Ticks!!
- Thread starter Dogoak
- Start date
Well no signs of them yet as my son spent most of the weekend rolling down heather covered hills and didn't pick up any.
Ticks have various stages of lifecycle and are more prone to having lymes disease at diiferent stages. In endemic areas this works out that about one in four ticks will be carrying the virus. They way you get it is by the tick regurgitating some of its stomach contents into your blood stream. This happens when it panics (due to suffocation if you put vasaline etc on it or try to burn it off) or when it stomach is full and it is preparing to detatch (usually over 24hrs later). So Remove them as soon as you can and as gently as possible so that you don't squeeze the stomach area when you are removing it.
Ticks have various stages of lifecycle and are more prone to having lymes disease at diiferent stages. In endemic areas this works out that about one in four ticks will be carrying the virus. They way you get it is by the tick regurgitating some of its stomach contents into your blood stream. This happens when it panics (due to suffocation if you put vasaline etc on it or try to burn it off) or when it stomach is full and it is preparing to detatch (usually over 24hrs later). So Remove them as soon as you can and as gently as possible so that you don't squeeze the stomach area when you are removing it.
Thankfully the ticks in the UK are nothing like these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSbk9Vn5eCU
My wife's just gone out, said she'll be back in a tick.
Family have all been vaccinated against TBE, but we got it done in Sweden, where the disease is on the increase.
They seem to be more of a problem in agricultural areas - I got plenty when I was working orchards over there. And yes, they are huge...
Always a problem for someone or something in our household, i thoroughly recommend a tick lasso http://www.misotrading.co.uk/ and have one in the first aid rescue kit and the home first aid cabinet.
I get bitten all the time,heres a nasty one from last year.I ended up in the local A&E and had some really strong antibiotics for it.
I guess I'm quite lucky- I've never had a problem with them on the island, maybe we are a 'tick free zone' here?
I can't see this as welcome news,but I suppose it had to happen eventually...................................
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9432000/9432605.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9432000/9432605.stm
Quote "There is concern that the European species could spread infections that do not currently occur in the UK, including tick-borne encephalitis.
"The longer the tick is on, the higher the chance of a tick-borne disease," said Miss Smith.
"Ticks don't actually start to transmit infections until 24-48 hours post attachment.
"So the sooner it is removed cleanly, the smaller the risk of getting a disease it might be carrying."
TBE is nasty and difficult to spot. I'll be checking myself and especially my kid more thoroughly now.
If you haven't seen this then you should. http://www.tickalert.org/tbe-facts.html
"The longer the tick is on, the higher the chance of a tick-borne disease," said Miss Smith.
"Ticks don't actually start to transmit infections until 24-48 hours post attachment.
"So the sooner it is removed cleanly, the smaller the risk of getting a disease it might be carrying."
TBE is nasty and difficult to spot. I'll be checking myself and especially my kid more thoroughly now.
If you haven't seen this then you should. http://www.tickalert.org/tbe-facts.html
