Tick-borne encephalitis is a viral disease that has severe forms and can cause paralysis and even death. Such a disease affects the central nervous system of a person, provokes inflammatory processes in the substance of the brain - this can lead to problems with the work of any of its departments. It is important to timely conduct treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of tick-borne encephalitis.
Why is the defeat
Most often, an epidemic of tick-borne encephalitis is diagnosed in spring and autumn. This is associated with tick activity - it is these insects that live in forests and fields that are the main source of the disease. It is important to remember that in different regions of the country the incidence rate of tick-borne encephalitis is significantly different.
Tick-borne encephalitis is a typical type of disease in which the virus affects the substance of the brain or spinal cord. In this condition, no additional infectious pathologies and inflammations are detected.
The main symptoms of the disease
To prevent possible complications of the disease, it is important to consider the treatment, symptoms and diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis. When a virus is infected, the symptoms of the disease occur almost immediately. So, for example, if the bite was received in the morning, then in the evening the patient will have the first symptoms of intoxication and the overall health will significantly worsen.
Symptoms with tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis are as follows:
- a feeling of nausea and frequent urge to vomit - this condition occurs regardless of how long ago and how much a person has eaten;
- a rapid increase in body temperature to high levels, while the patient’s condition does not improve even when taking antipyretic drugs;
- severe pain in the head - they are distinguished by their intensity and pass against the background of pulsation and a feeling of compression of the skull;
- redness of the skin in the face and neck.
Dangerous symptoms
After several hours, other signs of encephalitis are beginning to appear:
- blood pressure problems;
- inflammation and swelling at the site of the bite (redness, swelling and severe pain when touched);
- heart rhythm problems - bradycardia, arrhythmia, severe and frequent shortness of breath, as well as pain in the sternum;
- stiff neck muscles - the muscles in this area are very tense, the patient cannot normally hold his head in one position, while it is constantly thrown back;
- fear of the light.
If tick-borne encephalitis was determined at the very beginning of its development, then the attending physicians almost always put a positive prognosis. Otherwise, a person will either die or disability. Symptoms of the lesion can vary greatly depending on the form in which the pathological process develops.
The initial stage of the development of the disease is characterized by the development of problems with the nervous system (headache, dizziness, emotional stress), and, as a rule, ends with the restoration of human health without complications or death. The next stage of the development of the disease may include epileptic seizures, paralysis, a feeling of numbness in the neck and face, as well as a strong increase in body temperature to 39-40 degrees. When diagnosing encephalitis in the laboratory, the doctor identifies the degree of neurological disorders and determines the type of lesion. To avoid complications, it is important to diagnose symptoms and treat tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis, until the diseases have time to transform into dangerous forms.
The main types of pathology
When diagnosing tick-borne encephalitis, a doctor can identify the following types of it:
- Feverish. In this case, the patient has symptoms of intoxication with poisons and hazardous chemicals, recovery with timely and proper treatment occurs quite quickly.
- Meningeal view. It goes along with fever and other symptoms of meningococcal infection, even in the cerebrospinal fluid there is a meningococcal element and protein. A patient with this type of lesion often manifests mental disorders of a reversible form - severe agitation, hallucinations, insanity. The disease is treatable, but in a person even after passing the course of treatment, chronic paresis of the muscles of the face may remain.
- Meningoencephalitic. Tick-borne encephalitis provokes problems with facial expressions in a person (eyelids, corners of the eyes begin to fall, face symmetry changes, pronounced problems arise), the timbre of the voice changes, disturbances in the speech apparatus appear. The meningoencephalitic type of encephalitis is characterized by hypertension, in which the body temperature rises significantly. The first wave of damage lasts for 14 days and passes along with the symptoms of intoxication. The second wave of damage occurs a few days after the end of the first and passes with signs of meningitis, lasts for 3 weeks. The prognosis of the disease remains favorable.
