CrimeaPRESS reports:
Spring welcomes everyone not only with sunshine and blossoming nature, but also with the beginning of tick season. With the arrival of warmer weather, they go out hunting, and it is important to be prepared to meet these dangerous parasites and know how to protect yourself from them. Details «Parliamentary newspaper» Rospotrebnadzor said.
Tucking pants into socks
There is no exact date for the start of tick activity; it all depends on the weather. Arachnids begin to wake up as soon as the soil dries out after the snow melts. According to Rospotrebnadzor, the tick season usually begins when the temperature rises to +5 degrees and above, which means that in many regions it is worth being vigilant.
In some areas, tick activity can continue throughout the year if the weather allows them to survive. They can be especially active in temperate and humid climatic conditions, in forests, fields, parks and gardens.,” the department told Parliamentary Newspaper.
Above-zero temperatures and humidity, early spring and warm autumn lengthen the season of parasite activity.
Who’s hiding in the grass
Ticks can carry various infections, the most common being tick-borne encephalitis — an acute viral disease that affects the central nervous system — the brain and spinal cord. Parasite bites can cause allergies, leading to swelling and itching.
If the tick is removed from the skin incorrectly, the wound may become infected, which is fraught with complications and serious consequences.
Former chief sanitary doctor of Russia, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, deputy president of the Russian Academy of Education Gennady Onishchenko told Parliamentary Gazeta that people most often become infected when they visit forests and fields with tall grass. After a walk in nature, it is recommended to carefully check yourself for ticks and remove them as quickly as possible.
After going outside, it is important to thoroughly examine yourself, especially children, for suction. We have affordable medicine that will help remove the parasite,” Onishchenko clarified. — If you go into a forest or grassy area, cover your body as much as possible and avoid picking wildflowers or other plants.
The doctor emphasized that if a parasite is found on the skin and after its removal, you should definitely submit the tick for examination — doctors will tell you what to do next.
It is important to remember that ticks can be active even in the city, especially in parks, so you should be vigilant and take precautions.
Potentially hazardous areas
Gennady Onishchenko said that in Russia they are carefully monitoring foci of tick-borne encephalitis, which are being monitored. This technology was developed back in the 30s of the last century, when they were studying the plague.
Infection with tick-borne encephalitis in Russia is possible in any region. But in some areas the risk of being bitten by an infected tick is especially high.
Rospotrebnadzor has already prepared a list of administrative territories endemic for tick-borne viral encephalitis in 2023 for use in work and planning anti-epidemic measures in 2024.
In the Novgorod, Pskov, Vologda, Leningrad, Kaliningrad, and Kostroma regions, tick-borne encephalitis can be found everywhere.
Beyond the Urals, parasites live in the Sverdlovsk, Tomsk, Kemerovo, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions, the Altai Republic and the Altai Territory.
In the Far East, the Jewish Autonomous Okrug, Buryatia, and Primorsky Territory are completely endemic.
From Karelia to the Sakhalin region, most of the territories remain endemic since 2023.
In the Orenburg, Ivanovo, Moscow and Ulyanovsk regions there are much fewer “tick-infested” areas than safe ones.
The north was most fortunate — Murmansk, Chukotka, Kamchatka, as well as the Caucasus republics — Ingushetia, Chechnya, Dagestan, as well as the Krasnodar Territory did not encounter ticks.
There are also regions where not a single area is recognized as endemic, for example Kuzbass, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, but this does not mean that small arthropods cannot be encountered on their territory.
An effective method of protection
Rospotrebnadzor emphasized that residents of areas endemic for tick-borne encephalitis and those who plan to go there during the period of tick activity should be vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis in advance. Vaccinated against tick-borne viral encephalitis is considered to be someone who has received a completed course of vaccination and one or more revaccinations.
Vaccination is carried out year-round in accordance with medical indications according to two schemes. The main one includes two vaccinations that must be done in the autumn-spring period (November-March) with an interval, depending on the vaccine, from one to seven months. Then, after 5-12 months, depending on the drug, you need to get a third vaccination — this will be the first revaccination. Then they are revaccinated once every three years.
With an emergency or accelerated vaccination schedule, the interval between the first and second vaccination is shorter — from two weeks to a month. It is held before the season in the winter-spring period. Revaccination — one year after the second vaccination, subsequently — every three years.
It is better to get vaccinated in advance according to the basic scheme. You can visit endemic areas no earlier than two weeks after the second vaccination— reported in Rospotrebnadzor.
Gennady Onishchenko recalled that the vaccine is not included in the national vaccination calendar, therefore the regional budget is responsible for its purchase. For example, in Buryatia they purchased 300 thousand doses of vaccines for this year. Most often, those who are professionally associated with the forest are vaccinated: foresters, hunters, loggers, employees of nature reserves and wildlife sanctuaries.
source: «Parliamentary newspaper»
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