What tests should be taken after a tick bite?

The risk of contracting infectious diseases transmitted by insects is quite high, even if the tick was removed as soon as possible and was unable to penetrate deeply. These insects are carriers of various infections that pose a danger to human life, so experts recommend sending the tick for laboratory testing after it has been removed.

It is worth noting that a person does not always become infected after a bite, even if the tick is a carrier of some infection, however, prevention in any case will not be superfluous.

The most reliable method to determine the presence of an infection is to take tests after a tick bite.

To detect the infection, you need to donate blood, but not earlier than 10 days after the bite. The most common infections that can be transmitted by a tick bite are encephalitis and borreliosis.

Tick-borne encephalitis is the most dangerous disease carried by these insects. Urgent preventive measures to prevent the development of encephalitis should be taken in the first 24 hours after the bite, usually immunoglobulin is used for these purposes (used if no more than three days have passed since the bite).

If time is lost or there are contraindications, antiviral agents are used, which, according to some data, are effective, but no studies have been conducted in this area.

There is no need to worry if a person has been vaccinated against this disease, but the risk of contracting other insect-borne infections remains high.

Tick-borne borreliosis is an equally severe disease, which usually occurs in a latent form, but when a chronic process develops, it often leads to disability.

Urgent preventive measures include taking 200 mg of doxycycline (the only exceptions are pregnant women and children under 8 years of age), but everyone without exception is prescribed tests for antibodies to tick-borne borreliosis after a bite.

The disease responds well to treatment at the beginning of its development; when infected, redness usually appears at the site of the bite after 2-3 days.

There are two types of hemorrhagic fever: Crimean and Omsk.

Crimean fever is detected sporadically, mainly in the steppe regions (Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Crimea, Southern Kazakhstan, Taman Peninsula, Uzbekistan, Bulgaria), in areas where ixodid ticks live.

Omsk fever was first identified among residents of lakeside villages in Siberia and the Baraba steppe.

Today, the infection is rarely detected in the Novosibirsk, Kurgan, Orenburg, Tyumen, and Omsk regions; it is possible that infection may also occur in nearby regions (Altai, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Northern Kazakhstan).

Hemorrhagic nephrosis-nephritis is detected in Asian and European countries both as isolated cases and as mass outbreaks. The source of infection is gamasid mites living in the tundra, forests, and steppes.

What tests should be taken after a tick bite?

After a tick bite, tests are taken no earlier than ten days later (before this period, nothing can be detected in the blood).

Approximately ten days after the bite, a blood test using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method is prescribed to detect the encephalitis virus and borrelia bacteria.

Fourteen days later, blood is donated to detect antibodies to the encephalitis virus; in this case, it is necessary to report the date of vaccination against encephalitis (if it was carried out).

After 3-4 weeks, blood is donated to detect antibodies to borreliosis.