One and a half million people are bitten by a tick every year. About 2 in 100 people get Lyme disease as a result of a tick bite. This amounts to approximately 27,000 people per year, according to figures from the RIVM.
Symptoms
“Lyme disease is caused by the bacterium Borellia,” begins biologist Arnold van Vliet. “One in five ticks carries this bacterium. If you are bitten by a tick that carries this bacteria, and you don’t remove the tick quickly enough, you run the risk of getting Lyme disease.”
Lyme disease has several symptoms:
- joint pain
- flu
- Headache
- A fever
- Paralysis
- double vision
- power loss
“In general, Lyme disease can be treated well,” continues Van Vliet. Eighty percent of people who get Lyme disease recover after a course of antibiotics. In about 20 percent of patients, a course of antibiotics is less effective and people can suffer from long-term complaints and in the worst case even become unfit for work.”
Prevention is better than cure, says Van Vliet. “The most important way to avoid getting Lyme disease is to check your whole body for tick bites after visiting the green. ‘After a visit to the green, do a tick check!’ is therefore our slogan.”
Garden
Nowadays, ‘green’ does not only mean the forest. “Before, it was always thought that ticks only live in the forest in sheltered, damp places. A recent study shows that ticks can also be in your own yard, even in your short-cut grass. 1 in 3 tick bites are caused by ticks from the garden of the people themselves. That is why it is not only important to do a tick check after a visit to the forest, but also if you have worked in the garden for a day.”
“During this check it is important to check your whole body. If you come across a tick, remove it immediately with, for example, tick tweezers, drawing pen, normal tweezers or, if necessary, with your nails. Pull the tick straight out, this will make the body separate from your skin.”
Ticks have their favorite places in both adults and children, says Van Vliet. “In adults, 55 percent of the ticks are on the legs, 22 percent on the trunk and 3 percent on the head. This is different with children. In children, 25 percent of ticks are on the legs, 27 percent on the trunk and 32 percent on the head. This difference is mainly caused by the difference in length. Children are smaller and ticks therefore have to travel a shorter distance to the head.”
Vaccine
“The number of ticks has increased significantly in recent years. Over the past ten years, their population has increased by 30 percent. I therefore think it is positive news that a vaccine against Lyme disease is being worked on. It would help tremendously in fighting the disease.”
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