Tick borreliosis is a transmissible infectious disease. It is transmitted by bacteria-spirochetes, whose carriers are ticks. When symptoms of tick-borreliosis appear, it is necessary to start treatment and prevent the development of the second stage of the disease, as it can provoke severe damage to the central nervous system and the musculoskeletal system.
Symptoms of tick borreliosis
The first symptoms of tick-borne borreliosis are a skin reaction and an itch of mild soreness. After a tick bite on the skin, redness appears with a small dark speck in the center, as well as a slight puffiness. After a while, the stain may increase (from 1 to 60 cm in diameter). Its edges become bright red and sharp, they can be slightly raised above the healthy skin. At the site of a bite, not only an itch appears, but a sensitivity disorder. The entire area of redness is almost always warm to the touch.
In tick-borne borreliosis (Lyme disease), symptoms of intoxication also appear:
- weakness;
- headache;
- a slight increase in temperature.
Many people feel wavy muscle pain and aching joints. If the first signs of tick borreliosis do not start treatment, the symptoms will worsen, and the spirochete bacteria will spread with the bloodstream from the primary lesion center throughout the body. At this stage of the disease, the patient may experience loss of sensitivity to heat, pain and other irritants, as well as change the perception of smell or taste. Very often, a few weeks after the bite a person begins to worry about insomnia and has signs of cardiovascular damage:
- severe pain in the heart;
- heart rhythm disturbances, etc.
If tick borreliosis is not treated, it becomes chronic and manifests itself as a lesion of any system or organ, such as the skin or musculoskeletal system.
How to treat tick-borne borreliosis?
When a tick is found, it should be removed as soon as possible and then treated with borreliosis. The duration of treatment depends on the stage of the disease. It can be only 14 days, and may take several months. After completion of therapy, patients are under the supervision of a doctor for 2 years.
Before treating borreliosis (preferably immediately after a tick bite), you need to take a blood test. It will help to identify antibodies to pathogens of the disease. Inpatient treatment is indicated only for patients with a very serious course of the disease and those with a mixed infection (Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis). At the first stages of the disease, it is necessary to carry out antibacterial therapy. For this, you can use tetracycline. In the period of treatment, the patient should take and fortifying agents or vitamins to increase the body's resistance.
When developing cardiovascular or neurological disorders, the patient is prescribed Ceftriaxone or drugs from the penicillin group. Chronic form of tick borreliosis should be treated with such a remedy as Retarpen. This penicillin is a prolonged action that will help avoid complications.
Complications of tick-borne borreliosis
Most often, the effects of borreliosis occur if the disease is not treated. As a rule, joints become inflamed in patients (Lym-arthritis).
The main complications of borreliosis are:
- paralysis of peripheral nerves;
- violation of mental functions (mostly higher);
- multiple arthritis;
- severe arrhythmias of the heart;
- loss of sight or hearing;
- benign skin tumors (usually at the bite site).