- Poliomyelitis type of tick-borne encephalitis. In the first few days of the development of the disease, the patient only notes fatigue and pain in the muscles. After that, he begins to have problems with the motor system, muscles twitch regularly, paresis appear in the shoulder and cervical spine, his head begins to hang down on his chest. This kind of tick-borne encephalitis can both have a favorable prognosis and not. After 2-3 weeks after the person’s recovery, a pronounced muscle atrophy appears - it can be reversible and irreversible. If the disease is reversible, then soon the patient will recover. With an irreversible form, the patient usually has a disability.
- Polyradiculoneuritis - a viral infection spreads to the roots of the peripheral and frontal nerves. The limbs in this case lose their sensitivity and cease to respond to external stimuli.
Description of Borreliosis
Borreliosis (in other words Lyme disease) in a person appears after ingestion of Borrelia bacteria. In the first few seconds, the human immune system tries to fight bacteria, for this reason pathological microorganisms quickly move to places where immunity activity is reduced or not so effective: tendons, nerve tissues and heart. For this reason, in borreliosis, unlike encephalitis, most often the acute stage does not occur. The disease immediately changes to a chronic form.
The main symptom of the pathology is a migrating ring-shaped erythema - a spot of saturated red color in the bite area, which eventually increases in size and forms a ring. The skin in the affected area begins to peel off strongly, necrosis soon develops. Also, the patient may have secondary erythema in other parts of the body that provoke an allergic reaction. At the same time, there are forms of borreliosis, passing without erythema, but accompanied by fever and intoxication of the body with toxins. Often Lyme disease is almost indistinguishable from tick-borne encephalitis.
After a month, the patient begins to experience the first symptoms of damage to the nervous system: problems with the speech apparatus, partial paralysis of the arms and legs, severe changes in mood throughout the day. In some patients, meningitis begins, leading to problems with heart rhythm. If you continue to not pay attention to the disease, then after one year the patient risks losing his hearing, getting problems with speech and the nervous system.
Borreliosis is cured in almost all cases, the main thing is to prevent the transition of the lesion into a chronic or disseminated stage. During treatment, the doctor prescribes antibiotics for the patient for 2-4 weeks, they help completely eliminate the infection from the body and ensure the patient's recovery. To prevent complications, it is important to timely diagnose symptoms and treat tick-borne encephalitis and borreliosis.
Testing
Only the diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis in the laboratory can identify the form of the disease and determine which methods are best used in treatment. To identify the form of the disease, the patient takes a blood test. Separately, they take for analysis a tick removed from the body after a bite. The presence or absence of a disease in a patient can be detected using various diagnostic methods.
The main diagnostic methods for tick-borne encephalitis:
- Immunoassay. As with borreliosis, an immunoassay for tick-borne encephalitis helps to determine whether the patient has specific antibodies to the virus in the blood. They can be of several types: IgG and IgM. Immunoglobulins M are the first to respond to infection, which indicate the presence of a lesion in the body. After that, group G begins to be activated, which continues to persist in the body for many years. The presence or absence of such antibodies is determined in conjunction with other symptoms of the lesion.
- ELISA diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis is particularly sensitive. It helps to identify the disease at an early stage of its progression. In laboratory diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis in a clinic, IgM antibodies can be determined in the human body already on the 4th day after the first symptoms of the lesion appear. If you follow the statistics, then a blood test for the acute form of the disease in 96% of all cases shows a positive result.
- PCR diagnosis of tick-borne encephalitis. The main goal of such an examination is to determine one important point: does the tick have DNA tick-borne encephalitis virus. During a PCR examination, you can even use a fragment of a tick if it did not work out right away from the skin. Immediately after removing the tick, it is important to take it to the nearest laboratory.
When to do the analysis
Antibodies to the virus occur in the patient’s blood on the 11-14th day after the lesion. It does not make sense to take an analysis for tick-borne encephalitis earlier than the specified length of time, since the result of the examination will always be negative. At the end of the month, a peak in antibody concentration is reached in the human body, which will remain at a high level for 6 months.
