Ticks are arachnid arthropod insects. There are about 48 thousand of their varieties in the world. Most of them feed on organic matter and produce humus. But among others, there are species that pose a danger to human health. Some are capable of causing respiratory diseases, others are carriers of infectious agents that lead to serious illness and even death. Let's try to figure out whether such mites can live in an apartment.
Types of ticks in the house
Several species of these dangerous arachnids can exist in the vicinity of humans. Moreover, some of them not only live nearby, but also prefer to feed on the blood of people and pets. And the waste products of others cause the development of allergies.
Dusty
This mite is most often found in apartments. The insect is small in size from 0.1 to 0.5 mm, so it is impossible to see it with the naked eye. The mite feeds on dust, which is why it got its name. The insect is widespread on all continents. 1 g of dust can contain up to 150 species of dust mites.
Dusty
The life cycle of the insect is 65-80 days. Dust mites can live and reproduce in an apartment all year round. Optimal conditions: temperature within +18…+250С and high humidity.
A female dust mite makes hundreds of clutches throughout her life, each containing 60 eggs. The waste products of this species are one of the causes of the development of bronchial asthma.
Ixodes
This type of tick is considered one of the largest, its body size reaches 2.5-4.5 mm. The color of the insect is brownish-brown. Ixodid ticks are found on all continents except Antarctica and are able to live in any climate zone. This species belongs to the blood-sucking category. Insects live on the street, in parks, gardens, forests, hiding in thickets of grass and bushes, waiting for their prey. They prefer warm, humid places.
Ixodid ticks are especially active in spring and late summer. But some individuals cannot sleep even in winter. Forest ticks enter apartments on the fur of pets, people’s clothing, in baskets with mushrooms, and also with bouquets of wild flowers.
How long a forest tick lives in an apartment depends on the availability of favorable conditions. For full life, it needs soil and moisture. Therefore, it cannot exist in a human home for a long time, but even its short-term stay in the house threatens residents with serious health consequences.
Ixodes
Bed
This type of arachnid insect belongs to the category of synanthropes. The bed mite has a microscopic size, its body length reaches no more than 0.5 mm, so it is impossible to detect it without a special device. It feeds on dead skin particles and dandruff. It is impossible to suffer from the bites of these parasites, since they do not feed on human blood. But this does not make them any less dangerous than their counterparts.
The lifespan of such insects is 65-80 days, but without food in the apartment, the tick is capable of falling into suspended animation and remaining there for four years until favorable conditions appear. The female lays from 3 to 8 thousand eggs throughout her life.
Bed
Why is seemingly harmless nasal congestion caused by dust mite allergies dangerous?
Carelessness is one of the main problems due to which a harmless allergy in the initial stages turns into chronic asthma.
Bronchial or chronic asthma in most cases is caused by untimely treatment. Changes and destruction of the respiratory tract begin. Visually this is manifested by shortness of breath. When in contact with an allergen or with increased physical activity, attacks of suffocation may occur, leading to death. Why does this happen?
Most often due to the fact that everyone thinks “this will never happen to me.” Many people say: “I don’t eat honey by the spoonful, or citrus fruits by the kilogram – I won’t have allergies.” Even if you do not come into contact with allergens, the disease can develop.
The second mistake is when people who suspect they have an allergy begin to treat the symptoms. At night my nose is stuffy - I spray vasoconstrictor drops, and everything is fine. I ate too much food that was dangerous for myself - I took an antihistamine, and it was great. By eliminating the symptoms, you will not only never defeat the disease, but will also aggravate it so much that there is no way back.
Neighborhood Danger
Neighborhood with ticks is dangerous for humans, even with those insects that do not feed on blood. Bed and dust mites defecate up to 20 times a day. And it is insect excrement that contains enzymes that contribute to the development of contact allergies. Also, the chitinous shell from dead ticks, when crushed into microscopic particles, enters the air and causes irritation of the mucous membranes of the nose and mouth.
Dust and bed mites cause:
- dermatitis;
- asthma;
- tearfulness;
- rhinitis;
- sneezing;
- cough;
- itching;
- rashes.
Ixodid mites are no less dangerous to humans, although they do not appear in their homes very often, unlike bed and dust mites. These insects are carriers of diseases, and when they bite, pathogens enter the open wound, which leads to serious complications.
Ixodid ticks cause the development of:
- tick-borne encephalitis;
- borrelosis (Lyme disease);
- fevers, etc.
To avoid unpleasant consequences from various types of mites, you need to know what you can use to treat the room. This will get rid of this unpleasant neighborhood and protect all the inhabitants of the house.
Bites on the skin
Prevention
To avoid suffering from dust beetles, as well as for people with a predisposition to allergies, doctors recommend taking the following steps.
