Hello! My ex-husband works all his life in the clinic. After the divorce, we did not stop communicating and often share events of our lives with each other.
Recently, he said that there are times when people simply arrange bombardments with calls asking about ticks. What to do, how to get it, where to take it?
Want to know where to take the tick for analysis? In what cases is this recommended? Then below is presented for you, so to speak, first-hand information.
The content of the article:
What tests to do after a tick bite?
It is very important for a tick bite, even if you live in a non-hazardous area for borreliosis or encephalitis, take it to a specialist for examination and conduct an analysis of your own blood.
It is simply necessary to do this, because if the tick was infected with encephalitis or borreliosis, a bitten one can get sick and die.
What tests should be taken after a tick bite?
As soon as possible after a bite, you need to visit the hospital (clinic) and be sure to take a bitten tick with you (it’s ideal to carry it alive, but it’s also dead). In a medical facility, a blood test will be performed for the presence of infection in the body.
When a tick bites, try to save it and transport it to the laboratory. If when contacting a medical institution there is no equipment and specialists in order to conduct an analysis of an insect, many people wonder where to pass the tick in this case?
The only option is private clinics or SES. Also, a bitten tick can be sent for analysis to the parasitology department, which is available in almost every infectious diseases hospital in large cities.
But where to pass the tick, if the city does not have institutions at all, where it can be identified and studied? In this case, as a rule, we are talking about cities that are safe for infections transmitted by these parasites. But if you are still worried about this moment, you can go to a hospital in another city.
It turns out that the tests after a tick bite should ideally be taken within 24 days after the incident. In this case, the most important thing is to pass the tick for analysis, since in the first day after the bite, a blood test can give a false negative result.
But after passing the tick for analysis, you can find out with maximum accuracy whether it was infected with any infections (tick-borne encephalitis, borreliosis and a dozen other diseases dangerous to humans). In this case, you can immediately put the bitten person in the hospital under observation.
Moreover, even a precisely infected parasite does not always transmit the disease to humans. For a hundred bites of infected insects, only 10-15 transfers of pathogens to humans are necessary. However, this is not a reason not to visit a doctor after such incidents, even if the risk of developing the disease is extremely small.
Where to pass the tick for analysis?
A mandatory blood test after a tick bite and donation of the insect itself for subsequent research can be done in various public and private institutions. But recall that not all cities have specialists and equipment capable of such research.
You can take blood and tick tests for analysis in the following institutions:
- SES (sanitary-epidemiological station).
- State medical institutions (trauma center, clinic, hospital).
- Private medical facilities.
The method of pulling a tick from the skin
Phased sequence of actions after a tick bite should be as follows:
- pack the insect in any container (even a matchbox will do), regardless of whether it is alive or not;
- contact the state medical institution (priority is an infectious disease specialist or parasitologist), get a referral for a blood test and ask where to carry the tick;
- if the doctor insists on a deeper diagnosis, ask what tests are specifically required and go through them;
- donating blood for diagnosis and finding out where to carry the tick (specific address, where it is taken), take it to this laboratory, after taking the money, since such procedures are most often paid;
- if the parasite turned out to be uninfected - breathe a sigh of relief, but watch your health for two weeks on your own and if you have any symptoms, consult a doctor immediately;
- if the tick test is positive, they will put you in a hospital for further observation and, if necessary, medical treatment.
How to save the parasite for analysis?
It is immediately worth noting that the preservation of the parasite for its subsequent research does not imply the preservation of its life. A dead parasite is also suitable for research.
It is important to pass the tick for analysis in that state, which is as close as possible to the state of the parasite during the bite. That is, slow down the metabolic processes in his body (if he is alive) and prevent pathogenic microorganisms from dying in his body.
But how to save the tick in this case? To stop the metabolic processes in his body, the parasite needs to be placed in the refrigerator, but do not freeze it. To preserve pathogenic microorganisms located at the time of a bite in his body, the container with the parasite must be filled with water, since in the absence of it many infectious agents can die.
After that, the tick must be carried for analysis for a maximum of two days, while after a longer period of time, the risk of false research results increases significantly.
Blood donation after a parasite bite. As mentioned earlier, you can donate blood for examination after a tick bite in any suitable (with specialists, equipment, reagents) private or state clinic.
