Evaluation of the Status of Infectious Diseases in Military Personnel Who Visit Clinics Due to Tick Bite

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Introduction: This study aims to evaluate and present the findings obtained from medical diagnosis and follow-up of military personnel admitted to the relevant units due to tick bites. Method: All volunteer patients with complaints of tick bites between 2012 and 2013 were included in this study, and this paper was designed as a single-centre observational study. Results: The ticks attach to the body of 12 (15%) of 79 patients were removed by the medical personnel. The bites were observed to be in the head and neck (8.8%), torso (17.7%), upper extremity (24%), lower extremity (45.5%) and genital area (3.8%). There was no statistically significant relationship between the change in vital symptoms of patients and the presence of ticks in their physical examination, as well as between the change in vital findings and the location of bite site (p>0,05). In addition, there was no statistically significant relationship between the change in leukocyte, AST, ALT, LDH, PTZ and other biochemical parameters and the presence of ticks in the examination, as well as a change in biochemical parameters and the bite site (p>0.05). None of the 79 patients progressed the disease; no patients died, and all of them recovered and were discharged from the hospital. Conclusion: : Tick bite monitoring is recommended. However, because of the good prognosis of the military personnel who applied with it, military operations and trainings may not be interrupted.