Federal health authority extends area at risk of tick bites to whole country

With spring in the air, people will be spending more time in the outdoors, the warmer temperatures coinciding with the start of the tick season, too.

This period generally starts in March of April and lasts until October, with ticks becoming active once temperatures reach 7°C, in particular in areas of deciduous woodland with much undergrowth.  

In most cases, tick bites do not have serious consequences, but they can have, as a small number of them carry germs which can cause illness in people, the two most well-known ones being Lyme borreliosis (Lyme disease) and tick-borne encephalitis. While Lyme disease is a bacterial infection, tick-borne encephalitis is a viral one. However, encephalitis can result from either of them.

While it is possible to be inoculated against tick-borne encephalitis, this is not the case with Lyme’s disease.

Winter is regarded as the ideal time to be inoculated as the protection provided by immunisation will then be present by the time ticks start becoming active.
 

However, it is not too late, as Marco Rossi, the senior doctor in the area of infectiology at the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital confirmed, adding, too, that it was well tolerated and provided a high level of protection. Inoculation is recommended for adults and children over the age of six, the costs borne by the health insurance companies.

Cases of tick-borne encephalitis have increased significantly in recent years, with as many as 377 cases recorded in 2018, a record. Indeed, it is as a result of this that the Federal Office of Public Health decided to extend the area of risk to the whole of Switzerland, with the exception of Geneva and the Ticino.
 

People can remove ticks themselves with tweezers, after which the skin affected should be disinfected. Only if a reddening of the skin occurs between the third and 30th day after being bitten, or headache and high temperature ensue, is a visit to the doctor recommended. One non-medical way of protecting oneself is simply to wear long clothing.