In this case, a blood test can be performed immediately when contacting a doctor. However, in the case of borreliosis (Lyme disease), such a diagnosis can be inconclusive, since the infectious agents that are the causative agent of this disease are detected only 2-4 weeks after infection.
The same is true for many other diseases that are transmitted through the bites of blood-sucking insects (in particular ticks).
Timing and interpretation of results
Since with an early visit to a doctor with high accuracy, you can determine the presence of only encephalitis in the body of a bitten one, it makes sense to talk about the interpretation of the results of blood diagnostics for this particular disease.
There can be three results of such an examination:
- A positive result on tick-borne encephalitis IgM is a recent infection, the disease is active.
- A positive result on tick-borne encephalitis IgG is observed, as a rule, in people with vaccination against encephalitis or in people who have been infected with it relatively long (late term of the disease).
- The absence of antibodies to encephalitis is an absolute norm.
Diagnostic results for most infectious diseases transmitted through tick bites can be obtained 3-5 days after blood sampling.
Where after the bite you need to pass the tick for analysis
Today, more than 50 thousand species of ticks are known. Some species do not pose a danger to humans, as they are scavengers, eating decaying organic matter, or “vegetarians”, damaging the crop.
However, those who like human blood can suffer serious illnesses. A tick bite belonging to this category can permanently send to a hospital bed.
For what?
In any case, a tick must be handed over for analysis because any of them can carry any virus. What kind of disease was inside the parasite can be determined in the laboratory.
It is necessary to take the insect to your doctor so that he makes a diagnosis as soon as possible, and also pass a blood test. Thanks to these measures, treatment can be started as soon as possible.
If you manage to take the parasite to research alive, then its analysis will be more informative. It is always necessary to know where to pass the tick for analysis, because only specialists can take it out so as not to kill it. Naturally, some parts of the body of the insect can also be examined, but for this they must be taken to a laboratory that is equipped with special equipment for conducting such analyzes.
It is much simpler, saving the life of the insect, to deliver it to the nearest institution, where employees can check the tick for dangerous infections.
How fast do you need to pass
If a bite occurs, you should contact a medical facility as soon as possible. Of course, you can not pass the tick for analysis immediately. But if you start to drag out time to several days or more, you can seriously harm your health. The optimal period for taking a blood test is 24 days after the bite, since in the first 24 hours you can not get a reliable result.
It is worth emphasizing that the likelihood of infection through the bite of this insect is not one hundred percent. According to statistics, about 100 cases of bite account for about 15 cases of infection of people with dangerous infections. But this does not mean that you should postpone going to the doctor after a bite, because the risk of getting sick is small, but it exists, and it’s not worth the risk.
Where do they pass the tick for analysis
The question "Where to pass the tick?" Arises in the head immediately after a bite. As a rule, some private and public institutions located in almost all settlements are involved in the analysis of this type of disease spreading agent.
However, such laboratories are not everywhere, and therefore you need to know where you can take a bitten insect for research so as not to lose time.
After the bite, you need to head to one of the following places:
- Sanitary and epidemiological station SES;
- Private clinic;
- State medical institution - emergency room, hospital, clinic, etc.
It is necessary to save the parasite by any means, even if this implies its death. It’s better, of course, to bring the insect alive, but it’s more important to bring the insect at all, so it’s not scary if he died - this will not hinder the research.
After separating the insect from the site of the bite, you should immediately place it in the cold, for example, in the refrigerator, while you can not completely freeze it. To keep the virus intact, fill the container with the tick with plain water.
If this is not done, many bacteria will die. It is necessary to deliver the parasite for analysis within two days. If more time passes, the study may be unreliable.
Ticks afraid - do not go to the forest?
A tick may be a source of infection, therefore, removing a tick, save it for laboratory testing for infection with tick-borne infections.
The results of a tick study should not be taken as something absolute. The presence of an infection in a tick does not mean that a person will become ill. A tick can be harmless, and a person will get sick because he missed a bite of an infected tick (several ticks bit at the same time). And so on. Even if the analysis is negative, still monitor your condition for three weeks.
