The period of spring tick activity has begun. Every spring, hundreds of thousands of Russians bitten by ticks turn to medical organizations. MIR 24 figured out how to avoid becoming a victim of a tick and what to do if you find one on your body.
Few people are unaware of the dangers of ticks. However, every spring, when going to the countryside or just into nature, many people neglect basic safety rules. They seem to forget that an attached tick can be a carrier of dangerous diseases. These include encephalitis, borreliosis, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis and hemorrhagic fever.
“All diseases transmitted by ticks are extremely unpleasant and have the most serious consequences for humans,” Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Arbovirus Biology at the Federal Scientific Center for Research and Development of Immunobiological Preparations named after A. M.P. Chumakov RAS Galina Karganova. “The most dangerous among them, of course, is encephalitis, although others also require immediate identification and treatment.”
Ticks, carriers of the encephalitis virus, have been found in a significant part of Russia. Rospotrebnadzor clarifies that there are 48 territories in Russia that are endemic to viral encephalitis. According to the list compiled federal service at the end of January 2019, 19 regions were recognized as completely endemic (among them the most popular among tourists are the Vologda, Kaliningrad, Leningrad, Novgorod regions, Crimea, Krasnodar and Altai territories). The highest incidence of tick-borne encephalitis is in the Urals and North-West Russia. The risk of infection is high in the Siberian and Far Eastern federal districts. In another 29 regions, the virus is spread over parts of the territory. With them full list can be found on the Rospotrebnadzor website.
Moscow is still free from encephalitis, although it exists in the Moscow region - in particular, in the Dmitrovsky and Taldomsky districts.
Who should get vaccinated?
Viral encephalitis is acute, with high fever, nausea and vomiting. The virus attacks the spinal cord and brain and can lead to paralysis, disability, and even death. It is very difficult to treat, so the best remedy protection against encephalitis is a vaccination. Unfortunately, if you are going outdoors for the May holidays, then it is too late to get vaccinated now. After all, in order to get a protective effect, you had to come to your senses at least a month ago. For a lasting result, you need to do two vaccinations, and the protective effect occurs only two weeks after the second vaccination, and the interval between the first and second must be at least 14 days.
Those who are planning summer and autumn trips to regions where there is encephalitis should get their first vaccination against encephalitis right now. Standard scheme vaccination requires three vaccinations and a one-month interval between them.
Vaccination against encephalitis should not be given to children under one year old and those who are allergic to chicken eggs and components of vaccination vaccines, as well as during the period of taking other medicines.
How to minimize the risk without vaccination
If you are planning to travel to regions with high activity of encephalitis ticks during the May holidays, think about protecting yourself from infection in advance. According to Galina Karganova, most people expose themselves and their loved ones to unnecessary risk simply because they do not think about ticks. “Do everything you can to avoid them getting sucked on,” she says.
Before walking through a forest or park, wear closed clothing and shoes. It minimizes the risk of ticks crawling onto the body. Use anti-tick sprays. They need to generously spray shoes and pants below the knee. Clothing should cover your arms and legs, ideally with elastic bands at the wrists and ankles. No need to lie on the grass or bury your face in a bouquet wildflowers, touch the grass with your hair. It is generally better to tuck your hair under a headdress or under a hood. Ticks move slowly, it is quite possible to find them in time and remove them from clothes and shoes. Therefore, while in nature, it is advisable to periodically carefully examine yourself and your children.
“Ticks are often brought home from a walk on clothes and shoes. There was a case of a tick even attaching itself to the body of a paralyzed old woman who did not leave the house: the children brought her a bouquet of wildflowers from a walk,” said Professor Karganova.
If a tick is already in your home, it will certainly find a victim. Therefore, when you come home from the park or forest, carefully inspect all your clothes, or better yet, wash them. high temperature V washing machine. If you can't do this right away, simply put your clothes and shoes in a large plastic bag and tie it tightly so that if any arthropods get in there, they can't crawl out.
Ticks are often brought in from the street by pets. Therefore, cats and dogs must be treated with special means and anti-tick collars must be put on them. Then the risk of becoming a victim of an arthropod will decrease several times.
Check the tick for the virus
If you are nevertheless bitten by a tick, you need to remove it from your body as soon as possible. “There is no need to run with it to the first aid station and waste time, since the speed at which the tick is removed depends on whether infection can be avoided,” says Professor Karganova. It is better to remove the tick not with your hands, but with a thread, tweezers or a hook by the proboscis (loose it with rotational movements and pull it out entirely).
