Symptoms and treatment of tick bites in a child

Summer is a time of long-awaited vacations and vacations, fun entertainment and long walks in the fresh air. However, do not forget about the dangers that may lie in wait for any person in nature. The mite is able to darken the pleasant pastime. A small parasite can cause very serious problems.The parasite's bite is especially dangerous for small children. Finding that the child was bitten by a tick, many parents get lost and start to panic. What measures need to be urgently taken in such a situation and where to turn, it is necessary to know to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Signs of a bite

In spring and summer, many nature lovers suffer from tick attacks. Moreover, children make up almost a third of this number of victims. And if earlier the activity of parasites usually manifested itself in May, then due to changes in climate that have been observed over the past ten years, pests are dangerous until the fall.

Important!

The most common tick attacks in areas with the most delicate skin: in the neck, under the shoulder blades, in the chest or in the inguinal folds. It is especially dangerous if the tick bit the child in the head or behind the ear. In this case, it is better to call an ambulance or go to the medical facility on your own, so that a specialist can safely remove the parasite.

To determine that the pest attacked the baby is easy if you know the symptoms of a tick bite in a child:

• Attack of the parasite is not accompanied by pain.And at the time of the offender's penetration into the skin, only his back part is visible, which looks like a small mole.
• After some time the sated bloodsucker increases in size and lags behind the wound. As a result, the place where he stuck, begins to swell, redden and itch.
• The lymph nodes are enlarged, the baby may look drowsy, weak and capricious. The child feels chills, as the temperature after a tick bite usually rises.
• It is also possible the manifestation of nausea, vomiting and shortness of breath.

Over time, the wound becomes crusted. After 10-15 days, the inflammation subsides, but the injured baby needs timely assistance. After all, the effects of a tick bite in a child can be quite serious.

Child tick bite

Diseases caused by tick bites

The bite of a bloodsucker is dangerous because even a short contact with an animal can cause infection with very dangerous diseases.

Meningoencephalitis

Meningoencephalitis or tick-borne encephalitis is a viral disease that causes severe intoxication of the body,as a result of which the brain and spinal cord are affected. Often the virus is accompanied by neurological complications, it is even possible death.

Tick-borne encephalitis can be infected with various animals and birds. After eating their blood, the parasite absorbs the viral bacteria along with it, becoming the carrier of a dangerous disease.

Important!

The incubation period of the disease in young children is usually much shorter than in adults. With very weakened immunity, signs of encephalitis may appear as early as 2 days after the bite. Symptoms of tick-borne encephalitis in children are manifested in the form of fever, headache and muscle pain, loss of appetite. This condition baby may experience for two months from the moment of infection.

Lyme Disease

Lyme disease or tick-borne borreliosis is another disease that can be awarded to the bloodsucker of its donor. The causative agents of this infection are found in ticks in dogs, sheep, cows and birds, after which they are “shared” with humans.

If suddenly a tick infected with tick-borne borreliosis has blasted into the child's skin, then in addition to heat, weakness and severe headache, a rash may be observed on the body, which is referred to in medicine as a migrating ring-shaped erythema.

Important!

The disease can be successfully treated if you take a course of antibiotics in a timely manner. In addition, after treatment, the immune system becomes resistant to these bacteria. If the treatment was ignored, the disease takes on a chronic form, with the result that the heart and nervous system and joints are affected.

Having found the signs of tick-borne encephalitis in children or the symptoms of tick-borne borreliosis, it is necessary to urgently seek medical help.

What to do if a child is bitten by a tick

Tick ​​removal

If the baby has the symptoms after the tick bite described above, it is necessary to give him emergency help.

1. First you need to know how to pull a tick from a child. In no case should you pull out the parasite, try to pull it out with your nails or try to crush it, since such actions can lead to a ruptured bloodsucker, and the head and trunk of the animal will still remain in the victim's body. Therefore, an allergic reaction and inflammation will still not be avoided. You can not touch the pest and bare hands, as it can be contagious and can infect not only the child, but also the adult who provides him with emergency assistance.It is also impossible to smear the place where a tick has stuck, with oil, glue or other substances. The blockage of the respiratory tract provokes the aggression of the bloodsucker, which makes it even deeper into the wound.
2. To remove a tick at home, you should use a thread, a loop from which is placed on the offender’s body, placing it as close as possible to the surface of the baby’s skin. It is necessary to get the wrecker with smooth movements from side to side. It is also possible to remove the bloodsucker with tweezers or forceps, grabbing it as close as possible to the proboscis. The parasite will be able to quickly pull out, having made several turns around the axis. You can also purchase a special anti-mite device or Trix Tick at the pharmacy.
3. If the attempts to pull out the bloodsucker on their own were not crowned with success, it is necessary that professionals should remove the tick. To do this, contact the nearest emergency room, clinic to a surgeon or infectious diseases specialist, SES or an ambulance.
4. The next step after removing the bloodsucker is to disinfect the bite site with an antiseptic. To do this, use alcohol, iodine, brilliant green, cologne or calendula tincture.You can also lubricate the wound with chlorhexidine or hydrogen peroxide.
5. The removed parasite is placed in a hermetically sealed container, at the bottom of which a cotton wool moistened with water is placed. After that, the bloodsucker is delivered to an accredited laboratory for research, where free tests are usually carried out. Moreover, a fragment of the parasite is sufficient for diagnosis by the PRC method; a live tick is necessary for microscopic diagnosis.
6. It is also necessary to examine the child in the infectious diseases hospital, donating blood for antibodies to the causative agents of borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis no earlier than 10 days after the bite.
7. If the situation with a tick bite occurred in an area with a high rate of infection with encephalitis, then usually doctors, without waiting for the results of laboratory tests, prescribe a child Yodantipyrin or Immunoglobulin, recommend Anaferon to babies. Such drugs as Arbidol, Cycloferon or Remantadin, which are used from the first day after the bite, can also be prescribed.

Important!

In a situation where an infant suffered from a tick bite, the rules for providing emergency assistance are identical. However, it is better if it is provided by a health worker.Clinical recommendations are effective for three days from the moment of the bite.

Preventive actions

Tick ​​repellents

When planning a walk or a rest in the forest-park zones, it is necessary to choose the right maximum closure for the child, preventing the mites from biting the skin of children. The use of repellents, scaring ticks, mosquitoes and other blood-sucking pests also has a good effect. It is enough to treat the clothes of the baby with such a composition and the pests will not be attached.

Walking in the woods is better along the paths. It is not the best option to make a halt in the high grass, you should not also allow children to play in such places. Even flowers and grass picked at the glade and brought into the house, on which ticks also often appear, can be dangerous even at home. Upon arrival home to conduct a thorough inspection of things and the body. Noticing that a tick crawled through the body of the child, it should be caught immediately: throw it into boiling water or burn it. Then you should carefully examine the skin for the presence of a puncture or a black dot, and if there is one, provide emergency assistance to the baby.

Important!

Prevention of tick-borne encephalitis in children consists of vaccinating a baby. After all, to prevent the disease is much easier than to treat it. Especially such a measure is necessary in places with high rates of infection with encephalitis. Typically, vaccination involves the introduction after a certain period of three injections, and the immunity of the baby is formed after the second vaccination. Begin vaccination should be prior to the beginning of the activity of parasites. And if it suddenly happens that the tick bit the vaccinated child, the baby will not catch the infection.

Tick-borne encephalitis vaccines are contraindicated in children under 1 year of age. Unwanted for infants and immunoglobulin preparations, based on protein, which can cause serious allergies. Therefore, it is better to observe precaution and not to take the defenseless little one into the forest, because it is very unsafe.