It lodges everywhere and can poison our beautiful days. The tick is back, alert several newspapers. Once hibernation is over, the arthropod resumes its cycle, passing from the state of larva to that of nymph then to the adult stage, explains Claudine Proust in The Parisian. And at each step, the critter feeds on blood. That of animals but also ours.
And that’s when the trouble begins. And that a simple walk in the forest can end in a nightmare.
In 10% of cases, the tick carries a bacterium capable of triggering Lyme disease. 28,000 people are diagnosed each year. This infection can have serious consequences if not treated in time.
This is why prevention remains the best weapon in the fight against borreliosis. “Any place gathering deciduous trees is a favorable biotope”, warns in The Parisian, Professor Benoît Jaulhac, head of the bacteriology laboratory at the University Hospital of Strasbourg. Clearly, no region is spared including the Paris region, such as, for example, the Bois de Vincennes.
After any outing in the forest, the specialist recommends carrying out, the same evening and the next day, an examination of the body in the shower by inspecting, particularly in children, the hair and the back of the ears. The tick must then be removed with its rostrum, which allows it to cling under the skin. Then you have to disinfect.
But if during the next few days a spot appears around the bite or the person feels feverish, then a doctor should be consulted. Antibiotic treatment will then be prescribed.
First aired May 9, 2016
