Colorado Tick Fever - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment
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Definition

Colorado Tick Fever is an illness caused by a virus. This virus is carried by small mammals, such as ground squirrels, porcupines, and chipmunks, and by ticks. This type of fever manly founds in the United States. This disease is caused by infection with the Colorado tick fever virus, a member of the Coltivirus genera.

Causes

People get Colorado Tick Fever from a tick bite. In this type of fever there is no evidence of natural person-to-person transmission. However, rare cases of transmission from blood transfusions have been reported.

CTF is a seasonal disease, and occurs in mountain forest habitats at altitudes from 4,000 to 10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. In United States it happens during the months of February through October. Approximately 90% of cases occur between April and July. Some cases have been associated with exposures to the virus in laboratory settings and one case followed transfusion of blood from a person infected with CTF virus within 4 months of donation.

Symptoms

First signs of symptoms can occur about 3-6 days after the initial tick bite, although it can have incubation periods of up to 20 days. Patients usually experience a two-staged fever and illness which can continue for three days, diminish, and then return for another episode of 1-3 days. The early signs of CTF are often nonspecific and may resemble many other infectious and non-infectious diseases. The common symptoms are -

Chills

Headache

Pain behind the eyes

Light sensitivity

Muscle pain

Generalized malaise

Abdominal pain

Nausea and Vomiting

Treatment

Take a pain reliever if necessary (do not give aspirin to children; it is associated with Reye's syndrome in some viral illnesses). If complications develop, treatment will be aimed at controlling the symptoms. Salicylates should not be used because of thrombocytopenia and the rare occurrence of bleeding disorders following CTF virus infection.

Call your health care provider if you are unable to fully remove a tick embedded in the skin, if you or your child develops symptoms suggestive of this disease, if symptoms worsen or do not improve with treatment, or if new symptoms develop.

Apply repellants to discourage tick attachment. Repellents containing permethrin can be sprayed on boots and clothing, and will last for several days. Repellents containing DEET (n, n-diethyl-m-toluamide) can be applied to the skin, but will last only a few hours before reapplication is necessary. Use DEET with caution on children. Application of large amounts of DEET on children has been associated with adverse reactions.

Alien writes for Makeup Tips. He also writes for home remedies and drugs treatment .

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