A tick in the laboratory is important to carry immediately after removal. If the analysis reveals that the insect is a carrier of tick-borne encephalitis, then the attending physician will carefully monitor the patient's condition, and after a few weeks will prescribe an analysis for encephalitis. As a preventive measure, you can start using starting etiotropic treatment. For example, a patient is prescribed an injection of Acyclovir 3 times a day, as well as intramuscular administration of recombinant interferons.
Preparation for the procedure
Special training before conducting a blood test for the detection of tick-borne encephalitis is not necessary. Experts recommend not eating food for 4 hours before taking the test. If we talk about the examination of the encephalitis tick, then it is also necessary to pull out and deliver it for analysis in a short time.
During the analysis, blood is taken from the ulnar vein. The results of a laboratory test on the amount of antibodies in the body will be ready in 4 days.
Survey results
The result of a blood test for IgG antibodies is obtained in a quantitative parameter. When decoding, the term "caption" is used. This designation indicates the concentration of antibodies to the virus. The following ratios exist: 1 in 100, 1 in 200, 1 in 400. All indicators that exceed the 1: 100 mark indicate an active reaction of the immune system.
This condition can occur as a result of a previous infection, a recent vaccination, or an emergency drug. If the titer gives a value less than 100, then this indicates the absence of a reaction of the immune system. In this case, when tick-borne encephalitis enters the body, a person will inevitably become ill. The best values ​​for the body of a healthy person are considered to be 200-400.
It is important to remember that if IgG immunoglobulins are present in the human body, but there is no IgM, then the results of the study are positive, which in most cases indicates the presence of persistent protection. If, during the diagnosis, two indicators of immunoglobulins are detected immediately, then this indicates damage to the human body by encephalitis. To clarify the condition, the specialist appoints a second laboratory analysis after 7 days.
At the end of the examination, the doctor determines whether the pathogen of encephalitis is in the DNA mite. If an infection is found in the insect, then the patient is immediately given a specific immunoglobulin, which helps to suppress the virus, preventing its development and spread at the initial stage. This method helps to save human health and life in 60% of cases.
More persistent and effective protection is vaccination. But this does not mean at all that a person infected with a tick has completely lost his health. In the event that the results of PCR diagnostics are favorable, operational diagnostics and close monitoring of the human body, as well as any changes in it, play a special role. After the incubation period of borreliosis or encephalitis is over, it is important for a person to take tests repeatedly even when the symptoms of the disease no longer manifest themselves.
Vaccination features
If tick-borne encephalitis was diagnosed on the first wave, then the human body can be restored and infection can be suppressed with the help of anti-encephalitis immunoglobulin therapy. For effective treatment, the patient is given an inactivated vaccine and ribonucleic acid.
It is important to remember that such a vaccine can be carried out only for prevention purposes - it helps protect the human body from being infected with viral infections, reduces intoxication and the inflammatory process. Doctors recommend vaccinating in the fall and spring - the peak incidence of people with tick-borne encephalitis.
Tick-borne encephalitis: diagnosis and treatment in the clinic
A patient with tick-borne encephalitis should carefully monitor his condition, not overexert, follow bed rest throughout the course of the disease - this will greatly facilitate the well-being of the infected person. In addition, doctors additionally prescribe:
- antibacterial drugs (antibiotics) - in particular, they are important for meningeal encephalitis ("Vancomycin");
- antiviral drugs ("Acyclovir", "Cycloferon", "Viferon");
- vitamins C and B;
- immunostimulating drugs (Amiksin, Timalin).
To achieve the maximum effect of treatment, it is important to carry out symptomatic therapy, for example, at high body temperature it is important to use antipyretic drugs, and if severe pain and fatigue appear, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or analgesics. Only after 3 weeks, when the patient’s condition is fully restored, the doctor can write him out for treatment at home. The recovery period of the body lasts a long time - the patient should go to the GP every few months, consult with a neurologist once a month. A good effect can be achieved from mud therapy and spa therapy.
It is important to remember that all the popular methods of eliminating the digested tick (dripping oil or pulling with a thread) will not bring any result - infection with tick-borne encephalitis occurs when the infected insect bites through the skin.