Everything you need to know about ticks: to prevent disease, the most important rule is to follow

Health professionals say more ticks have already been registered this year. In an interview with an infectious disease doctor, you need to find out what to keep in mind to avoid these parasite-borne diseases.

L. Svetikas says that the most important rule is to detect the mite early and eliminate it as soon as possible.

How dangerous are ticks?

They spread diseases that in some cases can be disabling or even fatal. The top two in our country are Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis. Anyone with puppies has probably heard of babesiosis, as breeders probably haven’t lost a single puppy. There are also rare diseases, such as tularemia, various rickettsiosis, that can be transmitted by ticks, but in Lithuania they are rarely detected.

A mark was stuck. What is our strategy? Because even the removal of ticks is included in the emergency medical services. Do you need to go out on your own as soon as possible or do you still have to go to the reception department for a specialist to do it?

If you’re a berry hunter, fisher, or gatherer and catch those ticks frequently and learn how to get them out correctly, there’s no point in driving a long distance to get the tick out for yourself. You just need to know how to do it correctly. And it is necessary to do it very simply: with tweezers (preferably special ones), take the tick close to the skin and pull upwards with a sudden movement to remove it. No need to suffocate, lubricate, heat ticks. Just take it and take it out with a simple movement. If you leave your head, don’t worry – don’t scratch, scrape, or pour chemicals. Like any foreign body, that head will be removed from the skin. It doesn’t matter anymore.

But aren’t all those pathogens in your head?

No, the causative agents of tuna in the belly. It goes without saying that if a mite is absorbed, it automatically transmits all the diseases it has. It takes time. The longer a mite is absorbed, the greater the risk if it becomes infected that it will transmit the infection to humans.

So, is it better to retire as soon as possible and not waste time going to the doctor?

Of course. If you’ve been outdoors, near bushes, in the woods, or elsewhere, the most important thing is to look around. Immediately when we return, maybe another morning to see it all because of the anger, because ticks sometimes like to crawl under us. The key is to notice both in a timely manner.

In Lithuania, there is a service like tick testing. I find it strange why citizens care about the health of the tick instead of their own and investigate the tick for disease. But still, what happens if we examine the mite and find out that it had the cause of Lyme disease?

The problem is that without the tick’s consent, it probably can’t be treated (laughs).

But we have already interrupted their feeding process: rights have been violated.

In any case, if we are talking about ourselves, we must ignore tick research, because it is an action that has no basis. First, no study is an absolute answer. This means that if we study something, there is nothing 100 percent in medicine. Another thing is that we can identify the cause of the mite, but it will not necessarily be transmitted to us; we can get a negative test and in fact the mite has already infected us. The study of ticks, unfortunately, does not make sense. Much more logical after tick infestation is to monitor your health for one month at a time. It would be good to know in advance the symptoms of the most common tick-borne diseases, so if you feel the symptoms, see a doctor in time.

But there are recommendations and do the research yourself. If we don’t do the tick test, then maybe you will do it yourself after the tick is adjusted? Some become instantaneous, others after a time. Because there are laboratories that offer such services.

Again, there is trade here. It is just a fight. Even people with tick-borne illnesses do not report a previous tick infestation. That means some people, let’s say a third, didn’t even see the mite stink. The question is how do we investigate to be 100 percent. Of course? Check tick-borne illnesses weekly or after each tick? If you like to fish, for example, you can probably catch up to 50 of those ticks per season.

Do your research after each tic: First, how much will it cost you? Next, what are the benefits? Antibodies are not a universal all-encompassing test. Another thing is how long those antibodies take to form. The third is false positive reactions. Let’s say you and I can make antibodies to Lyme disease today, and maybe one of our M classes is positive. What does this mean? What are we sick? The point remains clinical symptoms. Therefore, after ingestion of the mite, wait wisely for a while, monitor your health and seek medical attention if symptoms occur. And the work of the doctors is evaluated and, in some cases, these serological tests are carried out. In absolute cases, we really don’t.

