3 people died, this disease can be transmitted from person to person! It has been spreading rapidly recently! Be careful

Experts in this article:

Zhang Zhidan, Chief Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Professor

Deng Baocheng, Chief Physician, Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, China Medical University, Professor

In summer, all kinds of mosquitoes are active.

Among them is a tiny insect like this, which often appears in places with lush grass and forests. Although it is small in size, it is an absolute "deadly blood-sucking insect" that quietly drills into the human body to suck blood. It looks like a small black dot the size of a sesame seed, but it can be fatal in severe cases.

This bug is a tick.

Just recently, news related to ticks has also aroused people's concern and vigilance.

What do tiny ticks look like? Why can they kill people and even spread from person to person? How should you deal with a bite? This practical article is recommended for careful reading.

What exactly is a tiny tick?

Ticks, commonly known as dog ticks, cattle lice, and grass crawlers, often hide in forests, grass, and fur of cattle and sheep in low mountains and hills.

It must feed on blood at every stage of its growth. When it is not feeding on blood, its back and abdomen are flat, only the size of a sesame seed, but after feeding on blood, it becomes the size of a soybean, and even as big as a fingernail.

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Tick ​​bites usually choose areas where the skin is relatively weak, such as the neck, behind the ears, armpits, and inner thighs of humans and animals.

How harmful is a bite? What are the symptoms?

The harm of tick bites is not as simple as sucking blood, but lies in the diseases transmitted during the blood-sucking process.

In nature, ticks are the second largest vector of natural epidemic diseases after mosquitoes. They can carry more than a hundred pathogens, including viruses (such as hemorrhagic fever virus, forest encephalitis virus, fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus), bacteria (Brucella, Francisella tularensis), parasites (Babesia, Theileria), Rickettsia, spirochetes (Borrelia burgdorferi), human granulocytic anaplasma and toxins, among which more than a dozen pathogens can cause human illness.

April to October every year is the peak period for tick-borne diseases. In recent years, several tick-borne infectious diseases that have been prevalent in my country include fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (tick-borne disease), forest encephalitis, Lyme disease, spotted fever, etc. Among them, tick-borne disease is the most common in my country, with Henan, Shandong, Liaoning, Anhui, Hubei, and Zhejiang being the provinces with the highest incidence.

The disease is often characterized by fever, thrombocytopenia, leukocytopenia and gastrointestinal discomfort, and some cases may have headaches, muscle and joint pain, limb tremors, difficulty in movement, etc. Red papules, macules or wheal-like rashes may appear on the local skin at the bite site.

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Elderly people and children with weaker immunity are very likely to suffer from severe symptoms after being bitten, and the disease may progress more rapidly. A small number of cases infected with the fever and thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (the pathogen of "tick disease") may develop severe illness and die. According to statistics, the current average mortality rate of the disease is 7.3%, and the highest mortality rate can reach 30%. In addition to humans, animals can also be infected with the virus.

Is there a risk of tick-borne diseases being transmitted from person to person?

The answer is yes.

Direct contact with confirmed patients without protective measures can indeed cause human-to-human transmission, and direct contact with the blood, secretions, excretions, etc. of confirmed patients can also lead to the spread of related tick-borne diseases. Even after the patient dies, there is still a risk of infection if you come into close contact with the corpse without protection.

In addition to infection through tick bites and contact with patients' bloody secretions, the disease can also be transmitted through aerosols in extremely rare cases.

How to treat the wound if bitten?

Don't pull hard

When a tick bites, it pierces its head containing the mouthparts deep into the skin. If you use your hands or tools to pull the tick body hard, it will cause the tick body to rupture and stimulate the tick to secrete more venom. On the other hand, it is easy for the tick head to remain in the human body, which may increase the risk of infection.

Use alcohol to anesthetize the tick

You can first paralyze the tick with alcohol, place tweezers close to the skin, clamp its head, and slowly lift it up (do not pull hard if it cannot be pulled), and disinfect the wound in time after removing it.

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Seek medical treatment at a regular hospital promptly

Professional disinfection and anti-inflammatory treatment should be carried out. The ticks can be placed in a sealed container, such as an empty mineral water bottle, to assist the doctor in diagnosis and treatment when seeking medical treatment.

Continue to observe

The incubation period of some tick-borne pathogens can be as long as 1 month. After removing the insect, remember to continue to observe. If symptoms such as fever, headache, rash, etc. occur, be sure to seek medical attention immediately.

How to Avoid Tick Bites

1

Before going outdoors, spray your clothes with an insect repellent containing pyrethroids.

2

When playing outdoors, try to avoid areas with heavy vegetation, grass, and trees, or minimize your time there.

3

Remember to wear long sleeves and long pants, and tie the sleeves, trouser legs and waist tightly. Wearing light-colored clothing will help to detect ticks in time.

4

After returning home from outdoor activities, you should take a shower immediately and carefully check whether there are any abnormal "black spots" on your body or clothes.

5

If you take your pet out for a trip, you should check whether it has ticks on its body after returning home to prevent it from infecting its owner.

The biggest harm of ticks is that we often don't know enough about their dangers, and we don't even care when we are bitten. Once infected, we may miss the best time to get treatment. I hope that through this article, everyone can learn more about the small but dangerous ticks and tick-borne diseases.

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