The season of mushrooms, berries, gardening and nature walks is a great time, but at the same time it carries a serious danger. After all, deadly encephalitis can be infected very simply: a tick bite is enough. If you want to protect yourself and your loved ones, you need to know what encephalitis is, what are its symptoms, and also to have information on preventive measures.
Encephalitis: definition
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain that has serious consequences for human health, even death. Many people know what encephalitis is, but few are aware that there are several types of this disease, as well as the causes that cause it.
Types of Encephalitis
Encephalitis is divided into primary and secondary. The first is an independent inflammation of the brain caused by various factors (a tick or mosquito bite, various infections). Secondary occurs against the background of other diseases, such as flu, abscess, measles.
Encephalitis is also divided for the reasons that caused it. It is infectious, toxic, allergic and infectious-allergic. Inflammation can occur in various parts of the brain. Accordingly, encephalitis is divided into limited and diffuse. The disease can occur in acute, precarious and chronic form.
Tick-borne encephalitis: infection mechanism
What is tick-borne encephalitis? This is a special type of disease of a viral nature. Tick-borne encephalitis affects the nervous system, central and peripheral. A neglected disease results in either immobilization or death.
The main culprit of this type of encephalitis is the ixodid tick. Two
types of ticks are carriers of the disease
: taiga and European. A person can become infected in two ways: after an insect bite or by eating the milk of an infected cow or goat. The virus can be localized both in the spinal cord and in the brain.
A distinctive feature of tick-borne encephalitis is its seasonality. The disease is observed in the spring-autumn period, and, spasmodically. Its peaks occur in May-June and August-September.
It is important to note that the disease is transmitted immediately after a bite. The duration of bloodsucking does not affect infection. After all, it is known that unlike a female who eats blood for several days, the male sucks blood for hours and it is difficult to notice his bite.
Thanks to recent research by scientists, it has become possible to divide tick-borne encephalitis into three subspecies: Western, Siberian and Far Eastern. It is noteworthy that the severity of the disease and the number of deaths are different for all these categories. Thus, mortality from the Western type is only 1-3%, and from the Far East it reaches 40%. It all depends on how deeply the virus has penetrated the brain. Next, we will talk about what tick-borne encephalitis is, how to recognize, treat and prevent it, in more detail.
How to recognize: symptoms
After a bite of an infected tick, an incubation period begins, lasting up to an average of 14 days, sometimes it lasts up to 30 days. The bite site often turns red (erythema occurs). But only on this basis it is not necessary to say that you are infected, because erythema is accompanied by a number of diseases caused by bites, for example tick-borne borreliosis.
Encephalitis can occur in different ways and has different manifestations. The onset of the disease is indicated by an increase in body temperature up to 40 degrees. Fever can last 2-10 days. All this time, the patient is worried about aches and pains in the limbs, nausea and vomiting. The limbs that are most likely to be immobilized due to encephalitis are most affected. There is a strong blood flow to the skin of the neck, face and chest.
The patient may have an unclear consciousness, in acute cases, developing into a coma. Hearing loss is sometimes noted.
Most often, the disease is mild. Especially if vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis has been made. The infection is hidden and is accompanied by an increase in body temperature.
Forms of the disease
Although the disease proceeds in various ways, you can still highlight a characteristic sign that you really have encephalitis. Treatment will subsequently be concentrated around this manifestation.
There are several such forms of encephalitis, they differ in the severity of the course of the disease, as well as their effect on the nervous system:
- Feverish form. The disease is mild. Fever, weakness, and nausea are observed. Neurological abnormalities are absent or mild. A fairly quick and complete recovery occurs.
- Meningial form. It occurs in patients with tick-borne encephalitis most often. It is characterized by severe headaches, nausea, sometimes vomiting. Patients note photophobia and pain in the eyes. The tone of the neck muscles is increased, stiffness is felt in this area. This form can occur both with an increase in body temperature, and without it.
- Meningoencephalitic form. Only 15% of patients with it (up to 40% with the Far Eastern type of encephalitis). This is a more severe course of the disease. Hallucinations, lack of orientation in space, delirium are characteristic. Often epileptic seizures.
