Ticks can transmit TBE and Lyme disease NDR.de – Guide

Status: 01.05.2020 11:22 a.m.
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Lower Saxony 6pm

They have fun in the tall grass or in the bushes and wait for their victims there: ticks. In past temperate winters they were able to multiply numerous. Little bloodsuckers love not only the blood of cats and dogs, but also that of humans. Most of the time, parasites wait for food no more than a meter from the ground, even in well-kept parks or gardens in the city. In a fraction of a second, they cling to living things that pass. Jumps or even falls from trees, ticks cannot, direct contact is necessary.

Find the injection site

The teats then go in search of a well-supplied, slightly moist, protected skin area. Because animals take a long time to suck. In adult ticks, this can last up to eight days. In doing so, they swell and reach more than a centimeter in height. Ticks do not bite through clothing, but cling to them first and must find an entrance to the skin. To avoid this, it makes sense to wear long pants when walking in the woods and put the tips of your pants on your socks. Tristan Jode, environmental consultant at the Hamburg Consumer Center, warns: “” Reliable protection against ticks cannot be achieved by spraying or rubbing the skin alone. “It may be hours before the tick attaches, often time Enough to find out After a hike, you should shake your clothes well and look for ticks on your body, even in hidden areas like armpits, navel, head or genital area.

Disease carrier

The tick bite itself is harmless to humans, but pathogens can be transmitted: among others, the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which can cause Lyme disease, and the meningoencephalitis virus (TBE) in early summer. .

Lyme disease is relatively widespread and occurs throughout Germany: it is estimated that several tens of thousands of people develop it each year. However, not all ticks carry the bacteria. On average, it should be around 25 percent of animals, with large regional fluctuations. Also, not every bite from an infected tick means bacteria are transmitted. Only a maximum of six percent of people bitten are loudly infected Robert Koch Institute. However, many of them remain without symptoms of illness. Only about one percent of people stung get noisy Federal Center for Health Education on Lyme disease. The risk of transmission is initially very low, but increases significantly after twelve hours of suction. Then the animal is already significantly swollen. Therefore, a mark should be removed as soon as possible.

Difficult to diagnose Lyme disease

There is no preventive vaccine against Lyme disease, or more precisely, Lyme disease, and the diagnosis is often unclear. Even blood tests do not provide complete safety because the body may not have produced antibodies soon after infection, or the disease may have disappeared a long time ago, but the antibodies are still present. The symptoms are many and varied from person to person and range from fatigue and muscle pain to inflammation and paralysis. A sure sign of borreliosis is a flush that occurs in about 90 percent of infections. Then the skin around the puncture site turns more or less red. The affected ring-shaped area, at least four centimeters in size, enlarges over the days. The redness can start hours, but also weeks after the bite. Such stains should be shown to a doctor immediately. A diagnosed Lyme disease is treated with antibiotics.

TBE is much less common

The second known disease that can be transmitted by ticks is much rarer: meningoencephalitis (TBE) in early summer. Every year a few hundred people get this in Germany. Until now, only ticks in the south of the Federal Republic transmitted the virus that triggers TBE. The Robert Koch Institute shows on a map The risk areas affected. In addition to southern Germany, this includes Lower Saxony Emsland District, Austria, Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. There is evidence that TBE is spreading north. Than The Lower Saxony State Health Office considers an infection with the TBE virus outside the Emsland district to be “highly unlikely, but cannot be entirely ruled out.” In risk areas, the risk of infection was one of 500 tick bites.

Vaccination protects against TBE

About ten days after an infection with TBE, symptoms appear that initially resemble those of a flu with limbs, headache, and fever. About ten percent of those affected ignite the meninges, in severe cases also the brain and spinal cord. The disease is completely cured without therapy. However, it can be fatal for elderly or debilitated people. TBE cannot be treated effectively. Antibiotics remain ineffective because it is a viral disease. Against TBEs have a multistage vaccine that takes at least four weeks to provide protection. Later it has to be updated regularly. If you want to go on vacation to high-risk areas, you should think about vaccination protection in due course.

Babesiosis Endangers Dogs

Ticks can also transmit infectious babesiosis disease to dogs. The so-called canine malaria occurs predominantly in the Mediterranean region, but occasionally also in Germany. A parasite attacks and destroys red blood cells. Symptoms include fever, fatigue and muscle pain, the disease can be fatal for dogs. People are usually resistant.