- If possible, get rid of furniture with rag upholstery and replace it with products covered with leather-like materials or leather.
- Hide all soft toys.
- Remove all high-pile carpeting.
- Replace down pillows and duvets with products with synthetic filling.
- When cleaning, wipe all books and shelves in the sideboard with a wet cloth, and pour boiling water over the dishes.
- Periodically have carpets and floor coverings dry cleaned.
It is necessary to create an unfavorable environment for ticks. It is known that they do not tolerate low and high temperatures, as well as dry air. Therefore, you need to ventilate the room more often, and in the summer dry mattresses, pillows and blankets in the sun. For a month you need to maintain a dry microclimate (humidity below 40%). To do this, it is worth purchasing a dehumidifier.
A vacuum cleaner with an aqua filter effectively destroys house ticks. It is quite expensive, but has a number of advantages over simple vacuum cleaners, which do not collect, but, on the contrary, raise insects and their excrement into the air.
Preventive measures
Main habitats
Treatment should be carried out throughout the apartment, paying special attention to the places where insects usually live. Thus, mites prefer to settle and reproduce on objects that are not frequently treated with cleaning agents.
Among them:
- books;
- blankets;
- pillows;
- mattresses;
- carpets;
- cushioned furniture;
- sections of the wall behind paintings, baseboards;
- sockets;
- window frames;
- cloth;
- pet bedding;
- fabric lampshades.
Methods of disposal
You can get rid of bed mites in your apartment, as well as dust mites, with the help of special services. But calling them out requires significant material costs, so you can do it yourself, using comprehensive control measures.
The first thing you can do if there are ticks in your apartment is the following:
- clean all corners, baseboards under the ceiling, walls;
- wipe the cornices, lighting fixtures;
- wash curtains and clothes at a temperature not lower than 600C degrees;
- wipe dust from hard surfaces of furniture and paintings;
- vacuum the entire apartment;
- knock out carpets and blankets on the street;
- bathe pets;
- clean soft toys.
Bathing your pet
All these measures will help reduce the number and slow down the reproduction of insects in the apartment, but do not guarantee that they will completely die. Therefore, it is advisable to further disinfest the house against ticks. To do this, you need to use special products that have acaricidal properties.
These include:
- Allergoff spray and laundry detergent;
- concentrate and spray EASY AIR;
- aerosol Milbiol.
These preparations can be used for spraying in places where arachnids are likely to accumulate, as well as for treating objects and things. And to completely get rid of ticks in the apartment, it is necessary to additionally carry out wet cleaning with the addition of bleach. It is contained in Whiteness and ACE gel.
The product should be dissolved at the rate of 100 ml per 10 liters of water. Cleaning should be done with rubber gloves and with the windows open. And upon completion, additionally ventilate the room for another 15-20 minutes.
How to fight
To rid a property of pests, you should use chemicals designed to reduce pest populations. It should be noted that it is impossible to completely destroy, since every day a person brings new individuals into the house along with dust. The remedies will only help prevent further proliferation of parasites and reduce their numbers. There are many drugs used for these purposes, but some of them have become “people's favorites”.
Allergoff - produced in the form of a spray. The product is active not only against them, but also against their waste products. Easy Air is a spray made from natural ingredients. It can be used to treat all surfaces because it is non-toxic to humans.
Milbiol is an aerosol product used to cleanse bed parasites. The aerosol is applied to any fabric surface (upholstered furniture, mattress, sofa cover). The active ingredient of the drug “kills the appetite” of ticks, thereby interfering with their ability to further function and reproduce.
Order an antiparasitic drug directly from the manufacturer
Dani Earth is designed for cleaning upholstered furniture, toys, and carpets. The product is not sticky and dries quickly.
Tsifoks is a toxic substance. Therefore, when working with it, you must adhere to all safety measures and use personal protective equipment. The drug is used to disinfect the entire living space with a high degree of contamination. Dilute the substance in the proportion specified in the instructions, strictly follow the dosage.
All-Rug - the product is produced in the form of a shampoo used for wiping soft surfaces and washing floors. If you do not want to use chemical compounds, then when cleaning the room, you can use a saline solution, which is prepared at the rate of 10 tablespoons of table salt per 10 liters of water.
Order an antiparasitic drug directly from the manufacturer
Facilities
If a person has an allergy to mites in the form of an external rash or asthmatic attacks, then mandatory therapy is needed. Treatment is carried out with antihistamines, and desensitization is also performed. This method consists of introducing an allergen extract into the human body, gradually increasing the dosage. Thus, the body's resistance to the effects of the allergen increases.
Important! Only an allergist can prescribe such treatment. He also indicates the required dosage, which should be strictly followed.
