PEDIATRICS TICKS PARASITOSIS: TREATMENT AND PREVENTION

Key words: Human ixodidasis, Hard ticks, Lyme disease, Ticks prevention

This short review deals with the clinical symptoms of human parasitosis -in paediatrics-, induced by the hard ticks and their treatment both during the acute phase and during the follow- up of the patients. Prevention measures at individual levels to lower the risk of infestation are also discussed. Treatment of parassitosis can be summarized as follows: a) the mechanical removal of the tick; b) skin disinfection using unstained chemicals; c) sanitary education and d) detection of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi s.l. (Lyme disease agent) antibodies after 3-6 weeks from the exposure (tick bite). Post-exposition antibiotic treatment is highly unadvisable except for those subjects affected by immunological disfunction or other clinical problems which can worsen the clinical progression of these tick-induced infections.