|
What are ticks?
Ticks are parasites. They live by temporarily attaching themselves to and sucking blood from people or animals, also referred to as ‘hosts’. The ticks benefit from this arrangement, but it can bring on significant problems for the hosts. Ticks suck blood for food, and female ticks use it to nourish their eggs. In this way, ticks are similar to mosquitoes. However, Ticks are related to spiders rather than to insects, they have four sets of legs and a non-segmented body. There are over 800 different species of Tick.
Why are ticks hazardous to your health?
Ticks are hazardous to your health, because they can transmit various pathogens while feeding on your blood. These pathogens include viruses, bacteria, parasites and even poison (neurotoxins). A tick bite can cause serious illness and sometimes even death in a human host.
What diseases can be caused by tick bites?
As stated earlier, ticks can transmit viruses, bacteria, parasites and poison. The risk of infection is sometimes limited geographically, but most of the time, it involves large areas or even entire continents. Examples of such diseases are Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis. These diseases spread to new locations through the movement of infected hosts, including migratory birds. A tick bite can cause a large number of diseases, and sometimes a single bite may even transmit several infections at once.
How do you prevent and handle tick bites?
Ticks do not jump on people, instead, they crawl onto their hosts from shrubs, bushes or high grass. Ticks may sense the approach of a host through scent or a change in the light - it is important that you prevent ticks from coming into contact with your skin, and that you know what to do if you are bitten by a tick.
For protection from Ticks you should consider using an insect repellent based either on DEET or on picaridin - Care plus offers a range of repellents that are effective against ticks - Care Plus Anti-Insect
As Ticks come from the ground level, it is often the ankle or lower leg area where Ticks will first attach themselves, it is advised to tuck your trousers into your socks to avoid Ticks coming into contact with your skin, however, an extra and effective line of defence are Care Plus Bugsox which are impregnated with an insecticide and can kill Ticks on contact.
If however, a tick does make it onto exposed skin and manages to bite you then it is extremely important to remove that tick correctly and fully - incorrect removal of a tick can lead to infection or further problems as the headparts can remain in your skin. Speedy detection and removal of ticks is advised, as the longer the tick remains on your body the greater the risk of infection.
When removing a tick it is important that the tick is twisted or pulled, but never squeezed as squeezing can result in additional fluids entering the bloodstream of the host. Do not try and use alcohol or a lit cigarette to aid in the removal of the tick as this can also lead to exchange of additional fluids.
|
