Evaluation of 161 Tick Bite Cases in a Tertiary Health Center

Abstract

Objective: Tick bite have come into prominence increasingly due to transmission of deadly diseases in the last 10 years. The first identified Crimean Congo hemorrhagic fever case in Turkey was reported in the year of 2002. The purpose of this study is assesment ofdemographic, clinical and laboratorydata of cases admitted due to tick bite.

Material and Methods: Files of cases with complaints of tick bite who were admitted to the Adana Numune Training and Research Hospital Emergency Department were examined retrospectively. Gender, age, contact address with tick, who removed the tick, physical examination and laboratory findings of cases were evaluated.

Results: In this study, 66 female (41%), 95 male (59%), a total of 161 cases were evaluated. The mean age of our cases was 6.6 +/- 4.07 years. The most common application was seen in the month of August. Tick bite was most common in the region of the head and neck (32.3%). In 106 of cases (65.8%), it was detected that tick was removed by a health worker. The most frequent clinical finding was redness in the place of the bite. Increase of body temperature was detected in two of the patients. Real time Change Reaction test performed for Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic fever was positive in one case. Table of disease of Crimean-Congo hemorraghic fever disease developed in no cases.

Conclusion: Tick bite cause fear among the people. Data related to tick bite belonging to our region was shared in this study.