- Polio form. It occurs in the third part of patients. The condition is characterized by a gradual numbness of any limb, flaccid paresis of the cervical spine. Atrophies of various limbs can be combined and have a sluggish pyramidal character. Complete atrophy of the muscles of the affected limbs occurs by the 3rd week.
- Polyradiculoneuritis form. With it, the peripheral nervous system is affected. Paralysis can be ascending.
Another type of disease that is different from the above is a two-wave. The disease has all the pronounced symptoms: fever, sleep disturbance, headache, aches and limb pain. Its distinctive feature is fever, which proceeds in two waves. The first is lighter, lasts a maximum of a week. Next is the period of normalization of body temperature. It lasts about two weeks. Next comes the second febrile wave. It is heavier than the first: against the background of fever, pathologies of the nervous system are detected. However, this is followed by a complete recovery.
Treatment
If tick-borne encephalitis is diagnosed, treatment is carried out in several directions:
- Elimination of the root cause of the disease. It is carried out medically. Gamma globulin, immunoglobulin and polyglobulin are prescribed. Improvement of the patient's condition is observed after 24 hours.
- Antiviral therapy. Enzyme preparations (ribonuclease) and interferon preparations are prescribed.
- Decreased intoxication. A large amount of liquid is injected into the body (with the help of droppers and with direct use).
- Bed rest for the patient is mandatory and affects the positive dynamics of the disease.
- Dietary nutrition is important for disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. It is advisable to use vitamins of groups B and C.
The condition of a person after tick-borne encephalitis suffered by him depends on the severity of the disease. Also affects the degree of damage to parts of the nervous system.
How to protect yourself from illness?
The most effective way you can protect yourself from the disease and its serious consequences is to be vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis. However, it is not always possible to take care of this in advance, especially for urban residents who do not have garden plots and do not go out into the forest. What must be done so as not to become a victim of a tick?
Carefully choose the clothes in which you go to the forest. It should be in light colors (the tick will be easier to notice), made of smooth materials (the tick will not be able to climb you and will fall). Dress so that access to the body is blocked (sleeves with cuffs, trousers tucked into socks, a jacket with a hood or a cap). Use a tick repellent with mite repellent action. Process not only clothes, but also the body. In the forest, walk along the center of the paths, do not go into the bushes and tall grass: these are favorite places for ticks.
Every 20 minutes, inspect clothing and body for ticks. Pay special attention to the auricles, armpits and inguinal area. If an insect is found, you should never crush it with your hands. Encephalitis can even be transmitted through cracks in the fingers.
Boil milk before eating.
Vaccination Rules
The easiest and most effective way to protect yourself is vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis. It is especially shown to people living in dangerous areas and spending considerable time in the forest or in the garden.
It should be noted that vaccination against encephalitis is carried out in 3 stages. The vaccine itself can be domestic or imported. Most importantly, it must have permission to use. Currently, they can offer you vaccines of domestic production, as well as German or Austrian. Encephalitis after vaccination will not appear in 95% of cases. But if you still fall into the remaining 5%, then the course of the disease will not be severe.
Before you get a vaccine against encephalitis, you need to consider several points:
- Protection against the disease comes only two weeks after the second vaccination (a total of 21 days after the start of vaccination).
- To achieve the strongest protection, it is recommended that a third vaccination be given after one year.
- Before starting vaccination, consult a physician.
- You can get a vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis for children from a year and older. However, doctors recommend carefully weighing all the risks and, if there is no urgent need, start vaccinating the child from 2-3 years old.
- An increase in body temperature after administration of the vaccine is allowed.
- Revaccination should be carried out every 3 years.
- No adverse effects of the vaccine on pregnant and lactating women have been identified. But if possible, it is better to refrain from vaccination.
Important! Having been vaccinated against encephalitis, tick bites should still be wary. After all, these insects carry other dangerous diseases from which vaccination is not provided (for example, borreliosis).
If bitten by a tick
If the protective measures did not help you and the tick still bit, you must do the following steps:
- Carefully remove the tick. It is important that he remains alive.
- Place the insect in a glass vessel and take it to the infectious disease laboratory in your city.
- 10 days after the bite, it is necessary to take a blood test for the fact of the disease.
Knowing what encephalitis is and how to protect yourself from it is the key to your health, and maybe life.