts of animals that have thin skin and are not easily scratched, such as the scalp, behind the ears, waist, armpits, groin and below the ankles.
▲Source: Popular Science China
To prevent tick bites, you can do the following:
- "Heavily armed"
Avoid sitting and lying down for long periods of time in tick habitat. If you go camping or hiking, try to wear light-colored long clothes and trousers to find ticks. Wear a hat, tie your trouser legs tightly, and don't wear sandals, slippers, or open-toed shoes.
- Use insect repellents
Exposed skin, clothing, and tent surfaces should be applied, sprayed, and children should use repellents as directed.
Children over two months old can use DEET, picaridin, and DEET; For children over the age of three, lemon eucalyptus oil can also be chosen. All of these are effective against ticks.
- Post-play physical examination + cleaning
When returning from the field, take a bath and change clothes in time, check whether there are ticks attached to the skin folds and weak parts such as armpits, groin, scalp, neck, waist and ankles, and see if there are small red spots and swollen bags.
- Deworm your pet regularly
If you are traveling with your pet, carefully check the surface of your pet for ticks when you return home, and deworm your pet regularly.
Emergency treatment for tick bites
- Wrong practices ×
After being bitten by a tick, do not "pull hard" by slapping, pulling hard or burning cigarette butts.
Because if you "pull hard" after being bitten by a tick, it is easy for the mouthparts and head of the tick to remain in the body, resulting in pathogen infection; If you accidentally pinch the tick during "hard pulling", you can also get infected with the virus if you come into contact with the tick's body fluids.
- The right thing to do √ is
1. Apply alcohol to the tick first;
2. Then gently clamp the head of the tick with small tweezers close to the skin, and pull the tick out in the direction of the skin vertically;
3. Disinfect the bite area with iodine or alcohol.
Because the mouthparts of the tick have barbs, it is difficult to pull out after piercing the skin and sucking blood. If the tick penetrates deep into the skin, go to a regular hospital as soon as possible.
Doctors warn that after being bitten by a tick, the incubation period for some diseases can be as long as a month. If you develop fever, rash, fatigue, muscle aches, headache, or other symptoms within a few weeks of tick removal, you should see a doctor.
Tips
After activities in the grass, woods, etc
Exposed skin should be examined with emphasis
Are there any new "little black spots"?
Avoid tick hiding
Source: National Emergency Broadcasting China Anti-Cult