You can determine the presence of the disease by passing a blood test. Donate blood immediately after a tick bite is not necessary. Analyzes are given no earlier than two to three weeks after a tick bite. The presence of specific immunoglobulins can be determined in the laboratory of dangerous and natural focal infections.
If a tick is stuck?
With the onset of warm weather, namely spring, summer, autumn, people try to go outdoors. Mushroom pickers spend all day in the forest, fishermen sit by the lake, and summer residents are busy in their gardens.
And many just go to the forest to get some fresh air. It is these lovers who are most exposed to the dangers that lie in wait in the forest. One of the dangers is that you can be attacked by ticks. You will not feel anything, no bite symptoms.
The tick gives off a special pain medication and you don’t feel anything.
A large number of tick species live in the forest. Most of them feed on plants, mushrooms, small insects. And only not many have adapted to feed on the blood of animals and humans. These parasites include ixodid ticks. This type of tick is a carrier of viruses dangerous to humans.
Infections that can develop with a tick bite include tick-borne encephalitis, tick-borne borreliosis, hemorrhagic fever, tick-borne tick-borne fever, tularemia and many other diseases.
The most serious disease that can develop after a tick bite is tick-borne encephalitis. Its danger lies in the fact that it causes damage to the central nervous system. And after recovery, paralysis and dementia remain. Sometimes a disease can lead to death. Thus, if you do not notice a tick and after a long time the symptoms of the above diseases appear, the situation will be critical.
How and where to take the tick for analysis?
If you got the tick yourself, you need to pass the tick for analysis.
To pass the tick for analysis, place it in a glass jar, put a cotton swab dipped in water there.You can put a jar in the refrigerator. It’s better if you bring the mite alive for analysis. Admission tick without an appointment.
The centers are located near the metro stations Marx Square, Zaeltsovskaya and Stanislavsky Square. On Sunday, the fence is not made. Emergency prevention of tick-borne encephalitis - put anti-tick-borne immunoglobulin.
Tick photo
It is important to know what the tick looks like so as not to confuse it with some kind of bug. If the tick stuck into the skin, it will look like the photo below.
We protect the skin
It is not worth it, because of the danger of meeting a tick, to deprive yourself of the pleasure of visiting the forest. There are many ways to reduce the chance of sucking this parasite. When going to the forest you need to choose the right clothes. All parts of the body should be closed. You need to wear long pants and socks.
You can handle clothes with special agents that repel blood-sucking insects, including ticks. Such funds include Fumitox Antiklesh, Moskitol Antiklesh, Tornado Antiklesh.
There are areas where tick-borne encephalitis infections are common. People in such areas are constantly warned about this so that they do not visit the forest. And for those who wish there is an opportunity to be vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis.
In the woods
If you find a tick in your forest, you can immediately remove it. Just do not do this with your bare fingers, it is better to wear gloves or wrap your fingers around a cloth. It is necessary to grip it between the thumb and forefinger. Then pull it very gently towards you while swinging it from side to side.
In this case, the head should not be picked, but removed at home, after appropriate treatment. It is advisable to burn a whole tick, because it is very small and tenacious, the only way it can be killed. But if there is a glass jar, it is better to place it there, and then send it for examination.
The site of the tick bite must be treated with iodine or an alcohol solution. If these drugs are not available, then the wound must be treated after returning from the forest. It is also advisable to wash the hands of the person who removed the tick.
Houses
After visiting the forest, it is necessary to carefully examine all parts of the body for the presence of a sucking tick. Well, you need to look at all the folds, inguinal, axillary and the area between the buttocks. Hard-to-reach spots can be examined using a mirror. Inspection should be carried out by everyone who went to the forest, including animals.
If, after inspection, the tick was found, you can try to remove it yourself. To do this, in order not to touch the tick with your hands, it is better to use tweezers. You can drip a little vegetable oil onto the tick, after which it does not detach itself, but relax the grip a bit (wait 5-10 minutes).
Clamp the tick with tweezers as deep as possible. Then, slowly, either swinging or rotating the tick, rotate the tick. In no case can you jerk it sharply. When the likelihood that the tick may be infected, after removal it is placed in a clean jar with a lockable lid. Then they are taken to the laboratory for examination. The tick bite site is treated with iodine.
You can still use the thread to remove it. It is wrapped around the head of the tick and quietly pulled, swinging it.This method is much easier for many.
