News from April 10th, 2021
By Helmi Tischler-Venter
Outdoor activities are currently very popular. Many people hike, walk or ride bicycles. Dog owners have long since noticed that it is tick time again.
Region. The blood-sucking arachnids become active as soon as the temperature outside is seven degrees or more for several consecutive days. The popular belief that ticks drop from trees is wrong. Ticks prefer to stay in vegetation close to the ground at a height of 30 to 60 centimeters, for example on grasses, in bushes and on meadows. People or animals usually catch ticks in the grass or strip them off bushes. Ticks can also appear on green spaces in cities, for example in city parks or gardens.
The tick is a globally widespread and highly specialized parasite that feeds on the blood of numerous vertebrates. Ticks need a meal of blood for each stage of development and reproduction. Compared to mosquitoes, ticks need a lot more blood. In extreme cases, they hang on their host (animals and humans) for up to 15 days and drink its blood. To do this, they look for a suitable place on their victim, such as the armpit or genital area in humans, in order to have a firm hold. Blood makes the tick grow. The tick sucks the blood directly into its intestines. By sucking blood, your own weight increases many times over. Because the intestine consists of many appendages and is so elastic that a fully sucked tick can weigh up to 200 times as much as a hungry one.
Stages of development of the tick
Ticks develop in three stages from egg to adult tick. You need a meal of blood for each stage of development.
Tick larva: The tick larvae are white and up to 0.5 millimeters in size. Unlike ticks, they only have three pairs of legs in the other stages of development.
Nymph: This is the name of a tick in the adolescent stage. Nymphs are about one to two millimeters in size. Your body is white to transparent in color.
Adult tick: They are about two to four millimeters in size. Females can even grow up to twelve millimeters when they are fully suckled. After going through all the tick stages, the female tick needs another meal of blood to lay eggs.
Blood loss is usually not the problem for the host, whether human or animal. Rather, the tick has achieved notorious fame as a carrier of pathogens. Ticks are potential hosts for bacteria and viruses that can cause serious infectious diseases in humans. In addition to early summer meningitis (TBE), this also includes Lyme borreliosis.
So what can be done to avoid a tick bite?
When walking, stay on firm paths if possible and avoid undergrowth, tall grass and skin contact with plants close to the ground.
Put on sturdy shoes when staying in possible tick areas.
Pay attention to light-colored clothing that covers the body as much as possible. This makes it easier to find the ticks.
After staying in possible tick areas, especially with children, parents should carefully search the body for ticks. Preferred sucking points are on the head and neck as well as under the arms, between the legs and in the hollows of the knees.
If a tick bite occurs, the tick should be removed immediately. The faster a tick is removed, the lower the risk of infection! When removing it, it is important that the tick’s body is not crushed, otherwise pathogens will be expressed into the body. You should therefore only use special instruments for tick removal, such as tick loops or cards. In addition, after a tick bite, attention should be paid to skin changes at the site of the bite for at least one week. A doctor should be consulted, especially if circular skin hardening occurs. If health problems arise in the weeks after a tick bite, a doctor should also be informed about the tick bite.
Infections caused by TBE or Lyme disease are dangerous
(TBE; English tick-borne encephalitis, TBE) or early summer meningoencephalitis is a disease triggered by the TBE virus, which progresses with flu-like symptoms, fever and sometimes with meningoencephalitis, the inflammation of the brain and meninges.
Bacteria of the type “Borrelia burgdorferi” (Borrelia) trigger Lyme borreliosis, a disease whose course and symptoms vary greatly from person to person. The Borrelia infection can affect various organs and primarily affects the skin, joints and the nervous system. The triggering bacteria can be transmitted by infected ticks anywhere in Germany. The risk of infection is particularly high between March and October.
TBE can be protected by vaccination. There is still no vaccination against Lyme disease for humans. The permanent vaccination commission recommends vaccination to people who live in high-risk areas such as Baden-Wrttemberg or Bavaria and who, like forest and agricultural workers, are at risk professionally. Three vaccinations are necessary for protection against TBE over several years. They are usually well tolerated by adults and children from one year of age and are carried out by the pediatrician or family doctor.
Since groups of children often go out into the fresh air and nature, those responsible for daycare centers and schools should discuss the procedure in the event of tick infestation with their legal guardians in advance. In any case, the legal guardians should be informed about the removal of a tick and the puncture site and the measures taken should be documented. The minimum distance required by the corona pandemic is of course not reached. In direct contact, first aiders should ensure that they protect themselves and the person in need as well as possible. FFP2 masks should be worn to minimize the risk of infection for the first aider and the person in need of help. As a matter of principle, no mask is required for children under six years of age.
The Rhineland-Palatinate Accident Insurance Fund provides further information, especially for schools and daycare centers, in an information sheet at www.ukrlp.de, Webcode b475.
Interesting question: how long do ticks live?
A tick can survive for a very long time on a single meal of blood. Under test conditions in the laboratory, ticks that had previously sucked blood could do without further food for up to ten years. In the wild, the local wood buck lives an average of three to five years. The parasites can therefore live for a very long time without a host. Otherwise, male ticks live until after mating, females die after oviposition. htv
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