Exposure prophylaxis | TickTick-tick bite

Exposure prophylaxis

The seasonal tick activity is decisive for the risk of infection in the field. In Central Europe, Ixodes ricinus has a bipolar seasonal activity with a main peak in May and June and a smaller peak in September and October. During these months, when walking through the woods and meadows, one should take care to wear the right clothes, i.e. sturdy shoes, no sandals, long pants and long outerwear.

If possible, the trouser legs should be tucked into the socks. The right clothing alone is not 100% protection against ticks. In the search for the right place, ticks sometimes spend several hours crawling off the clothes and can get under them.

A tick repellent should also be applied to arms and legs. Ticks climb on grasses and small plants, so make sure not to pass by tall grasses or low bushes. Ticks also prefer places with high humidity, e.g. places near water or overgrown forest floor.

Do not sit on the ground unprotected, but always use a sufficiently large surface. After spending time outdoors, you should check your body for ticks – especially the armpit and pubic area.If a tick has been detected, you should act as soon as possible and remove it professionally. Only animals that remain on the body for more than 12 hours transmit diseases like Lyme disease or TBE, the risk is highest after 48-72 hours of contact.

To remove the tick, it is best to use a pair of tweezers or special tick tweezers from the pharmacy, with which you grab the head of the tick as close to the skin as possible. Take care not to squeeze the tick (this will cause the infectious saliva to empty into the bite wound), nor to turn it (this increases the risk of turning the head away from the body, so that the body is removed but the tick’s head remains on the skin and saliva can still be released).