The reality is that nearly 48,000 species of mites thrive in nature! They live everywhere, even in Antarctica, occupying the soil, parasitizing birds and animals, settling on plants and food. So whether we like it or not, a collision with them is more than possible. Therefore, everyone should know how to kill ticks. Fortunately, not all of their species are parasitic. Many mites are common predators or scavengers of the insect world. These do not interest us. Let's try to embrace the immensity and in one small article tell about a huge family of parasites that poison our lives.
Ixodid ticks
These feed only on the blood of animals, birds and people. In nature, there are already 700 species of them. The peculiarities of their body are such that they can carry viruses of encephalitis, borreliosis and other most dangerous diseases without negligible harm to themselves. If a person is bitten by just such a tick, the likelihood of infection is high. After a bite, the virus enters the bloodstream instantly, and into the brain the very next day. Medicines for encephalitis do not always help, and there are many deaths, especially among children. There are two subspecies of ticks - Far Eastern and Siberian, bite mortalitywhich is 25%! Therefore, it is much more important to know not how to kill a tick, but how to avoid a bite. In Russia, these parasites are common in Siberia, the Far East, Moscow, Leningrad, Ulyanovsk, Samara regions, and Karelia. Peak attack - May-June. Moreover, ticks can be found not only in the forest, but also in cottages, cemeteries, and parks.
"Face" of the enemy
The appearance of representatives of different species of Ixodes is somewhat different. There are ticks with a plain back and with a patterned one, there are dark, almost black, and there are light brown and gray ones. What they have in common is that a well-fed tick is many times larger than a hungry one and looks like an inflated blood bubble. The length of the hungry is from 0.2 mm to 5 mm. The body is solid, the head is indistinctly marked. In some species, the body is covered with a shell or scutes. He has 4 pairs of legs, and on his head there are piercing-sucking oral outgrowths. How to kill a tick if you suddenly caught it on yourself? Just crush? His covers are so hard that after such an execution, he continues to live on. Therefore, it is recommended to burn it, but it is better to take it to the laboratory for analysis to find out if it is infected with viruses or not.
How ticks bite
Most representatives of ixodid ticks are blind, so the statement that they only attack those in white is at least a delusion. The parasite reacts to the heat and smell of the victim's body, and smells it for 10 or more meters! While waiting, he can sit on a blade of grass or a tree for 4 weeks, and after waiting for his own, he jumps on the victim andbegins to crawl along it in search of a place with thinner skin (armpits, groin, neck, abdomen). They bite painlessly, as they inject the victim with a special analgesic substance. Therefore, people often learn about a bite only by red spots (erythema) or by symptoms of onset diseases (fever, nausea, headaches). In this regard, the question of how to kill ticks fades into the background. On the first - how to protect yourself from ticks, if you don’t even always notice them. Some advise to inject a special immunoglobulin that you need to have with you. Experts doubt the effectiveness of this measure. There are cases when immunoglobulin worsened the course of the disease, and did not save from it.
Prevention
Regarding ticks, it's hard to overestimate. Many zealous owners in crowded places (recreation centers, campsites, parks) treat green spaces from parasites. How to kill ticks in your own summer cottage? For this, the drugs "Medilis-cyper", "Dermacentor", "Hemaphysalis" are suitable. Some use DDT. All of these drugs have instructions for use that must be followed.
The second important step in prevention is vaccination. She will not save from bites, but the only one that will 100% protect against infection with deadly diseases. Vaccination is especially necessary for those who live in areas favored by ticks, as well as for those who are going there.
For those who travel to the forest, and not to a dacha treated for parasites, there are simple rules to help avoid tick bites. They are simple:
- examine your clothes every 2 hoursfor ticks on it;
- wear long trousers in the forest, the bottom of which is tucked into socks, the blouse should also be with long sleeves;
- wash clothes when you return home.
The parasite sucked on
How can you kill a tick that has managed to stick to the skin? Some advise not to engage in amateur activities, but immediately rush to the doctor. This is wrong, because the sooner you get rid of the bloodsucker, the fewer viruses (if he has any) will enter the body. The tick is removed on its own as follows:
1. His body is tied with a thread as close as possible to the surface of the skin, that is, his head, and rocking slowly begins until the tick pulls his head out of the bite. If it suddenly comes off and remains in the skin, you need to pick it out with a disinfected needle.
2. Close the tick on the skin with a cotton swab dipped in oil, lubricate it with petroleum jelly or drip wax on its body, that is, cut off oxygen to it. They say that without the ability to breathe, he crawls out on his own.
3. Squeeze the body of the tick with tweezers for plucking the eyebrows and begin to slowly twist (do not pull) out of the skin. It is important to crush the parasite! Then its contents will instantly fall into the wound. If the tick is successfully removed, smear the bite with alcohol or iodine, rinse the tweezers and the needle.
Chemical Warfare
Industry produces drugs that kill ticks. They are divided into:
- repellents, i.e. scarers;
- acaricidal (paralyzing parasite);
- insecticide-repellent(2 in 1).
Repellents are good because they get rid of all blood-sucking creatures (gnats, mosquitoes, ticks) while in nature. These remedies are toxic, but no more than any other that serves a similar purpose. There are also repellents for children. You need to apply them both on clothes and on the skin, and it is advisable for kids to spray the head as well. The disadvantages of repellents are short duration, weathering, rinsing with water, and so on. There are a lot of them on sale - "Pretix", "Off! Extreme", "Deta-VOKKO", "Biban" and others containing diethyltoluamide and permethrin compounds.
