Increasing tick-borne diseases: Better information and enhanced protection for outdoor workers - BugBitten

Ixodes ricinus questing. Soucre: Holger Krisp, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsOverall, vector-borne diseases are on the rise globally, with outbreaks of several novel pathogens reported and previously controlled VBDs expanding into new geographic areas, mainly resulting from the spread of their arthropod vectors, animal movement, and human-driven changes to the environment. VBDs thus present an ever-increasing threat to both human and animal health worldwide.

In the last 3 decades, the incidence of human TBE in Europe has increased by nearly 400%, although the incidence of TBDs such as TBEs, is likely underestimated due to a number of reasons. To address this, a group based at the University of Bari in the interdisciplinary department for medicine, conducted a recent study investigating the prevalence of 4 important VBPs in 4 groups of workers in high-risk occupations and 1 comparatively low-risk occupation. They then established potential occupational and socio-demographic factors that may increase an individual’s risk of infection with a TBP in their study area.

Seroprevalence of tick-borne pathogens in different occupations Seventy-seven out of 170 enrolled workers were seropositive for at least one of the investigated TBPs, and 12.3% were positive for co-infections with more than one TBP. Link between seropositivity to TBDs and socio-demographic and occupational factors Findings showed there was no statistical difference in seroprevalence between worker groups relating to age. However, Job characteristics, such as occupation type, working environment, exposure to ticks, and contact with animals, showed a significant association with seropositivity for C. burnetii and R. conorii.

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