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This year, many people went to the doctor for a tick bite. By the end of May, there were 11,000 people, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) to count declared consultations. According to the telemedicine service provider, phone inquiries about tick bites at Medi 24 increased by 15% over the previous year. And according to Werner Tischhauser of the ZHAW, on the Zecken app of the ZHAW, users reported in May and June "absolute peak scores for transmitted tick bites."
Leeches are not only boring, but dangerous Transmitting diseases. The most common is Lyme disease, a bacterial infection. Every year, about 10 000 people fall ill in Switzerland. The infection can cause discomfort to the joints, the nervous system, the skin or rarely the heart if it is not detected early. By the end of May, doctors had already reported 2900 acute cases of Lyme disease. Since then, the number of diseases has continued to increase sharply, says Daniel Koch of the BAG
Permanent damage may occur
While doctors can treat patients with Lyme disease with antibiotics, there are others. tick-borne disease, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), no treatment. However, a preventive vaccine is recommended. The brain and meningitis caused by viruses are rarer with 100 to 250 cases per year, but dangerous. This can lead to permanent damage or even death.
Still in the TBE this year, the numbers are abnormally high. In mid-June alone, 105 cases were reported. "The situation is worrying," says Koch. In the last two years, the number of tick-borne diseases has been very high, and it has increased again. Compared with the same period last year, the number of TBE cases doubled
The dry spring air sets the ticks at
If pests bite more frequently , or there are more arachnids a few years ago, is not clear. It is certain, however, that ticks are increasingly being perceived, says Rahel Ackermann of the National Reference Center for Tick-borne Diseases at the Spiez Laboratory. In addition, because of the good weather of recent weeks, people have spent more time outdoors – and grasslands and forest edges are hiding in leeches. The conditions are currently optimal for ticks: hot and wet, says Rahel Ackermann
But no one can tell you exactly how many ticks there are in Switzerland. Because there are no standardized censuses or long-term studies to detect if the tick population is changing, says Tischhauser. To do this, researchers should regularly walk along herbs and roads with tissues and count the arachnids that hang on them. As they usually do in the fur, feathers or on the skin of their hosts, which includes mammals, birds, reptiles and humans.
These counts, however, are cumbersome and are only carried out in certain areas, such as in a north of Neuchâtel. The surprising results of such a long-term study have recently been published by a research team of the University of Neuchâtel in the journal Parasites & Vectors.
Ticks, however, are increasing
2000 to 2014, but not increased, but decreased. Why this is not known. Probably, dry air earlier in the spring played a role in which ticks did not grow well.
In other parts of the world, however, ticks are clearly on the rise, says Maarten Voordouw of the University of Neuchâtel. For example, counts of tick populations established in Canada have shown that the number of pests has doubled since 1995. Scientists in Scandinavia would have observed similar.
Tick App: www.zhaw.ch/iunr/zecken (Sundayszeitung)
Created: 30.06.2018, 17:58 Uhr
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