In the hospital
Many people are afraid of insects and are afraid to independently remove the tick. In this case, you can contact the surgeon at the emergency room. The medical method is no different from the usual tick removal method. The doctor will use the clamp and gently pull the tick. But doctors have much more experience.
Tick examination is carried out for the presence of tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis viruses. These infections are most often transmitted by ticks and are most severe. But this analysis is carried out at the request of the patient and at his own expense.
Preventative treatment
If the tick was brought from an area where there were cases of tick-borne encephalitis, then the doctor will not wait for the result of the analysis, but will immediately prescribe preventive treatment. Most often, Iodantipirin is used for this. It is an antiviral drug. He is prescribed for 5 days. The first 2 days you need to drink 3 tablets 3 times a day, then the number of tablets decreases to one.
There is also a special immunoglobulin for the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis. It must be administered to everyone who has been treated with a tick bite. In the event that the tick was removed from the endemic zone by tick-borne encephalitis.
If there are no dangerous ticks in the area where you rested, then there is no need to worry. But to prevent other, less dangerous infections, you can take a course of any antiviral drugs. Especially if the tick bit a child. Adults can take a course of remantadine, and children should drink anaferon. The course of such prevention is 10 days.
After a tick bite, it is necessary to control the temperature for a month. If during this period a temperature increase was noted, you should immediately consult a doctor. And when examined by a doctor, it is imperative to draw his attention to the fact that there was a case of tick suction.
Where should I take a tick for analysis?
Tick bites are not painful, but at the same time dangerous. This harmful insect can provoke a serious infection - infection with the virus of encephalitis. To find out if a tick that bit you was infected is possible only after laboratory tests.
What is dangerous
A blood-sucking tick is dangerous, first of all, because it is often a carrier of encephalitis. This medical term is used to refer to a certain group of diseases characterized by the onset and development of inflammatory processes in the brain.
There are several main types of encephalitis, which differ in their nature and origin:
- infectious;
- infectious and allergic;
- allergic;
- toxic.
One of the common varieties of this disease is tick-borne encephalitis, which these parasitic blood-sucking insects carry.
Most often, the victims of infection are people who are forced to stay in the forests for a very long period of time due to their profession or lifestyle. The risk group includes:
- geologists
- topographers
- forestry workers
- hunters
- specialists involved in the construction of railways and highways and pipelines for various purposes.
In addition, ordinary tourists, as well as people who work on their personal plots or simply spend a lot of time in the forest zones, suffer from tick bites that carry encephalitis.
For a disease such as encephalitis, a fairly acute development is characteristic. The first symptoms can occur over a period of 1.5 to 3 weeks from the moment the pest bites.
In order to eliminate the risk of infection, it is necessary to conduct a tick analysis in a specialized medical institution. As a result of the study, the victim will be provided with information regarding the presence or absence of risks.
In any case, one should not delay the analysis, because if this problem is ignored, serious complications are possible.
A tick is analyzed in a laboratory to determine if it has been infected.
Running tick-borne encephalitis can lead to paralysis of the upper limbs. Approximately 2% with the European form of the disease and 20% with the Far East can be fatal 1 week after the onset of the disease.
First bite action
To prevent the occurrence of encephalitis and the development of complications, it is necessary to first remove the tick. This can be done as accurately and efficiently as possible with alcohol or oil as follows:
- drop a couple of droplets of the selected product directly onto the tick that has sunk into the skin;
- after about twenty minutes, bring a thin but strong thread under the lower legs of the parasite, make a loop out of it, and then tighten it securely;
- slowly, slightly swinging movements, gently pull up. Instead of thread for these purposes, you can use convenient tweezers.
As soon as the parasite comes out, it must be placed in a jar and taken as soon as possible to a professional medical institution where the study will be conducted. As a result, it will be determined whether the parasite is really a carrier of a dangerous disease or not.
If you are not sure that you can independently cope with the extraction of a harmful insect, you do not need to hesitate - immediately contact the clinic for qualified help.
After removal of the parasite, the patient is prescribed effective preventive therapy. It is advisable in this case to be under the supervision of a doctor for at least thirty days. In addition, be careful about the symptoms - if you have an itchy rash and an increase in body temperature, you should definitely consult a doctor.
