Summer is with us and I have already collected my first tick whilst working in the garden. It just fell onto the back of my neck from a beautiful silver birch tree I was standing under, thinking how magnificent the village looked in the morning light.
Luckily it was big and I felt it, so I got it, so to speak, before it got me.
Usually it is the other way around. I’ve often come back from a shashlik gathering with the family only to realize later in the day that I, and some of the others, have collected a traveler en route.
With all this sunshine, we will all be out in the forests for that weekend treat, so we should all become more tick aware.
We should worry about ticks. They are often infected with the parasite Borrelia burgdorferi, which commonly causes a disease called Lyme’s disease in United Kingdom and the Americas.
The tick injects this parasite in an almost similar way in which mosquitos gives you malaria — passing on the borellia from deers and other wild animals to humans.
Lyme’s disease is an extremely serious condition causing an initial rash.
In fact, it is a very specific rash that spreads from the central bite and can cause joint pain and later brain damage, nerve damage and heart block.
This heart block occurs when the electrical impulses to the heart are blocked, causing it to beat very slowly and inefficiently.
I remember seeing a very ill man with just this condition in the U.K. who had to have his heart restarted several times.
Luckily, the illness can be treated with modern high dose antibiotics and many physicians recommend a single dose of a specific antibiotic after a bite, and I would agree with that.
The first problem is getting the tick to let go of you. It can’t be easily moved by knocking or pulling it off.
It has feet made of super glue and will happily leave them behind if you do manage to pull it off.
Nothing works better here than some gel or cream or even if you are desperate, a lump of very soft butter.
The trick is to suffocate the tick until it lets go. These techniques usually work well within a few minutes.
I’ve also tried to burn them off with matches and red hot paper clips, but the gel is the best I’ve come across.
I’d go for the one-dose antibiotic if you have one clinging, but certainly seek help if you get a rash, fever or fall ill after a bite as you will need more intensive treatment.
Not happy with giving you borellia, the tick can also give you something even more unpleasant called tick-borne encephalitis virus.
This is a viral disease and there are European, Siberian and Far Eastern (Japanese) variants.
The virus gives you a fever and headache, but then causes inflammation of the brain – encephalitis – which will often land you in an intensive care unit for a week or so.
The death rate from the European variant is low at about 2 percent.
But the Japanese sort is much more dangerous, killing nearly 30 percent of those who have it.
Luckily, you won’t catch it outside Kyiv.
However, about a third of people with the European sort will also have some permanent nervous system damage.
There is no treatment for the virus. You just have to sit it out while the doctors support your vital systems and you hopefully recover.
There are, however, good vaccinations against these diseases which can be organized in Ukraine.
Tick-borne encephalitis virus can also be passed through milk products from cows, sheep and goats that have been infected.
So how can we prevent these diseases?
The first thing is to be tick aware and to wear hats and longer clothing when out in the forests on that weekend shashlik, this goes a long way to help but rather detracts from the “get back to nature” feel of the event.
Obviously, regular campers and trekkers here in Ukraine need to carefully observe these precautions and also consider having a course of vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis virus.
Despite that, the ticks seem to have an ability to get to places behind your clothing and into your hair so after these events an all over body inspection and fine combing of the hair is important.
I’ve personally found several ticks this way and would recommend it as good prevention.
As I say, if you find one, suffocate it and seek out some medical help.
In general I think most ticks are probably OK as lots of people seem to collect them without any serious consequences, and the upside of an occasional lodger is a great day outside in some beautiful country.
For most of us, just be “tick aware” and follow the advice above, and campers and trekkers, get your shots done properly.
Enjoy that shashlik and most of all have a memorable day in the Ukrainian sunshine with friends and family and don’t worry too much about the downside!
Dr. Richard Styles is a British family physician at American Medical Centers, http://amcenters.com/, a full-service clinic, in Kyiv.
