Ticks are particularly active in summer - as a dreaded borreliosis carrier, they can be dangerous to humans. This is how you can identify the infection in good time.
- Borreliosis is a bacterial infection. Borrelia-type bacteria trigger the disease, which can be transmitted by ticks.
- If Lyme disease * is not detected and treated early, serious health problems are possible. These include meningitis and permanent joint damage.
- The following applies: if you remove the tick quickly, you lower your risk of borreliosis. Find out what to do if you suspect Lyme disease .
After a day at the lake or a walk in the woods, is a little arachnid crawling on your T-shirt? Not unusual in summer because ticks feel really comfortable in the warm. But there are good reasons why you should remove the small bloodsuckers from your skin as quickly as possible: Ticks transmit early summer meningoencephalitis (TBE) and Lyme disease .
The latter infectious disease is triggered by bacteria, so-called Borrelia, and can attack joints, skin, heart and nervous system in humans. Those affected often do not know anything about the infection and sometimes struggle for years with rheumatoid symptoms, burning nerve pain in the back or symptoms of paralysis. In order to avoid long-term effects, you should know the following rule.
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Greatly lowers the risk of Lyme disease: remove the tick as soon as possible
After spending time in the country, the following applies: Search for ticks and remove them quickly with a special tick card or tongs. The longer a tick stays in the skin, the higher the risk of borreliosis, according to dermatologist Dr. Alice Martin: " If the tick has stung directly and you remove it within a short time, the probability of borreliosis is extremely low, " says the expert. The reason for this: Borrelia, which are located in the intestinal tract of an infected tick, usually only pass onto humans during the act of sucking, which can take up to 24 hours.
In any case, it is advisable to keep a close eye on the puncture site in the coming weeks. If you have been infected with Lyme disease, so-called wandering reddening often occurs around two weeks after the tick bite: a small reddening that spreads around the bite. Doctors are now talking about the first stage of Lyme disease. According to Martin, wandering reddening occurs in around 50 percent of cases. This means: You can also suffer from Lyme disease if there is no reddening around the tick bite.
According to Dermatologist Martin, you should consult a doctor or dermatologist if you have the following symptoms after a tick bite , as they can be signs of Lyme disease:
- fatigue
- Exhaustion
- light fever
- Muscle and joint pain
- a headache
- Gastrointestinal complaints
- Lymph node swelling
An early diagnosis is so important because an early antibiotic therapy reduces the risk of long-term effects caused by Lyme disease immensely. (jg) * Merkur.de is part of the Germany-wide Ippen-Digital editorial network .
More sources: www.rki.de; www.internisten-im-netz.de; www.welt.de
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