Infections following tickbites. Tick-borne encephalitis and Lyme borreliosis--a prospective epidemiological study from Tyrol.
We present here a prospective study on infections following tickbites in military recruits in the province of Tyrol (Austria). 84 recruits experienced tickbites and underwent clinical and serological examination twice at four-week intervals for signs of tick borne encephalitis (TBE)-virus or Borrelia burgdorferi infections. 56 and 50 recruits could be evaluated for TBE-virus and Borrelia infection, respectively. Whereas no recruit was found with clinical or laboratory evidence of TBE-virus infection, two (4%) recruits showed an erythema chronicum migrans as primary manifestation of a Borrelia burgdorferi infection and 11 (20%) recruits had a significant increase in the titer of anti-Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies. Our results support the predominance of a subclinical course of a tick-transmitted borrelia infection in the population under observation, and shed some light on the epidemiological situation of tick-transmitted diseases in Tyrol.
Schmutzhard
E
E
Department of Neurology, University of Innsbruck.
Stanek
G
G
Pletschette
M
M
Hirschl
A M
AM
Pallua
A
A
Schmitzberger
R
R
Schlögl
R
R
D000818:Animals; D001317:Austria; D001733:Bites and Stings / Q000150:complications*; D001898:Borrelia / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008193:Lyme Disease / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008889:Military Personnel; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013987:Ticks