After walking through the forest or park it is important to carefully inspect the skin and clothing for insects. It is not always possible to immediately diagnose tick-borne encephalitis - the incubation period of a virus that has got into the blood has a rather long duration, and the disease can appear after a considerable time.
How is encephalitis infected?
There are 2 variants of infection:
- A tick bite with the encephalitis virus. The insect is sucked to the skin, feeding on blood and simultaneously secreting saliva with pathological cells. The female can be on the surface or in the thickness of the dermis up to 2 weeks, while it increases in size (up to 120 times). The male eats only a few hours and often remains unnoticed.
- The use of raw (bovine) cow or goat milk from animals infected with the disease in question.
Incubation period of encephalitis
The duration of this stage is from 8-10 to 30 days, in very rare cases, infection manifests itself earlier.
At this time, the introduction of RNA virus into the blood and healthy cells. Mutagenes are formed that infect the body and are transported to all vital systems. Secondary reproduction of encephalitis begins in the lymph nodes, liver, endothelium of blood vessels, spleen. After that, the virus enters the spinal cord (anterior cervical horns), the soft membrane of the brain, the cells of the cerebellum, affecting the motor centers and the nervous system.
The incubation period is accompanied by the appearance of primary symptoms in the form of fever, fever and chills. Can be observed:
- sleep disorders;
- nausea with vomiting;
- pain in the muscles and head;
- rarely - a violation of consciousness.
On the 10th day of this stage, there are violations of the gastrointestinal tract, cardiovascular system, sometimes bronchitis progresses, probably pneumonia .
Diagnosis of encephalitis
To accurately detect the disease, it is necessary to perform an analysis of cerebrospinal fluid (blood serum) to determine the growth of the titre of the corresponding antibodies to pathology. This is a fairly long process, so the diagnosis will also require:
- study of an insect (tick) for the presence of antigens of the virus;
- laboratory analysis of blood for encephalitis;
- the determination of antibodies to the disease in the cerebrospinal fluid of the affected (the material is injected into brain tissue of newborn white mice).