References
Tick-borne diseases: an update for general practice
Abstract
Practice nurses offering pre-travel consultations should be aware of tick-borne diseases. Sharon Graham outlines how to help prevent these diseases in travellers
Ticks are the vectors for a number of bacterial and viral infections that can affect humans. This article will outline the general transmission, risk and prevention of tick-borne diseases. Many of these diseases are associated with travel outside of the UK. Where a vaccine for a disease is available in the UK, information will be provided, but not all tick-borne disease is vaccine preventable and people should be aware of personal protection and bite avoidance measures.
Ticks are the vectors for a number of bacterial and viral infections that can affect humans. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists 16 potential tick-borne diseases within the US (CDC, 2019a), and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) provide factsheets for three diseases that occur in Europe (ECDC, 2020a). There are various others such as the ‘tick-borne spotted fevers’ that the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers (IAMAT) list, which are associated with South America, Africa and Asia (IAMAT, 2017). Practice nurses offering pre-travel health advice should refer to country specific information and other resources available to learn more about diseases they are unfamiliar with (National Travel Health Network and Centre [NaTHNaC], 2020).
With limited space to discuss all tick-borne diseases, this article will focus briefly on the those that ECDC (2020a) provide factsheets for: Crimean Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), Lyme disease and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE). The preventive vaccinations available in the UK will be discussed, and bite prevention measures which are applicable to any tick-borne disease.
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