In March, ticks begin to activate, carrying many dangerous infectious diseases, including tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The third edition of the Green Days campaign, which has just been launched, reminds us of the risk of this disease and the possibility of being vaccinated against it.
One of its elements will be vaccination promotions in five large Polish cities – in Warsaw, Kraków, Łódź, Wrocław and Poznań. On Saturday and Sunday, residents of the capital can take advantage of them. The tick stand will be open in the Blue City shopping center from 10.00-18.00. People who will be qualified for vaccination will be able to purchase the first dose of the vaccine for PLN 1.
However, protection against TBE for a given season of tick activity will be provided only by the second dose, which must be taken within 1-3 months from the first (its cost is about PLN 100). And for the immunity to last longer, i.e. several years, the third dose should be taken after about 9-12 months after the first vaccination (also about PLN 100).
Experts emphasize that it is best to vaccinate in winter or early spring, because this will provide us with protection from the beginning of tick activity, which lasts from April to October.
TBE is a viral disease of the central nervous system that can be transmitted by all developmental forms of ticks – from adults to nymphs and invisible larvae. TBE viruses enter the human bloodstream when the parasite punctures the skin.
Symptoms of the disease appear most often within two weeks and are similar to the flu. In 70-80 percent. cases, it is inhibited in this first phase. But in the rest of infected people, viruses make their way into the central nervous system, where they can cause meningitis, which most often affects children and adolescents, or encephalitis, which occurs in adults, especially the elderly. Symptoms such as headaches, nausea, vomiting, and even auditory and visual hallucinations appear then.
There is no effective antiviral drug for TBE. Only symptomatic treatment is applied, obligatory in a hospital. In a percentage of patients, the disease has permanent consequences, such as paralysis of the limbs and paresis, depression, developmental disorders in children, and may even be fatal.
That is why it is worth using prophylaxis, and the most effective method of protection against this disease is a vaccine – emphasizes Katarzyna Bukol-Krawczyk, an internist who is involved in the Green Days campaign.
According to her, people particularly exposed to contact with ticks and the TBE virus include: people working in the field, such as farmers and foresters, and actively spending time outdoors – in the countryside, on a plot, camping in forest areas, children staying in summer camps or summer camps . But not only. Also, walks and picnics in city parks significantly increase the risk of contracting the virus – points out the specialist.
Research conducted in Warsaw by Dr. Marta Supergran-Marwicz from the University of Warsaw showed that strollers are most exposed to contact with these parasites in the following forests: Bielański, Kabacki, Młociny, Bemowo, the Zoological Garden and the Kampinos National Park.
Experts estimate that around 10-15 percent of ticks can be infected with various pathogenic microbes, especially in the Podlaskie and Warmińsko-Mazurskie voivodships and in some parts of Mazowieckie, Opolskie and Dolnośląskie voivodships.
During the Green Days campaign, doctors also remind you that ticks transmit many other dangerous infectious diseases for which there is no vaccine. These include bacterial diseases such as Lyme disease and anaplasmosis as well as protozoan-induced babesiosis. Therefore, vaccination against TBE does not exempt anyone from using direct protection against ticks, such as tight clothing or preparations that repel these arachnids.
More information on tick-borne diseases can be found on the campaign’s website (http://www.kleszczinfo.pl). (PAP)