“It happens that parts of the tick remain. This is unpleasant, it qualifies as a thorn, but it is easier to deal with later. The main thing is to prevent infection with dangerous infections,” the biologist explained. The tick removed from the body must be stored in a jar or test tube and promptly submitted to the laboratory for diagnosis. Addresses of laboratories can be found on the websites of territorial departments of Rospotrebnadzor. Muscovites can apply for an examination to the Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology.
The analysis must be carried out immediately. So far the only one in an effective way Prevention of tick-borne encephalitis is the administration of immunoglobulin. But it can be administered within 72 hours after the bite, after which it is no longer useful. And the analysis will take more than a day, so it’s important not to waste time.
Symptoms of encephalitis, borreliosis and other tick-borne diseases are difficult to recognize in the initial stages. In many patients, they are similar to symptoms of poisoning, acute respiratory viral infection or overwork, so they can only be diagnosed by a doctor using a blood test. If you are diagnosed with these diseases, begin treatment immediately. If these diseases are not treated, they can lead to complications - even severe cases such as lesions nervous system and brain (with borreliosis and anaplasmosis). The latter diagnosis can also cause severe kidney damage. Hemorrhagic fever, in turn, can develop into sepsis, focal pneumonia, and acute renal failure. Therefore, under no circumstances put off antiviral therapy prescribed by your doctor “for later.”
Hello dear readers. In today's article we are talking about what ways there are to protect children from ticks in nature.
How to prevent a tick bite, how to remove it correctly.
Rules for protecting children from ticks in nature
When the sun begins to warm up, how nice it is to take a walk with your child in a park, a forest, or just in a yard with a lot of green space.
But it should be remembered that in warm time years, ticks can live in all these places.
Ticks begin to appear in forests, fields, and on any lawns from the very first warm days; they are found until October, but most of them are in the spring months and early summer.
In cloudy weather they are more active than on dry and hot days. Ticks are found on flower stems, bush branches, and blades of grass from 30 to 70 centimeters high.
When a person passes by, insects cling to clothing and crawl along it for 20-40 minutes to find a bare area of skin to feed on, and they look for the thinnest areas (neck, areas behind the ears, armpits, back of the head).
Children are especially vulnerable: they are smaller and ticks attack them more often.
If a child is bitten by a tick, the bite itself is not dangerous. When bitten, no pain is felt, since the insect’s saliva contains painkillers.
The tick will suck blood and fall off. There will be redness, itching, and slight swelling in the wound area.
Infections that enter the bloodstream after a bite with tick saliva are dangerous.
A tick can infect a child with borreliosis (Lyme disease) or tick-borne viral encephalitis.
Encephalitis is a very serious disease, causing an inflammatory process in the membranes of the brain.
This can lead to paralysis. Lyme disease most affects the heart and blood vessels, and even cardiac arrest can occur.
It is very important for parents walking with their children in the forest or in the park, or staying with them in the country, to know how to protect themselves from ticks in nature.
Not every bite, of course, carries the risk of contracting a serious illness, but since there is a risk, it is better to know how to play it safe.
On the Internet you can find the website of Rospotrebnadzor, there are tables where you can see in which regions there are the most ticks.
You can protect yourself from ticks
If you follow a number of rules, the likelihood that your child will be bitten by a tick can be significantly reduced.
- The smallest children can be placed on a light-colored diaper or sheet: it is easy to see the tick on them, since it is dark in color.
- Make sure that children do not lie on the grass or walk on tall grass; It is better to move along well-trodden paths in the forest.
- At the dacha, you need to mow the grass on time and remove overgrowth. It is necessary to treat the dacha area with special anti-tick products.
So, you go for a walk in the park or in the forest during the months when there are ticks: how can children protect themselves?
- Clothes must be light color, fitted, with long sleeves.
- The shirt or T-shirt must be tucked into the trousers.
- It is advisable to tuck your trousers into your socks.
- For clothes, stroller, bicycle, etc. repellent should be applied. Repellent should not be applied at home.
- Wear closed shoes.
- Walk only in a hat, hide your hair under it.
- you can use a special protective clothing against ticks.
It is very important to examine the child with whom you are walking outdoors approximately every 20 minutes.
When you return home, you need to carefully examine the child again (remove clothes, examine the whole body and hair).
This must be done even if you have used a repellent. The repellent must be washed off upon returning from a walk.
During the season when there are a lot of ticks (spring, early summer), it is better not to bring home bouquets of flowers, as they may contain ticks.
