A doctor has exposed six popular myths about ticks

Many people have no idea how ticks actually behave, what they eat and how they transmit infections. This creates a lot of misconceptions. For example, some people believe that ticks jump from trees, attack people with a certain blood type, or are afraid of folk remedies like garlic and iodine. On May 2, Alexey Averyanov, an orthopedic traumatologist at the Ilya Trukhanov Clinic in Kurkino, told Gazeta.Ru».

The first myth cited by the expert is that ticks jump from trees. The doctor explained that the ticks can neither jump nor fly. They wait for their victims in the grass, on bushes (usually no higher than 1.5 m) and occasionally on the lower branches of trees. When the insect's target passes by, the tick stretches out its front legs, clings to clothes or fur and begins to move upward, most often to the head, neck or armpits, Averyanov explained. In addition, he warned that these arthropods are found not only in the forest, but also in city parks, squares, dachas and even in the roadside grass.

The source also dispelled the myth that ticks bite only in spring. According to him, the first period of activity of these insects does occur in spring and early summer, but the danger persists throughout the warm season — from the moment when the temperature rises above + 5 degrees, and until late autumn.

"The main thing for ticks is high humidity and vegetation. Therefore, you need to be especially vigilant when walking after the rain, in the morning and in the evening in warm cloudy weather," the doctor stressed.

The third misconception is: "If you quickly remove the tick, infection will not occur."

"That's not quite true. The rate of removal of the stuck parasite does reduce the risk of infection, but it is impossible to guarantee complete safety. For example, the causative agents of borreliosis (Lyme disease) are found in the tick's intestines, which delays their entry into the bloodstream — this usually occurs 12-24 hours after the bite. Here, the speed of your reaction may be important," the specialist noted.

However, Averyanov added that the tick-borne encephalitis virus is contained in tick saliva, so infection occurs immediately upon bite, and the rate of removal does not matter here. The only way to protect yourself is through vaccination or, in emergency cases, the administration of immunoglobulin (in regions with a high prevalence of the disease). The doctor noted that it is important not to crush the tick during removal, as this will increase the risk of infection in the wound.

Fourthly, as the traumatologist pointed out, ticks cannot actually be scared off with iodine, garlic or oil. Unlike mosquitoes, they do not react to odors, but to heat, exhaled carbon dioxide, the smell of sweat and vibration from movement, Averyanov said. To reduce the risk of a bite, the doctor recommended wearing light-colored clothes with long sleeves, tucking trousers into socks, and regularly examining yourself, children, and pets after nature walks.

In addition, the expert destroyed the myth that ticks are guided by the blood type when choosing a victim. There is no scientific evidence that ticks prefer people with a certain blood type, said an orthopedic traumatologist. This myth, as suggested by Averyanov, arose due to research on mosquitoes (some of them bite people with group I more often), but ticks are guided by other signals — chemical and physical. At the same time, the doctor clarified that ticks prefer women more often because they have thin skin.

The last thing Averyanov said is that not every tick is a carrier of infection. Thus, the probability of infection depends on the region: on average, 0.5–5% of ticks carry encephalitis (up to 20% in endemic areas), borreliosis — 5-35% (up to 60% in some areas), and other infections such as anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis are less common. To check if the tick has been infected, it can be tested in a laboratory.

"The appearance of fever, weakness and redness of the skin is an urgent reason to see a doctor," the specialist concluded.

"About a year or two": the appearance of viral encephalitis was predicted in Moscow

Now ticks mainly carry borreliosis and spotted fever.

Earlier, on April 30, Vladimir Neronov, MD, an infectious disease specialist at JSC "Medicine" (Academician Roitberg Clinic), told Izvestia about the main dangers of ticks and effective ways to protect against them. According to the expert, once on clothes, the parasite looks for a place to bite, preferring the head, neck, the area behind the ears and the bends of the limbs. The bite itself is almost invisible, so the tick can remain on the body for up to 10 days until it is saturated with blood.