Where are the tests carried out?
After a tick bite, it is necessary to conduct an analysis, as a result of which it becomes clear whether it is infected or not.
There are several institutions that conduct such studies. In such cases, you can contact the following places:
- city Hospital;
- specialized medical centers;
- sanitary and epidemiological station;
- Rospotrebnadzor special laboratory.
Choose the organization most suitable for you and send a tick there for research. Analyzes are carried out in specialized institutions.
A tick that has bitten you should stay alive. Therefore, in order for the study to be successful, you must strictly follow certain rules.
Due to the fact that this variety of parasitic insects does not tolerate high air temperatures, put a small piece of cotton wool soaked in cold water next to the tick, and place the container itself in a refrigerator or other cool place. The jar with the insects must be closed with a very reliable and strong lid - so that the parasite does not have the slightest chance to get out.
Also keep in mind that to conduct a test, ticks must be delivered to the laboratory within the first days of being bitten - only in this case can you count on the correct test results.
Mite research is very important because it helps to prevent the occurrence and further development of dangerous diseases, which, by the way, include not only encephalitis.
Its main danger lies in the fact that it has a damaging effect on the heart, joints, as well as the musculoskeletal system. Other diseases that can develop as a result of a tick bite include:
- tick-borne typhus;
- ehrlichiosis;
- anaplasmosis and some others.
Timely studies of the insect and a competent course of treatment will help prevent negative consequences.
Effective Prevention
Simple methods of protection will prevent a dangerous bite. Competent preventative measures will help protect against encephalitis and a number of other diseases. Therefore, heading into a forest area, wear tight, covered clothing and hats. Do not neglect repellents.
If you are bitten by a tick, do not panic, but you can not neglect safety measures. After a laboratory study of the insect, a therapeutic course will be prescribed to the patient, including the administration of immunomodulating drugs.
Tick bite action
Finding a little bloodsucker on your body, two questions arise: how to remove it correctly and where to pass the tick for analysis? Tick bite is a serious and dangerous business. After all, this small insect can infect a person with a serious and fatal disease.
Ticks are activated in the spring, when, after long frosts, the warm spring sun begins to warm. Many people tend to spend a weekend in nature, in the forest or near ponds. And it is here that a great danger awaits them - ticks, which also wake up in the spring and seek to profit.
But in addition to a direct insect bite, danger lies in the way of domestic animals, which are also prone to bites of blood-sucking insects and can be carriers of a serious illness - encephalitis. You need to be careful when playing with pets, beware of their bites and scratches.
After spending a wonderful day in the awakened nature, you can come home with an unpleasant “gift”. What to do if a bloodsucker is found on the body and where to carry the tick? First of all, you should contact the ambulance service for the initial consultation of a doctor. They will talk about how to safely and correctly remove the insect and where to pass the tick for analysis.
It will be proposed to contact the district clinic or the nearest emergency room. If the tick itself is not found, and only the place of the bite is noticeable and you have to refuse to visit a doctor for any reason, it is very important to listen to your health for two weeks. Alarming symptoms are:
- increase in body temperature;
- weakness and sweating, loss of strength;
- increased redness at the site of the bite.
With such symptoms, visits to the clinic can not be avoided, because all these are signs of tick-borne encephalitis, which are transmitted by ticks. The severity of the disease depends on the amount of poisonous saliva that has entered the human body, and the amount of poison is directly proportional to the time that the parasite spent on the skin. Therefore, it is very important to seek medical help on time and remove the bloodsucker.
If the parasite sticks tightly to the body, but there is no way to see a doctor, then you can try to cope on your own.To do this, you need a long tweezers or a medical clamp, which allows you to tightly hold the parasite. It is necessary to capture and fix the tick as close as possible to the proboscis, with which it dug into the body, and carefully pull it out, turning it around its body.
If you try to pull out the parasite with a sharp movement, there is a high probability of its rupture, after which it is very difficult to extract the rest.
If there are no tweezers, you can use a dense thread. It must be wrapped around the insect, tie a knot and slowly pull the parasite out. Sudden movements are strictly prohibited. Another important point - the tick can not be squeezed, because when pressed on his body, an additional dose of the poison is released into the wound and the blood of the victim of the bite.