The first of the symptoms of Lyme disease is migratory erythema. They may not be, but a person may still be sick. The course of Lyme disease is quite insignificant, other symptoms can occur after 10-15 years. Is it perhaps for this reason that such a study is worth doing?

The notion that disease and symptoms can occur many years after ingestion is highly debatable. Yes, there are early and late forms of the disease. The early form is that migratory red that may or may not occur. Later stages, when damage to the nervous system begins, usually. There may also be arthritis. If I treated every joint pain like Lyme disease, it would also seem strange. One should always try to behave logically and rationally, not be in a hurry to self-medicate and seek Lyme disease.

Another, more acute tick disease is tick-borne encephalitis. Hence it is a good tool: vaccines. There are two vaccines registered in Lithuania. Often patients say that one is better.

There is no way one is better. They are from different manufacturers. Each manufacturer uses a different methodology to produce a vaccine of the same agent, before partially developing other antigens. These vaccines are never identical. If we look at vaccines against tick-borne encephalitis, their effectiveness is not inferior to each other. There is even debate that it is possible, if the original regimen we did with one vaccine, to apply the booster vaccine to another. The effect will be completely adequate and sufficient. Whether you choose a vaccine from an Austrian or German manufacturer, the most important thing is to get vaccinated and prevent the disease.

Let’s go back to the supposedly awkward situation when we get a tic. For Lyme disease, we’ll be on the lookout for a place, and for tick-borne encephalitis, will we be in a hurry to get vaccinated after that unfortunate fast, or wait a month, for example?

Based on the literature data, waiting is recommended. Post mortem vaccination is not the right solution. It has been observed that post-aspiration vaccination can sometimes even have negative consequences if tick-borne encephalitis disease develops. These are such contentious topics. People should know that the vaccine will no longer protect you after it has been given. This is a short enough time after the mite is absorbed until it becomes sick. Vaccination simply will not produce enough immunity.

When is it better to get vaccinated?

The best would be: if I came up with the vaccine, go now. We still have that thought, “maybe tomorrow, maybe someday, the season will end, I won’t guess anymore.” So it’s not clear when that season begins, when it ends. This winter, as we have seen, there was sometimes a positive temperature even at night. We are postponing what is basically needed tomorrow.

One of the myths of tick-borne encephalitis is that children younger than 6-7 years old do not have tick-borne encephalitis and do not need to be vaccinated.

If an infection enters the body, it is passed on to everyone. Only some can be mild and asymptomatic, others can have the disease severely. It is not the case that all children, all young people, are ill only in minor ways and there is no need to do anything about it. No one can give you any guarantee. Even when you are a young and healthy person or a child with an infection, you can have the same worst case scenario. In this case, the only recommendation is to vaccinate and not play Russian roulette. There is no way to guess how you will come into contact with that microbe.

For example, when it comes to the same fishermen, berry gatherers, around 10 ticks, they shoot by hand, they say: for me, around 100 were attached, I probably already have immunity. He does not promise to be vaccinated, he wants to be tested. Worth it?

Basically it can be done. If you are between 40 and 50 years old, have been in that occupation for many years, there have been tick infestations every year, maybe you have contracted tick-borne encephalitis, you just didn’t know it because often a young body gets sick easily. Class G antibodies against tick-borne encephalitis can be developed and viewed. If they’re not there, you’re definitely not sick, so, be nice, the shot, because the risk of getting sick really is there.

But if you get vaccinated, if you have antibodies, let’s say you didn’t know before you got sick, it won’t get worse.

Definitely not. The vaccine does not cause disease. This is a dead vaccine, for sure. The tick-borne encephalitis vaccine will definitely not make you sick.

What would our viewers like to wish for?

I would like to not be afraid of ticks, not be afraid of the forest and think with a healthy head all the time, get vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis on time and just look at each other by ticks after being in the wild. And if you are already absorbed, do not be afraid, do not distract and waste your money.