Disease carriers: how dangerous are ticks?

Spring not only brings milder temperatures – ticks are also more active again. Strollers and playing children should protect themselves from the tiny arachnids, because they can transmit diseases. An overview.

Where do ticks appear?

Ticks lurk in forests and parks, but also in the home garden on grass, ferns or bushes. From there they get to passing animals or people and bite into soft areas of skin such as the backs of the knees, under the arms and at the hairline.

They use their barbed, spike-like mouthparts to burrow into the skin to suck blood. Dangerous pathogens can be transmitted in the process.

How many species of ticks are there?

According to experts, there are more than 20 different types of ticks in Germany, the most common being the wood tick. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI) offers an overview of all types found in Germany in its tick atlas. According to estimates, there are around 900 different species of ticks worldwide.

When are ticks active?

Ticks usually hibernate from November to the end of February. However, experts have been observing a change for some time. “The tick season doesn’t really have a break anymore,” says Peter Hagedorn, tick researcher at the RKI, in an interview with the daily News. “We received the last tick report on December 31, 2022 and the first on January 1, 2023. This means that the normal wood tick, the normal tick species, has been active all year round.”

The reason, according to scientists Hagedorn, is climate change. Due to the milder winters, it is also possible “that other tick species immigrate to Germany that have not been able to survive in the winter because of the cold.” This also increases the danger posed by the bloodsuckers.

What diseases can ticks transmit?

The pathogens most commonly transmitted by ticks Lyme disease – but often only hours after the start of the sucking act. According to the scientist Hagedorn, it is all the more important to remove the tick as quickly as possible. The first symptom of Lyme disease is often an increasing redness around the puncture site – the so-called reddening.

Lyme disease can damage nervous systems and joints. Estimates of the number of cases of the disease vary greatly between 40,000 and 120,000 per year. If flu-like symptoms, fever, swelling of the lymph nodes or erythema occur within four weeks, a doctor should be consulted to be on the safe side. Otherwise there is a risk of long-term consequences even years later.

Ticks can also transmit the causative agent of what is known as tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) transmitted, a virus-related meningitis or encephalitis. In 2022, the RKI registered 546 TBE diseases nationwide – 30 percent more than in 2021, when there were 421 transmitted TBE diseases. In principle, TBE transmissions are also possible through the consumption of raw milk or raw milk products, but rarely.

Which regions are particularly affected?

Currently, 178 urban and rural districts in Germany are TBE risk areas, three more than last year. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, southern Hesse, south-eastern Thuringia, Saxony and south-eastern Brandenburg are particularly affected. There are also individual risk areas in Central Hesse, Saxony-Anhalt, Saarland, Rhineland-Palatinate, Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia. Experts estimate that even in risk areas only a few ticks are infected with TBE – an average of 0.1 to five percent.

Lyme disease, on the other hand, occurs throughout Germany – depending on the region, up to 30 percent of ticks carry the pathogen.

Is there a vaccination?

There is no vaccination against Lyme disease. Detected early, the infection can be treated well with antibiotics.

On the other hand, there is a vaccination against TBE; the Standing Vaccination Commission recommends it to people who live in risk areas, who vacation there or who work in forestry or agriculture. Children from the age of one year can also be vaccinated in principle. Three injections are required for full protection, with a refresher every five years.

What is the best way to protect yourself?

Walkers should wear long clothes and sturdy shoes in the forest, in the fields and on the meadow. Stockings pulled over trouser legs make it difficult for ticks to find bare skin.

Anti-tick products offer only limited protection. In a tick test by Stiftung Warentest in 2017, the best preparations kept the bloodsuckers at a distance for at least six hours. After a trip outdoors, the skin should be checked thoroughly, this also applies to children after playing.