Ticks and tick bites

Ticks and tick bites - Symptoms and treatment

A tick (forest tick) is a small mite that sucks blood from humans and animals. Most tick bites are harmless, but can also be the cause of diseases such as Lyme disease and forest tick encephalitis. A preventive measure against forest tick encephalitis is vaccination.

What are ticks and tick bites?

Ticks, also called forest ticks or skaumanns, are small mites and belong to the arachnids (8 legs and no antennae). The tick is normally 2 millimeters long, but it can be up to 1.5 centimeters when it has sucked blood. The tick lives by sucking blood from birds and mammals, including humans.

Tick bites come from tick bites. The bite itself usually only appears as a small red mark similar to an insect bite, but the tick may remain on the skin to suck blood until it is removed or falls off.

On humans, the tick can bite anywhere, but areas with thin skin such as the groin, the knees, the armpits and the area behind the ears are particularly vulnerable.

Prevention of tick bites

If you travel in areas with a lot of ticks, there are some simple precautions that can limit the risk of tick bites.

• Use mosquito repellants or tick repellants containing DEET, PMD or Icaridin (some mosquito repellants also reduce the risk of tick bites).

• Walk on paths rather than in terrain with tall grass, bushes and undergrowth.

• Cover yourself well with clothing (be extra careful to cover your legs and ankles). Please wear long trousers.

• A veterinarian can prescribe preventive medicine against ticks for dogs and cats.

• Check both skin and clothes after traveling in an area with a lot of ticks. Also check dogs and cats that move in tick areas.

• Vaccine: a preventive measure against the tick-borne disease forest tick encephalitis is vaccination.