How to do a tick test correctly?

A tick test is most often done in the spring and summer. It was at this time that the focal distribution of the parasite was recorded. Walking in the park, barbecue trips, gardening company to a large extent contribute to communication with the pest.

Tick ​​bite often causes serious illness. Even a sucking "sterile" parasite can cause an allergic reaction. How to extract and where to turn in an arthropod for research, how much analysis is being prepared, and where, if something happens, turn to yourself, we will figure out below.

Bite Rules

If, after a walk in a park or forest, you find on the body of a sucking tick, you should immediately seek medical help. At the time of puncture, the parasite injects saliva containing pathogens into the wound. When visiting a medical institution, a bite case is recorded, a bloodsucker is removed with the help of special tools and sent for examination. The doctor processes the wound and talks about your next steps.

Tip. Qualified advice on tick removal can be obtained by calling the Ambulance at 03.

If there are no medical facilities within walking distance, you will have to deal with the problem yourself. In order to remove the tick, it is recommended to observe the following rules:

1. Contrary to popular belief, a bloodsucker cannot be set on fire or oiled with sunflower oil. In this case, it will be unsuitable for analysis.
2. To extract the parasite, you can use a strong thread or tweezers.
3. To get the tick should be rotational counterclockwise. In no case can it be sharply pulled up or crushed on the skin.

If it was not possible to get the bloodsucker completely, and the head with the proboscis remained in the body, the risk of infection is still present. In addition, the bite site can be very inflamed. In this case, the help of a surgeon will be required.

After removing the bloodsucker, the wound must be lubricated with iodine or alcohol. Plain water is also suitable.

How to save a tick?

The removed parasite should be placed in a vessel with a tight lid, putting cotton wool moistened with water there and put in the refrigerator. Keeping the container longer than 24 hours is not recommended. For microscopic analysis of the tick, it is desirable to deliver to the medical facility alive. For the PCR method, even parts of the bloodsucker can be used, however, this diagnostic method is rarely used.

Tip. If it was not possible to save the parasite, it is recommended to submit its remains for analysis as soon as possible. The DNA necessary for the diagnosis is stored in the tick body for no more than 3 days.

When contacting the laboratory, the possibility of a simultaneous analysis of not only encephalitis, but also borreliosis should be clarified. Since the delivered parasite will not be returned back, you will not be able to take it to another institution for re-examination.

Is it necessary to carry a bloodsucker for analysis?

Required. Not everyone knows where to pass the tick for analysis, so they often simply destroy it. And in vain.In addition to encephalitis and Lyme borreliosis, which often lead to disability or death, parasites carry a host of other diseases. Even the vaccine will not protect them.

In addition, a bite mark will help to monitor the area and identify foci of bloodsucker spread.

If for some reason it was not possible to pass the tick for analysis, a person has no choice but to carefully monitor his health. The presence of the following symptoms should prompt you to see a doctor:

• fever;
• muscle pain and aches;
• drowsiness, lethargy and loss of working capacity;
• migraine;
• photophobia.

In borreliosis and encephalitis, the first signs of the disease may appear in a month. But there are lightning-fast forms of pathology. The number of sucking ticks affects the rate of infection.

How long does the study last?

The term often depends on the status of the laboratory. Usually the analysis is carried out within 3 days. If the result is positive, it is necessary to have time to introduce gammaglobulins in the same period. In a private institution, the result can be ready in 12 hours. If the bloodsucker cannot be examined immediately, its storage at a temperature of + 5 ° C for 2 days is allowed.

The result of the study can be found by phone. Although, if something is found in the analyzes, the laboratory staff will call themselves.

Where is the diagnosis carried out?

So where to pass the tick for analysis? In each city, there are several medical institutions that conduct similar diagnostic measures. It could be:

1. Clinic or hospital.
2. SES.
3. Private virological laboratories.
4. Center of Rospotrebnadzor.

You can find out more about organizations that accept ticks for analysis and hours of their work by calling the registry of the city clinic.

Tip. If it was not possible to deliver the bloodsucker to the receiving point alive, a blood test must be taken. In this case, a blood test will be the only method of early diagnosis of the disease.

All tick tests are paid and vary by region. For example, in commercial organizations, the cost of a comprehensive study can cost 1,400–2,000 rubles. The price of diagnosis only for encephalitis will be much less - 300-700 rubles. In government agencies, tariffs are usually lower, so it is better to give preference to them.

Timely studies of a bloodsucker will help to prevent not only borreliosis and encephalitis, but also such terrible diseases as tick-borne typhus, monocytic ehrlichiosis, granulocytic anaplasmosis (GAC).

What tests should you take yourself?

If tests of the parasite gave a positive result for an infectious disease, it is necessary to visit the infectious disease specialist as soon as possible. The specialist will conduct a visual examination of the bite site, and then, regardless of the presence of symptoms, will send it for analysis.

Most often, the victim is prescribed serological tests:

1. Immunofluorescence (MFA). The most affordable and cheapest analysis. They do it everywhere.
2. Enzyme immunoassay (ELISA). The most accurate study. Allows you to detect infection at an early stage.
3. Protein immunoblot. The final analysis, reliably establishing the presence of borreliosis and encephalitis.
4. PCR diagnostics. The method is used infrequently, since it often gives a false result on encephalitis.

Analysis for antibodies to encephalitis should be done 2 weeks after the bite, for immunoglobulins to Borrelia - after 21 days. It is advisable to go to PCR 10 days after tick suction.

Tip. With a negative result of the first analysis, you can pass the second with a break of a month. In a second study, the same diagnostic method is used.

In any case, if a tick has sucked on you, you must contact a specialist for inspection. And the sooner this happens, the more chances to avoid the terrible consequences of a parasite bite.Indeed, in addition to Lyme disease and encephalitis, bloodsuckers carry many other infections from which there is no vaccination.

What to do if a tick bit, you can find out from the video:

The article is for guidance only. Specialist consultation required.

How to get a parasite in the field, you can see the video: