LymeNet Flash: if a tick bites u and is not engorged with blood

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»	LymeNet Flash » Questions and Discussion » Medical Questions » if a tick bites u and is not engorged with blood

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Topic: if a tick bites u and is not engorged with blood

nomolyme
Member
Member # 18639

posted

does that mean u r not infected? this tick that bit me last week ..i did not see the engorged body like i did when i was pulling a tick off my kitty kat..please comment

Posts: 92 | From bethel, ny | Registered: Jan 2009 | IP: Logged |

TadichGrill
Unregistered

posted

You can get tick diseases while pulling a tick out of another person. The diseases can go through your skin if you do not wear gloves according to one support group meeting I attended. I would get tested. You might have pushed the contents of the ticks stomach out and into you when you removed the tick.

IP: Logged |

nenet
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 13174

posted

quote:
Originally posted by nomolyme:

if a tick bites u and is not engorged with blood
does that mean u r not infected?

no, it doesn't mean you aren't infected. Studies have shown that Lyme and other coinfections can be transferred immediately on tick bite.

The thinking that you read about, where they say 24-48 hours etc., is just that you have a higher chance of infection, because it is likely more of the infectious agent has been able to be transferred. It is a guess, and not accurate.

Bottom line, if you have been bitten, there is a chance of infection.

Also something very important to remember and be warned about - you can get Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (a misnomer - it is all over the US, not from or only in Rocky Mtns.) just from touching a tick that carries it, or coming in contact with its excrement/fluids.

You can have RMSF in a chronic phase, without the usual rash and fever in the beginning - many here have experienced this.

Hope that helps.

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Posts: 1176 | From KY | Registered: Sep 2007 | IP: Logged |

nomolyme
Member
Member # 18639

posted

what is rmsf?

Posts: 92 | From bethel, ny | Registered: Jan 2009 | IP: Logged |

just don
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1129

posted

rocky mountain spotted fever

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just don

Posts: 4548 | From Middle of midwest | Registered: May 2001 | IP: Logged |

adamm
Unregistered

posted

Mine wasn't attached--if it's in the tick's saliva, just preparing t ve bite site can be enough to infec.

IP: Logged |

Keebler
Honored Contributor (25K+ posts)
Member # 12673

posted

-

It's not so much what the tick sucks out of you as what it injects.

A tick that is not yet engorged most certainly can still infect with its bite (it if is an infected tick).

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Posts: 48021 | From Tree House | Registered: Jul 2007 | IP: Logged |

Marz
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 3446

posted

I thought these critters were so small you couldn't see them after they dug in.

I had atypical red spot and no hint of anything in the center when the red spot appeared anyway.

I've always wondered about that.

Posts: 1302 | From USA | Registered: Dec 2002 | IP: Logged |

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