If you take your dog for a walk, it should also be thoroughly examined upon returning home. How to protect yourself from ticks in the country? All of the above rules are observed if you spend a lot of time with your child at your summer cottage.
In addition, the area itself must be treated with anti-tick products.
How to choose tick repellents for children
Products that can protect against ticks are divided into two types:
- Repellents will repel ticks.
- Acaricides kill ticks. They contain alphacypermethrin, the effectiveness of the products is high, but they are toxic.
- Combined means of protection containing both repellents and acaricides.
How can a child protect himself from a tick bite using special means?
Children are shown repellents that can be natural or chemical. Natural ones are not toxic, but their action time is shorter than that of chemical repellents and their effectiveness is lower.
Chemicals are considered by doctors to be relatively safe for children. They contain DEET (diethyltoluamide) or DMF (dimethyl phthalate).
Both chemical compounds have repellent and insecticidal properties. Every four hours a child is in the forest or in the country, chemical repellents must be reapplied.
Until the child turns 12 years old, the content of DEET and DMF in the repellent should be reduced (to 8% DEET and 10% DMF, respectively).
Parents can purchase repellents in the form of creams, aerosols, lotions, etc. Look on the packaging for the state registration number with the letter “U”: it means that the product is harmless to children.
Store substances that protect against ticks at a temperature not exceeding 25 degrees.
How to use repellents correctly
- The product is applied to clothing in strips (especially on the ankles/collar/cuffs) before a walk in the forest or park and every four hours if you are outdoors (in the countryside) for a long time. Sometimes you can apply repellent to the skin, but in a very thin layer: in this case, the adult applies the repellent to his own hands, and the adult applies the product to the exposed areas of the child’s skin with his hands.
- It is not recommended to spray repellent near wounds, as well as near the eyes, mouth, and ears.
- The product is applied not at home, but outdoors.
- The product is not applied to the skin under clothing.
- Under no circumstances should the protective substance be sprayed near food.
- After you apply repellent to your child (and yourself), wash your hands well.
- The product must be washed off in time, and clothes treated with repellent must be washed (do not wear them a second time).
Parents should not forget that repellents are additional methods of protection against ticks, because they only repel insects.
The main way to protect against ticks is regular and thorough examination of the child. This is especially true for children.
Another way to protect yourself: vaccination
Of all the diseases that a tick can infect, only encephalitis. The vaccine contains a non-live encephalitis virus.
The medicine is quite harmless and highly effective. Protection begins to take effect two weeks after the second vaccination, so the child should be vaccinated in March.
For childhood vaccinations (if the child is over a year old), German and Austrian vaccines are used. Their vaccination schedules may vary; your doctor will tell you the details.
Proper tick removal
How to properly remove a tick from a person? The tick will not fall off on its own; it must be removed as soon as possible; the sooner this is done, the less likely it is to become infected.
- The insect can be removed using a special device: they are available in veterinary pharmacies. You can also buy it in the online store. Buy two devices at once in a set, differing in size (for large and small ticks).
- You can use tweezers. The tick should be grabbed with tweezers right at the surface of the skin and pulled out very carefully. Under no circumstances should you rotate the tick.
- Will help simple thread. It is wrapped around the tick (also as close to the skin surface as possible) and the two ends of the thread are twisted together.
- If you cut off the base of the syringe, you can use a vacuum to pull the tick out.
- If you don’t have any devices at hand, try to grab the insect with your nails, but not with your fingers! Use a napkin, etc.
- After removing the tick, lubricate the skin at the site of the bite with an antiseptic (for example, iodine).
- It happens that after pulling out a tick, the head may remain in the skin. You can remove it yourself the same way you remove a splinter or consult a surgeon.
- The tick should not be smeared with any substances.
- After removing a tick, an adult should wash their hands well.
Parents should clearly remember how to remove a tick at home:
- It is very important to pull, not yank, and without much force (so that the head of the tick does not come off).
- You need to grab the tick right above the skin so that digestive system the insect did not shrink and the risk of tick saliva penetrating the skin did not increase.
- After you have removed the tick, place it in an airtight container along with a damp cloth (this will prevent the tick from drying out) and take the jar with the tick to the laboratory. Addresses of laboratories on the website. At home, such a jar can be stored for no longer than two days (in the refrigerator). Laboratory tests will show whether the tick is infected or not. If the tick is infected, an injection of immunoglobulin will save you from dangerous diseases, which must be done no later than three days after the bite.
