Disease prevention - Tick-Borne Diseases Can be Prevented!

In all areas of the Lithuania there are ticks infected with tick-borne encephalitis virus or Lyme disease vectors – borellias. It was found that on average every 10^th Lithuanian tick (or, more precisely, 10.1%) were infected with one or even both of the pathogens. People do not feel attached ticks and after a day or two, once the tick has fed, it leaves the host. Therefore, about one-third of patients say they never had a tick. In 2006-2008 alone, a total of 5.907 individuals were infected by these diseases in Lithuania.

 

 

The disease occurs after a few days or 2-4 weeks from the tick attachment: patients complain about fever, strong headache, chills, nausea or vomiting, sleep disturbances, etc. A bit later, symptoms of various head or spinal cord disorders may occur. If not die, two-thirds of such patients for their lives remain with persistent different, sometimes very serious consequences of the disease: mental disorders, hand paralysis, sexual impotence, and others. The only safeguard against tick-borne encephalitis is a vaccine. Double vaccination with a month interval ensures one disease-free year even in the case of infection. However, if after a year yet another dose of vaccine is delivered, resistance to tick-borne encephalitis extends to more than three years. The accelerated vaccination scheme is now widely practiced in which the antibodies against the tick-borne encephalitis virus develop earlier, but in this case the individual has to be vaccinated three times rather than twice, and hence it is more expensive.

 

 

After discovering tick-borne encephalitis in Lithuania, the former and the current medical personnel of UAB Endemik in 1987 discovered yet another tick-transmitted disease – the Lyme disease (for the discovery of the disease the team was awarded the National Science Award of the Republic of Lithuania). Unlike tick-borne encephalitis, the onset of the Lyme disease usually is poorly expressed; it develops slowly, lasts for several years and if untreated or treated incorrectly, can lead to severe disability.

The first signs of Lyme disease become apparent after a few days, weeks or even months after the tick bite. In the location of the bite, about 70 percent of patients develop a limited, slowly growing, painless erythema – redness which may persist for several days, weeks or even months. In addition, simultaneously there may be other slight, very different complaints. The other 30 percent of patients have no redness, although there may be slight signs of malaise. The first effects of the disease usually clear up without treatment, however after a few weeks, months or even a year or two, different and already marked symptoms of this insidious disease that has a lot in common with syphilis, occur.

At various stages of disease the face may distort; sleep patterns, heart activity, memory, vision may get disturbed, disorders of joints, head, ears, skin, back pain and others are possible. Particularly common are various signs of neurological system disorders, often back or neck area radiculitis. The patient often feels constant fatigue. Nevertheless, not all of the said symptoms may occur. Frequently there is only one or two of them (they may not manifest at the same time), sometimes only one, but the significant one.

Lyme disease is determined in the laboratory by carrying out complex blood tests. So far, Lithuania has only 4-5 laboratories, including UAB Endemik laboratory, capable to perform all necessary diagnostic tests for Lyme disease (immunofluorescence, immuno-enzyme, Western Blotting analysis).