What tool kills ticks to death
The answer is - acaricides. It is they (substances based on sulfur, chlorine, phosphorus organics) that destroy mites on plants, products (for example, seeds), and are part of preparations for the destruction of parasites in animals and birds. For people, there are acaricidal sprays, which, however, do not kill, but only paralyze the paws of ticks. All acaricidal preparations have a high toxicity class, therefore they are not applied to the skin, but only to clothes (not worn by a person, but lying to the side). You can use it only after the drug has dried. The choice of acaricidal sprays is wide. These are "Tornado-antiklesch", "Gardeks-antiklesch", "Reftamid taiga" and others. Each such agent that kills ticks is quite effective, but when working with them, you must follow safety rules.
Insecticidal-repellent products combine 2 in 1. In any case, this is how the manufacturers intended, to be sure. They are also toxic, so they are only applied to clothes.
Scabies
This disease is now rare, but we should not forget about it. It is called scabies mites. You can catch them only through direct contact (including sexual) with an infected person. Clothes and household items are not involved in the process. Once on a he althy person, the female parasite, like a mole, immediately begins to dig a hole in the skin. Productivity - up to 5 mm per day. In half an hour, she manages to completely disappear in her mink. What is curious: scabies mites do not care if their victim is a fan of cleanliness or has not been washed for a month. They live on everyone. Signs of damage are a rash, itching, broken lines (scabby minks or passages). However, there are times when such symptoms are absent. Favorite places for moves - between the fingers and toes, genitals, wrists. The rash starts there and then spreads throughout the body.
It's not scabies itself that's terrible, but its complications. So, in half of the patients dermatitis and purulent inflammation are observed, and in some, especially weakened people, pneumonia, erysipelas, internal abscesses and other diseases occur with scabies. How to kill a subcutaneous tick? For this purpose, ointments with benzyl benzoate, lindane, melathion are used. The drug "Ivermectin" has proven itself well.
Animals also have scabies mites, but they are not transmitted to humans.
Demodex
There are 65 species of these ticks, but only two are “human”. One lives in the hair follicles, the other in the sebaceous glands. The sizes of parasites are microscopic, up to 0.5 mm. SomeIt is believed that mostly teenagers suffer from demodexes. This is not so, 2/3 of the elderly and half of middle-aged people are affected by the tick. They are transmitted from a sick person to a he althy person only through close contact. Many of us do not even suspect that we are carriers of this tick, since there are no symptoms. They begin to appear with stress, diseases that weaken the immune system. An ailment begins, characterized by itching, rash, pustules. Demodicosis is often confused with common acne. To determine whether there is a tick or not, you can only laboratory tests.
How to kill a tick? Demodex has rather dense integuments through which medicines do not penetrate well. However, ointments are the main medical remedy. Good reviews are used by "Permethrin", "Zinkihtilovaya", "Amitrosin" (for the eyelids), liquid chlorophyll. Folk healers recommend treating the disease with streptocide, tar soap, hand-made ointments with gunpowder, garlic (oil compresses are made from it). With all types of treatment, it is necessary to strengthen the immune system, organize the correct daily routine and nutrition, eliminate stress.
Garn mite
These parasites live not only in the barn, but also on the roots of plants, in the nests of birds, in onions, grains, flour, sugar, cheese, wine, dried fruits. Their sizes are up to 0.5 mm, so it is difficult to notice such a tick with the naked eye. Sugar and flour mites are the culprits of so-called grocer's scabies. Infected people experience reddening of the skin, itching, and when the parasite entersintestinal acariasis is connected inside the body, fraught with diarrhea, abdominal pain, temperature, and urinary acariasis, in which the genitourinary organs are damaged. Cheese and wine mites also cause gastrointestinal problems.
How to kill ticks on food? No way. Spoiled products should be thrown away, and the places and containers where they were stored should be treated with soapy water and bleach. Some advise using orange oil (a few drops in a glass of water). Prevention of infection: bringing cereals and products from the store, put them in the freezer for a day.
Spider mite
There are about 1300 species of these parasites, but the most famous is the common spider mite. The size of the insect does not reach 1 mm, and the color changes from the stage of development. Larvae are slightly greenish, almost transparent, adult females are bright. orange-red. They spoil about 200 species of plants. The complexity of the fight against parasites is that their eggs remain viable for up to 5 years, and they can be found in the soil, on flower vases, in the crevices of window frames and window sills. Spider mites eat plant juice, while rewarding their host with a number of diseases (gray rot, viral phytoinfections). A sign of lesions is small light dots on the leaves (underside) and cobwebs. A diseased plant must be immediately isolated from he althy ones, the window sill must be processed. How to kill spider mites? To do this, use insecticides:
- Karbofos.
- Fitoverm.
- Intavir.
- Aldicarb.
Folk methods are as follows:
-put garlic cloves next to the plant or place a lid with turpentine, wrap the pot with polyethylene and leave for a day;
- spray the plant with an infusion of dandelion roots or onion peel.
There is also a biological method of control - place predator mites, which are sold in specialized stores, next to diseased plants.