So, now you know how to protect yourself from ticks in the forest, park, or country house. Take care of your children! And watch Dr. Komarovsky's video about ticks.
May is the last and warmest month of spring. After the winter cold, I want to get out into nature, enjoy the spring sun, soft grass, and breathe fresh air. Someone, someone spends time in the country and unites everyone not only with the joy of communicating with nature.
There is a danger of becoming a victim of a tick, which becomes most active in May and early June. Therefore, it is important to know how to protect yourself from ticks in the countryside, in nature, and what means of protection are offered to us by official and traditional medicine.
Ticks are not insects; scientists classify them as arachnids. There are quite a lot of varieties, more than 40 thousand species. When we hear the word tick, we immediately think of danger, but some types of arachnids are even beneficial. For example, those that live in the soil, feed on the decay products of organic matter and are active participants in soil-forming processes. 
Some species cause harm exclusively to plants, but do not pose a danger to humans, except as a headache for gardeners, since it is not always possible to get rid of such mites. 
There are varieties such as barn mites, pastel mites, and dust mites that can cause allergies. The scabies mite causes itchy skin. But the most dangerous ticks for humans are considered to be ixodid ticks, which feed on blood. But this is not their danger; they will not drink much blood. Through the proboscis with which they dig into the body, pathogens of various infections can enter the bloodstream.
Today’s article will talk about protection against ixodid ticks, since they are carriers of such dangerous diseases as encephalitis, Lyme disease (tick-borne borreliosis), tularemia, spotted fever, monocytic ehrlichiosis, and relapsing fever. These diseases sometimes lead to serious consequences, affecting the functioning of the nervous system and can cause kidney and liver failure and other health problems.
But this does not mean that you need to give up trips to nature:
- firstly, not every bite is a source of disease, because not every tick is infected with a particular infection. The percentage of people infected with dangerous infections is quite low. As statistics say, even in areas where tick-borne encephalitis widespread, no more than one person out of 200 bitten gets sick. Borreliosis affects no more than 5% of those bitten
- secondly, even if an unpleasant encounter with an infected bloodsucker takes place, according to experts, 70% recover even without special medical care, because the body is able to produce antibodies and develop immunity
Of course, 70% is not 100, so you shouldn’t count on chance, but there’s also no point in poisoning your life with fears of ticks. It is important to know about the risks, take preventive measures in a timely manner and not neglect protective measures.
Season of dangerous bloodsuckers and their habitats
This type of arachnid begins to be active at the end of April. The peak occurs in May and June, when the temperature is quite warm and high humidity air. At temperatures above 30 degrees, tick activity decreases. In August and September they become active again, but at this time they pose a greater danger to animals than to humans, although there are cases of attacks on humans during this period. In dry years, their numbers are significantly reduced. 
You can meet ticks throughout Russia, in the countries of Eastern and Central Europe. They live not only in the forest, they can be found in the countryside, as well as in the city park. A tick will not fall from a tree on you, since it does not climb higher than 1.5 meters, so its habitat is grass and low shrubs.
If you are afraid of catching an infection from arachnids, but still want to go into nature, choose coniferous forests for a walk. Ticks prefer deciduous and mixed plantings, these arachnids are not found in purely coniferous forests. , but it repels ticks. 
If, after all, you have decided to take a walk in places where not only coniferous trees grow, then follow these measures to protect yourself from tick bites:
- try to walk in the middle of the path, avoid bushes and tall grass;
- for the camp, select a dry clearing with short grass; plants with a strong smell can be placed around the camp - tansy, wormwood, twigs coniferous trees, blooming bird cherry;
- take care of the clothes and shoes you will wear for walking.
Shoes must be closed - boots or sneakers. There are special protective suits on sale, but I don’t think there is any point in purchasing them. You can make do with the one you have available. It is better to choose jackets and sweaters with zippers, sweatpants with cuffs, or tuck them into socks. It’s good when the clothes are light, it’s easier to spot an uninvited guest. If you don’t have one, then choose a plain one; it’s difficult to see anyone on clothes with a colorful pattern. It is also better to cover your head, especially for children, remembering that a tick can wait for a victim at a height of 1.5 meters.
These arachnids do not bite through clothing; they need bare areas of the body, and those where it is easier to bite - the groin area, armpits, area behind the ears, neck, chest, inner bend of the elbow. Therefore, periodically examine yourself and your children to prevent the bloodsucker from getting from your clothes to your body.
