Ticks 2018: 2018 is a record year for ticks – money and life

During the summer of 2018, there will be as many ticks as it has been for ten years. A tick bite threatens the transmission of FSME. What you can do about it.

The forest walk on a beautiful spring day can end with a bitter surprise. Soon it happened: A tick stabbed. "This summer, there will be a particularly high number of ticks and therefore a higher risk of meningitis or Lyme disease," recently announced the German Research Center on Infections

ticks 2018: risk areas in Bavaria and increased risk of FSME [19659005] He developed a model, according to which the large number of ticks can be determined already in winter, so Privatdozent dr. Gerhard Dobler of the Institute of Microbiology of the Bundeswehr. "We will have the greatest number of ticks in the last ten years." Meanwhile, almost all of Bavaria is considered a risk area – 88 of the 96 counties and independent cities are concerned. These included districts of the region, such as Günzburg or Augsburg.

This can be dangerous because ticks transmit diseases such as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The tick lives in shrubs until an animal or human pbades by, where it can attach itself. He stings, sucks blood from the body and releases some of his saliva. This is so that TBE agent enters the human body. The result can be flu-like symptoms as well as a fever or meningitis that, in the worst case, are fatal.

More ticks than in previous years: What to do in case of ticks?

Markus Frühwein, a specialist in tropical medicine in Munich, "You can do it yourself or see a family doctor," he says. However, patients should be careful not to irritate the animal because it also transmits more pathogens. "The best way to remove the tick with a pair of pliers." TBE is transmitted very quickly. There is no treatment for the disease itself. "Only a vaccine helps against the virus," explains Frühwein. This is simple and well tolerated.

(AZ)

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