"Ticks took my mom forever ......"
A netizen posted on social platforms to record the whole process of his mother from being bitten by a tick to dying of illness, which is distressing: at first, his mother had a fever and chills, only thinking it was a cold, and even after the condition deteriorated, the cause could not be determined after multiple examinations, and when the tick disease was finally diagnosed, it was already seriously ill.
If I had known that I had been bitten by a tick, I might not have delayed for so long...... This regret of netizens is irreparable, but her personal experience has aroused everyone's attention to ticks.
From the onset of illness to death, in just 7 days, a small tick will take a human life, why is a "little black spot" so powerful? How can we prevent it, and what should we do if we are bitten?
Tiny ticks
Ticks, commonly known as ticks, ticks, grass crawlers, dog beans, eight-legged seeds, etc., are generally reddish-brown or gray-brown, oblong-ovate, dorsoventrally flattened, ranging from the size of sesame grains to the size of rice grains. It usually parasitizes on the surface of the body of rodents, domestic animals and other animals with thin skin and is not easy to be scratched, and the insect body can swell as the size of a soybean after sucking blood.
Image source: CCTV news client
More than 900 species of ticks are known worldwide, and not all tick bites can cause disease in humans. More than 100 species have been found in the mainland, and the common ones in the Central Plains are long-horned blood ticks, blood-red fan-headed ticks, and microscopic fan-headed ticks. Ticks can carry a variety of viruses, bacteria and protozoa, and many kinds of tick-borne diseases are important natural epidemic diseases and zoonoses, such as fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, forest encephalitis, Q fever, tick-borne typhus, Lyme disease, human granulocytic anaplasmosis, Bartonella infection, etc., which bring great harm to human health and animal husbandry.
Pay attention to outdoor travel!
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.
Tiny ticks, very harmful!
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 to cause 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.
What to do if you are bitten? Don't drag it!
Ticks are so scary, what should you do if you find a tick?
Doctor Warning:
Can't shoot! Can't pull it out! Don't use cigarette butts to burn or pull it out!
The tick's "mouth" has barbs that are difficult to remove after piercing the skin, and if not handled properly, the tick's mouthparts remain inside the skin, which can cause inflammation and even 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.
Image source: National Emergency Radio
If bitten by a tick, it's important to remove the tick as soon as possible! Do not use brute force, remember the following steps:
After being bitten, alcohol can be applied to relax the head or die;
Find a pair of pointed forceps, clamp its mouthparts (located on the head) as close to the skin as possible, and pull them out vertically upwards, without rocking them from side to side, so as not to break the mouthparts;
After removing the tick, disinfect the wound with iodine;
Pulled ticks can be sealed with plastic bags or bottles, which can also be used as a reference for doctors to deal with the wound in case it worsens.
If the tick bite is firm or has penetrated too deeply, it is advisable to consult a doctor directly.
After removing the tick, thoroughly clean the bite site and hands with iodine, alcohol, or soap and water. Those who are able to seek medical attention in time and seek professional treatment.
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.
How can I not get bitten?
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.
Doctors recommend that to prevent tick bites, you can do the following:
- If you go camping or hiking in the wilderness, try to wear long clothes and pants to reduce skin exposure;
- It is best to choose light colors for clothing that makes it easier to spot ticks;
- Avoid sitting and lying down for long periods of time in tick habitat;
- The use of mosquito repellent containing DEET can also play a role in reducing tick bites, children over two months old can use DEET, picaridin, DEET, and children over three years old can also choose lemon eucalyptus oil;
- 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, swollen spots, etc.;
- 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.
Comprehensively compiled from: CCTV news client, National Emergency Broadcasting, Popular Science China, China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Liaoning CDC.
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