- when returning home, carefully examine the collected field bouquets or bath brooms;
- if you had pets with you on the walk, carefully examine them too;
- after undressing at home, shake off your clothes and wash them in hot water;
- Comb your hair with a fine-toothed comb.
Do not crush the tick you find bare hands, you can get an infection even in a small wound on the body. It is better to do this with some hard object, since the shell of these bloodsuckers is quite hard.
- carefully examine your body and the body of your children, especially the places that are convenient for a bite.
- If you are not confident that there are no uninvited guests on the site, then when starting the spring cleaning of the site, do not forget to dress properly (we talked about this above).
- Try to ensure that there is no tall grass, remove the weeds, mow the lawn short.
- Do not create deposits of grass and garbage, burn or remove it all from the site.
- Tansy, catnip (catnip), angustifolia lavender, rosemary, Dalmatian chamomile (pyrethrum), wormwood, lima beans - these plants repel bloodsuckers, so it is recommended to plant them along the perimeter of the site.
If you want to check your dacha for ticks, walk through the area with a white flag. 
No, in this case it is not a flag of surrender, but a tool to look the enemy in the face. Attach any white cloth measuring approximately one meter by one meter to a stick. A waffle towel is considered the best; its ribbed surface will easily catch ticks. In the morning, at about 9 o'clock, when the dew on the grass has dried, pass this flag over the grass, through the bushes, walking around the entire area. Then inspect the flag; if the mite was on the plants, it will probably be on the white fabric. But once may not be enough. Make this round a couple of times during the period of tick activity.
So that your holiday is not overshadowed by thoughts of ticks, you can, in addition to the means of protection listed above, use the drugs that the distribution network offers us, as well as folk remedies.
Ready-made drugs
As additional protection against ticks, you can use ready-made preparations. They come in the following types:
Before using any medications, be sure to read the instructions to know about the effects on the skin, how to apply the drug and its duration of action.
For children, use special children's medications.
There are also special means of protection against ticks for animals - collars, shampoos. You can find out how to use them and which ones are best in specialized animal stores or consult a veterinarian.
A special method of prevention is vaccination, but it only acts to protect against tick-borne encephalitis; there are no vaccinations against other diseases that can be contracted from ixodid ticks. Vaccination is usually recommended in those areas where tick-borne encephalitis is most common. This applies to Siberia and other taiga regions of our country. For more information about this type of protection, watch the video.
Territory summer cottage It can also be treated against ticks; insectoacaricidal agents are commercially available for this purpose. In order not to lead to poisoning of people and animals, it is important to strictly follow the instructions supplied with the drugs and not exceed the recommended dose concentration. If there is a well or other body of water on your site, make sure that the drug does not get there. There should be no children or animals present during treatment and they can be brought to the site no earlier than 3 days after treatment. It is better to process the site in the spring, but if you have to do it later, it is important to know that you can harvest the crop only 40 days after processing the site.
Folk remedies
If you are against chemicals, then you can use folk remedies to protect against ticks. Speaking about protecting summer cottages, I mentioned plants whose smell is not liked by bloodsuckers. Why not use the smells of such plants to protect humans. You can make strong decoctions from these plants and spray them on your clothes. Can be used essential oils. Traditional healers recommend geranium, bay, palmrose, lavender, clove, and eucalyptus oils for use. 
Spray recipe:
Pour 200 ml of filtered water, 1 - 2 tsp into a spray bottle. essential oil, 1 tsp. alcohol (for better mixing) - mix well.
This solution can be sprayed on clothing, the body, and is also used for animals. You can add several different oils at the same time, the main thing is to maintain the proportions - total quantity should be no more than 2 tsp. per glass of water.
Body butter recipe:
2 tbsp. l. Mix base oil with 10 - 25 drops of essential oil, mix well. Apply to the most vulnerable places for a bite.
As a base oil, you can use sunflower, corn, olive, wheat germ, grape seed, apricot, and peach oil.
Before using essential oils, you need to make sure that neither you nor your children have allergies.
“Zvezdochka” balm is also considered a tick repellent, as it contains various essential oils. It is applied pointwise to the skin at possible bite sites.
It is important to know that essential oils are a volatile substance and in nature, especially in windy weather, they quickly lose their properties. Therefore, after 1 - 1.5 hours it is necessary to repeat the treatment of clothing and body, do not forget about your animals.
