The increasing incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Sweden and several other European countries has sparked a discussion about the need for a public vaccination strategy. However, TBE vaccination coverage is incomplete and there is little knowledge about the factors influencing vaccination behavior. Based on a survey of 1,500 randomly selected respondents in Sweden, we estimate vaccina...

Improvements to risk assessments are needed to enhance our understanding of tick-borne disease epidemiology. We review tick vectors and duration of tick attachment required for pathogen transmission for the following pathogens/toxins and diseases: (1) Anaplasma phagocytophilum (anaplasmosis); (2) Babesia microti (babesiosis); (3) Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme disease); (4) Southern tick-associated...

Sir, We are grateful to receive Dr Pearson’s comments on this unusual yet clearly important aetiology of cerebral vasculitis. Borrelia serology was not performed prior to commencement of immunosuppressive therapy, nor is this local protocol unless there is history or clinical evidence of tick bite. A physical examination of the skin for cutaneous manifestations of vasculitis found no evidence o...

Animal studies have shown an exponential increase in the risk of Borrelia burgdorferi infection after 48-72 h of deer tick attachment. Persons with tick bites were prospectively studied to determine if those with prolonged tick attachment constitute a high-risk group for infection. Ticks were identified, measured for engorgement, and assayed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for B. burgdorferi...

Canine tick borne disease, such as anaplasmosis and ehrlichiosis are common diseases in veterinary practices. Most patients are diagnosed using clinical findings, history of tick bites and hematological findings; however, proper approach to diagnostic is not always feasible. Blood from 104 animal patients from urban and rural areas were analyzed finding 53.84% (n=56) having parameters compatibl...

1. Parola P, Paddock CD, Socolovschi C, Labruna MB, Mediannikov O, Kernif T, et al. Update on tick-borne rickettsioses around the world: a geographic approach. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2013;26:657–702. http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/CMR.00032-13 2. Wang JM, Hudson BJ, Watts MR, Karagiannis T, Fisher NJ, Anderson C et al. Diagnosis of Queensland tick typhus and African tick bite fever by PCR of lesion swa...

Although there are very few reports of human anaphylaxis induced by tick bites, two such cases have recently been seen in Salamanca, Spain. To identify the tick species responsible, salivary-gland extracts from six species of hard tick and two of soft tick were prepared and used as allergens/antigens in skin-prick tests and serological analyses. For each case, the results of the skin tests were...

To the Editor: Lyme borreliosis is the most common vector-borne disease in Sweden, and as many as 10000 individuals are thought to be affected each year.1 Recent studies have suggested that individual variability in vector attachment may be linked to different body odors.2,3 Other studies suggested that diethyltoluamide is the best repellent against insect vectors and permethrin against ticks, ...

Ticks are distributed worldwide and affect human and animal health by transmitting diverse infectious agents. Effective vaccines against most tick-borne pathogens are not currently available. In this study, we characterized a tick histamine release factor (tHRF) from Ixodes scapularis and addressed the vaccine potential of this antigen in the context of tick engorgement and B. burgdorferi trans...