Cases of tick-borne diseases reach ten-year high in Czechia
Cases of tick-borne diseases in Czechia have reached the highest level in ten years, according to new data from the National Institute of Public Health. Experts warn that numbers may rise further in the autumn, with the onset of the mushroom-picking season.
Since the 1990s, Czechia has ranked among the European countries with the highest rates of tick-borne encephalitis, or TBE. Cases have steadily increased due widespread tick presence and a growing number of infected ticks.
This year is no exception. By the end of August, doctors had recorded 517 cases of tick-borne encephalitis, up from 490 at the same point last year. Lyme disease rose even more sharply, with 2,646 new cases in August alone, which is nearly as many as in the first eight months of last year, and four times higher than last August.
Dr. Dita Smíšková from the Clinic of Infectious Diseases at Charles University’s Faculty of Medicine explains:
“This summer seems to be exceptionally favourable for ticks. Temperatures have not been as high as in recent years, and it hasn’t been so dry. Ticks like these conditions just as much as we do.”
Despite the high number of tick-borne infections, Dr. Smíšková says the probability of becoming ill after a tick bite is relatively low:
“For tick-borne encephalitis, it is just a few percent. For Lyme disease, it is somewhat higher, in some regions even over 20 percent. Timing also matters. If we remove a tick infected with Lyme disease within 24 hours, we significantly reduce the risk of infection. Borrelia bacteria take time to move from the tick into the skin.”
With tick-borne encephalitis, infection can occur within just a few minutes, or at most tens of minutes, after the tick attaches. The disease usually starts with flu-like symptoms. These may briefly ease, but then return more severely, with intense headaches, stiff neck, and other neurological symptoms. However, not every patient has to end up in hospital, says Dr. Smíšková:
“We usually see the more severe cases, when the virus attacks the central nervous system. Those patients almost always require hospitalization. Unfortunately, we have little to offer them. We can only treat the symptoms. We reduce brain swelling, provide pain relief, ensure rest, and hope their immune system can overcome the infection.”mapa
Unlike Lyme disease, which can be treated with antibiotics, there is no specific treatment for tick-borne encephalitis. There is, however, a vaccine. Vaccination rates in Czechia have improved, but coverage could still be higher, says Dr. Smíšková:
“About 40 percent of people in Czechia have received at least one dose of the vaccine. That is an improvement from five years ago, but it is still not enough to bring down the number of cases. We hope to see much higher coverage in the coming seasons.”
With autumn and the mushroom-picking season approaching, experts warn that the number of tick-borne infections could rise even further by the end of the year.
