Lanusei (Nuoro), 6 June 2022 – A 70-year-old pensioner had been tip from a tick: she’s dead this morning in the intensive care unit of Lanusei (Nuoro) where she was hospitalized four days ago.
The woman, originally from Ulassaiin Ogliastra, had been taken to hospital following a serious infection, the rickettsiosicaused by a sting of
mint.
The 70-year-old arrived at the hospital last June 2, when her clinical picture was already very serious: very high fever, headache, fatigue, muscle and joint pain. A few days earlier she had noticed that she had the insect on her skin, getting rid of it immediately but without giving too much weight because he did not experience any symptoms.
The situation worsened, however, until hospitalization and confirmation of the diagnosis. The doctors immediately began to administer the appropriate therapies, but the old woman never responded to treatment.
What are ticks?
The ISS website explains: “Ticks are arthropods, belonging to the order of Ixodids included in the class of Arachnids, the same as spiders, mites and scorpions. It is about external parasites, whose dimensions vary from a few millimeters to about 1 centimeter according to the species and the stage of development. The rounded body and the head not distinguishable from the body, is equipped with a mouth apparatus (rostrum) capable of penetrating the skin and suck blood of guests “.
How many tick species are there and where?
Ticks, the ISS clarifies, are widespread all over the world and about them are known 900 specie, 36 what note in Italy.
What diseases do ticks transmit?
“Ixodids – the ISS warns – are able to transmit to humans the pathogens responsible for certain diseases, such as: Lyme borreliosis, ehrlichiosis, rickettsiae button fevers, tularemia, Q fever , babesiosis, viral encephalitis and also Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, associated in particular with species of the genus Hyalomma “.
What is the most dangerous season?
“With the’beginning of the summer – clarifies the card of the Higher Institute of Health – ticks leave the state of winter quiescence and set out in search of a host to parasitize. In the spring and summer months it is therefore more common to come across the so-called “tick bite”. The tick bite is not in itself dangerous for humans, the health risks instead depend on the possibility of getting infections transmitted by these animals as vectors “.
What is the cure?
The ISS writes: “Most of these diseases can only be diagnosed on a clinical level, but one prompt antibiotic therapy, in the initial stages, it is generally decisive especially for forms with bacterial etiology. Only rarely (up to 5% of cases) and in elderly people or children these infections can be life-threatening. “
What precautions should be taken?
Among the suggestions also that of wearing light-colored clothes, which make the unwanted guest more visible. Do not go where the grass is highest and in any case, at the end of each excursion, “do a careful visual inspection and tactile skin, clothing and remove any ticks that may be present. Ticks tend to be localized preferably on the head, neck, behind the knees, on the hips “.
How do you remove a tick?
The ISS is recommended: nnever use to remove the tick alcohol, gasoline, acetone, trichlorethylene, ammonia, oil or fat, nor red-hot objects, matches or cigarettes “to prevent the induced suffering from causing the regurgitation of infected material and further sinking of the parasite into the host’s skin”. Instead, you have to grab it “with tweezers with fine points, as close as possible to the surface of the skin, and removed by pulling gently trying to give a slight rotation movement “.