Tick bite and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever: symptoms and first aid

For tick bite and Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever you can first see: Internal Medicine or Family Medicine or Infectious Diseases. In large hospitals, the Infectious Diseases unit also deals with this.

Common symptoms: a tick attached to the skin; redness at the bite site; days after the bite: fever, weakness, muscle aches, headache (suspected CCHF); nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea; bleeding gums, nosebleeds or bruising of the skin; an expanding ring-shaped redness around the bite (Lyme). Symptoms vary from person to person; a doctor’s examination is needed for a diagnosis.

Do not pour cologne, oil, paraffin or anything else on the tick, put a cigarette to it or burn it. Do not crush or break the tick with bare hands.

The most common causes: rural areas, pasture and garden work; livestock farming and contact with animals; spring and summer. Only a doctor’s examination can determine the exact cause.

Wearing gloves or using tweezers, grasp the tick as close to the skin as possible and pull it out slowly and straight, without crushing it. Wash the bite with soap and water and apply antiseptic. If you cannot remove it, go to the nearest health facility. Watch yourself for fever and weakness for the next 10 days. In the countryside, wear light-coloured, long-sleeved clothing and tuck trousers into socks.

Most tick bites cause no problems. If CCHF is suspected, the person is admitted to hospital for supportive treatment; going early saves lives.

No. Most ticks do not carry disease, and removing them quickly reduces the risk of transmission. However, if fever and weakness start within the next 10 days, go to a doctor immediately.

If you cannot remove the tick, go to the nearest emergency department or your family doctor; if fever starts, go to the emergency department for an Infectious Diseases assessment.

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, call 112 without delay: “In the 10 days after a tick bite, have fever, weakness and muscle aches started?” “Are there signs of bleeding (gums, nose, urine, bruising)?” “Is there confusion, fainting or difficulty waking up?” “Is there facial drooping, slurred speech or sudden weakness in an arm or leg?” “Are you struggling to breathe even at rest?”

See a doctor: you could not remove the tick; the same day for fever, weakness or bleeding after a bite.