Low risk of developing Borrelia burgdorferi infection in the south-east of Sweden after being bitten by a Borrelia burgdorferi-infected tick

Abstract

Our data suggest that the risk of developing LB after being bitten by a Bb-infected tick is low, and asymptomatic Bb infections appear to be more frequent than symptomatic infections.

Continuing increase of tick bites and Lyme disease between 1994 and 2009

“…People living in high-risk areas may already have been more familiar with tick removal, having experienced more bites, whereas people in low-risk areas increased their concern and GP consultations as the tick bites increased. Comparing GP diagnoses of erythema migrans to tick bites reported by the general population, we observed consultation ratios that are comparable to the risk estimates for developing erythema migrans after tick bites as observed in prospective studies (Hofhuis et al, 2013;Fryland et al, 2011;Huegli et al, 2011). The increase in consultation ratios for erythema migrans could reflect an increasing risk of infection after tick bites.…”

Borrelia miyamotoi: a widespread tick-borne relapsing fever spirochete

“…In the case of Lyme borreliosis, between 0.3% and 5.2% of tick bites in endemic areas in Europe lead to an erythema migrans (EM), with seroconversion occurring in 3.5-8.2% after tick bites that do not lead to EM [61,[63][64][65][66]. Assuming similar transmission dynamics, B. miyamotoi would lead to a lower risk of infection and seroconversion due to its lower prevalence in ticks.…”

Study of a Cohort of 1,886 Persons To Determine Changes in Antibody Reactivity to Borrelia burgdorferi 3 Months after a Tick Bite

“…Serological samples and data collected from 1,886 persons in the TBD STING study bitten by one or more ticks from 2007 to 2009 were analyzed (2)(3)(4)(5). A total of 394 of these participants were also described previously (3).…”

“…Both the vector and the bacterium are prevalent in southern Scandinavia, and ticks frequently attach to humans and occasionally transmit B. burgdorferi (1)(2)(3)(4). Lyme borreliosis (LB) is also common in parts of the United States.…”

“…Ticks that had bitten humans in the Åland Islands, Finland, and different parts of Sweden were collected and analyzed at Linköping University (2)(3)(4)(5). The focus of this study was to analyze the differences in the measurements of B. burgdorferi-specific antibodies in the paired samples and propose methods for detecting changes in antibody reactivity.…”