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Wednesday 28 June 2006

Tick Questions

If the spot where a tick bit you gets kind of red and slightly raised an a bit itchy, does that mean there's still some tick head left or is it something else?

I've read that German ticks carry a viral disease, meningitis or encephalitis (I forget which and I'm not looking it up, cuz it's freaking me out). My german friend said that you won't get it if you get the whole tick yanked out, but this leaves me with questions: True or not true? How quickly would you have to pull the whole thing out to avoid the disease? What if there was a tiny bit of the head left a week later that was causing swelling?

I am being unreasonably concerned about this. It is alarming me unduly.

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Go to a general practitioner and have it looked at. If it hasn't been completely removed, the GP should have the correct tool (ZECKENPINZETTE) to remove it completely -- you own fingers or a normal tweezer is not good enough. Be cautious, but don't worry, most ticks are annoying but disease free.

There is a vaccination for the ticks, it's an annual vaccination and it should be routine for anyone planning on hanging about in the outdoors in most of Europe (the ticket is spreading, perhaps due to climate change). If you do get bit, they have a kind of a hook, so you cannot just pull them straight out, as the stringer will break off. This is best done by a professional -- walk into a GP's office or an emergency room. It's important to do this ASAP as the risk does increase with length of exposure.

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