After removing the insect, you need to carefully examine both the parasite and the wound, and make sure that the tick is completely removed and that no parts of it remain in the body, because even parts of the body of the insect can provoke further infection of a person.
Then, when removed, it will be very difficult to pull it out completely, it will become brittle and brittle. After all the procedures, the wound must be treated with an alcohol solution or iodine, bandage or bandage is usually not required.
What is dangerous in a tick bite?
Even if the tick did not remain in the wound, and the bite itself was not very strong and deep, this does not guarantee the absence of infection. If the parasite managed to be saved, it should definitely be taken to a special laboratory in order to analyze the tick for susceptibility to its infections.
It is advisable to clarify where to carry the parasite in the city hospital or at the emergency room doctors, but tests can almost always be carried out in a sanitary epidemiological station or in special epidemiology centers.
In order to preserve the insect for laboratory analysis, it must be placed in a glass container, add a cotton swab dipped in water to it, and cork well with a lid.
If it is not possible to take the tick for examination on the day of the bite, the vial with the parasite should be placed in the refrigerator. In order to conduct a complete and most accurate study of a bloodsucker, it must be whole and alive. There are centers where PCR diagnostics are performed, for which a fragment of the parasite is sufficient, but such a study is not complete and accurate.
In order to know for sure whether an infection has occurred, you can donate blood for analysis. You do not need to do this right away, because infections take time to develop. The best time to examine your health is 10 days after the bite.
Tick-borne infections
Diseases that people can catch after a tick bite: tick-borne encephalitis and tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease).
Tick-borne encephalitis is a disease caused by a virus that affects both parts of the nervous system: central and peripheral. If treatment is not started in a timely manner, the disease can cause complications, the most severe of which are paralysis and death.The disease has a seasonal character, it usually develops in the spring and summer, when the transmission of the virus, ticks, occurs.
The first peak of exposure to the virus occurs in May-June, the second - at the end of summer - August and September.
Encephalitis develops within 7-14 days, in rare cases, signs of tick-borne encephalitis are noticeable from the first day or closer to a month after infection. Signs of a developing disease include:
- frequent and short-term weakness,
- numbness of the skin of the face and neck;
- fever with fever;
- migraine;
- disorders of the stomach and intestines;
- redness at the site of the bite;
- sleep disorders.
If the presence of encephalitis virus in human blood is confirmed, the patient will have a long and difficult treatment in a hospital.
The second disease, which mites are carriers of, is Lyme disease, or tick-borne borreliosis. This viral disease is prone to chronic and recurrent forms. With this form of the disease, the integuments of the central nervous system, heart, muscles and joints of the skeleton suffer.
The incubation period of tick-borne borreliosis is from 2 to 30 days, but usually it develops after 2 weeks. The first sign is the intensification of redness around the bite, increasing in size.
At first, the spot is small, from 1 to 10 cm in diameter, but sometimes it grows to 60 cm. Its shape is round or oval, in rare cases it is irregular. The edges of the wound are bright red, slightly rising above healthy areas of the skin.
After some time, the stain brightens or becomes bluish in color, the wound becomes crusty and scarred. If you do not carry out therapeutic measures, the stain lasts about 2-3 weeks, then disappears. And after 1-1.5 months, signs of damage to the internal organs of the patient begin to appear.
Precautionary measures
The activity of ticks during the day is different, therefore, the intensity of attacks on humans in parasites is not the same. In warm weather, their greatest activity is observed from 8 to 11 hours, in hotter hours, their aggressiveness decreases sharply. As soon as the temperature drops, the activity of the parasites rises again, so another dangerous period from 17 to 20 hours.
On cloudy days and during rain, the activity of ticks is also greatly reduced, but in wet weather they can still attack people and animals.
It is better to wear a hat so as to close the neck, this will protect against parasites falling from high branches. It is better to choose clothes from natural fabrics, the weaving of threads of which does not allow bloodsuckers to penetrate under clothes.
Before going outside and during the time spent in nature, it is advisable to apply a special repellent to clothing and exposed areas of the body. And always every 2 hours you need to examine yourself and children for ticks, it takes so much time for the parasite to penetrate the body and bite.
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