1. How to protect yourself?
Clothing:
Wear light-colored clothing (to spot ticks) that covers your legs and arms. Tuck your pants into your socks.
Protection:
Spray a tick repellent on clothing, shoes and the parts of the body that come into contact with grass and bushes.
Behavior:
Walk on forest paths and avoid contact with grass and bushes.
When you get home, check your body and clothing for ticks. Ticks like warm, moist areas where the skin is thin, such as the back of the knees, the groin, the inner thighs, the buttocks, the neck, the nape of the neck and the armpits.
2. What to do after a tick bite?
Document the bite:
Take a photo of the tick while it is still in the skin, in case you need it for insurance purposes.
Remove the tick:
Use tick tweezers or regular tweezers, grasp the tick close to the skin and gently twist while pulling. Then disinfect the area. If the head remains in the skin, have it removed by a doctor as soon as possible. Instructions are available in this video.
Send the tick for analysis:
Place the tick in an airtight, dated bag, then freeze it. Send it to ADNucléis for PCR analysis (Borrelia, Bartonella, Babesia, etc.).
Should you see a doctor?
See a doctor promptly if flu-like symptoms, pain or an erythema migrans rash appear. If chronic symptoms develop weeks or months after the bite, consult a specialist.
Dr. Horowitz's questionnaire can help assess the likelihood of an infection. Many resources are available on this site about Lyme borreliosis, bartonellosis and babesiosis.
3. What diseases do ticks transmit?
A study has shown that up to 83% of ticks in Switzerland carry at least one infectious pathogen (bacterium or virus) [1]. Some infections can be serious (even fatal) and become chronic. It is important not to take a tick bite lightly.
If symptoms appear after a tick bite (some may only appear years later!), many infections need to be considered.
The most common are:
But also:
4. Is there a vaccine?
1. Lyme borreliosis:
Currently, there is no vaccine against Lyme borreliosis. The only vaccine available (LYMERix®) was withdrawn from the market in 2002, as it was deemed ineffective and was in low demand. A new vaccine, VLA15, is under development.
2. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE):
The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) recommends vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis for all adults and children (generally from the age of six) who live in or temporarily stay in risk areas. In Switzerland, all cantons are considered risk areas, with the exception of Ticino for the time being.
3. Other important infections:
Currently, there is no vaccine against other common infections such as babesiosis, bartonellosis, rickettsiosis, anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis, tularemia, etc.
5. Accident or health insurance?
A tick bite is considered an accident and must be reported as such. It is not uncommon for doctors and specialists to be unaware of this.
As stated on the Suva website:
“It is indeed a sudden, involuntary and harmful impact on the human body by an extraordinary external cause. If such an event requires treatment, it must therefore be reported to the victim's accident insurance as soon as possible.”