If a tick bites
I really hope that such trouble will not happen to you. But just in case, look at the sign and video in which you will learn how to properly and safely remove a tick if it does bite you and what else you need to do to protect yourself from serious consequences. 
I hope these simple tips will help you protect yourself from ticks so that your holiday in nature and in the countryside in the coming summer season will be a pleasure.
Elena Kasatova. See you by the fireplace.
May-June is the period when ticks become active. The bite of these insects is not sensitive to humans, but is dangerous. Ticks carry diseases such as encephalitis, borreliosis, and fever, so when going camping or kayaking, you should be especially careful.
First of all, make sure you wear appropriate clothing. Wear boots, thick pants, a long-sleeve sweater and a hat. Choose clothes in light colors, periodically examine yourself and your friends. Avoid thickets of bushes and tall grass - this is a favorite place for ticks to be located. And, of course, do not forget about protective equipment!
Nowadays, various repellents are produced to protect against ticks. They are quite effective, but most often toxic. Many substances that come into contact with the skin can cause irritation and allergies. Repellents are especially dangerous for children, but children are much more active in nature than adults. Therefore, before you run to the store for the treasured aerosol can, remember that there are folk remedies for ticks that have been proven over the years. And at the same time completely safe. These include:
Essential oils
Dissolve oil in water tea tree, clove, spruce or eucalyptus in the ratio of half a teaspoon per 100 ml of water. Before going out into the forest, rub with this composition. open areas body, spray the rest onto your clothes. You will be reliably protected from being bitten, since ticks cannot tolerate these odors.
Ticks do not like such beautiful flowers as geranium and lavender. Therefore, feel free to prepare improvised perfumes. 2 tbsp. Dissolve tablespoons of oil in a glass of water and add a small amount of alcohol. In a container with a tight lid, the mixture can be stored for up to six months without losing its properties.
Apple cider vinegar
Be sure to take natural one. Ticks also do not like the smell and taste of this product. Feel free to smear it on your skin and the edges of your clothes.
Onions and garlic
Eat a little onion or garlic before going out; you can rub them on your palms, ankles, and neck. The smell is certainly not pleasant. It will repel not only ticks, but also people :)
Birch tar
You can lubricate your skin and clothes with clean tar, or you can prepare a solution. Pour 700 grams of tar into 2 liters warm water and let it brew thoroughly. Place the mixture in a container with a tight lid. This remedy will be effective for a long time. If necessary, remove and lubricate exposed areas of the body.
Ants
This method is often used by foresters and hunters, but it is also suitable for tourists. Having met forest ants, take off your outer clothing and put it in an anthill for 10-15 minutes. Then shake off the ants - you can safely go further into the forest! Or you can do it simpler - buy formic alcohol at the pharmacy and treat your clothes and exposed areas of the body with it.
With the onset of spring, nature begins to awaken, including animals and insects. Among the latter, one of the most dangerous is the tick. It begins to show activity with the appearance of the first thawed patches.
Before we find out how to protect ourselves from ticks, let’s try to figure out what they are.
This arachnid, externally resembling a red-brown bug. The female needs blood in order to bear eggs. A hungry tick is very small, only 3 mm long, but after drinking blood from its victim, it can reach a diameter of 10 mm.
It is a carrier of viruses, fungi and bacteria that can infect the person bitten. The most dangerous disease is tick-borne encephalitis. Unfortunately, it does not go away without a trace - the motor system and brain are affected, and in 30% of cases death is possible.
Ticks usually sit in grass or on bushes up to 1 m in height. As soon as its potential victim (human or animal) passes by, it clings to it with its paws and begins to look for more delicate skin on the body to bite.
“How to protect yourself from ticks?” - a question that worries everyone who spends a lot of time in nature.
First of all, you should pay attention to clothes:
Shoes should be tight and closed. Ideal option are rubber boots, since it will be very difficult for a tick to cling to their surface.
It is better to replace the T-shirt with a turtleneck, and put a thick hat on your head or tie it with a scarf.
Also, answering the question “how to protect yourself from ticks,” it is worth recalling the need to use special products that have insect repellent properties. Some are applied to the body, others to clothing.
In a forest or open area, you should not leave the path and go into thick grass, especially if there are bushes nearby.
It is worth remembering that he can also enter the house with a bouquet of wild flowers or plucked branches from trees, so it is better to refrain from such actions.
Such precautions also answer the question: “How to protect yourself from ticks?” If you follow them, the risk of a bite is significantly reduced.
Encephalitis can be done as a preventive measure. It can protect against infection for 3 years.