Hike in the mountains, walk in the park, afternoon in the countryside with the dog: a few minutes in contact with tall grass or undergrowth is enough to find a tick on your skin. And it is no longer a limited seasonal issue: climate change is profoundly modifying the biology and distribution of these annoying parasites, making them active almost all year round and also present in high altitude areas where they once did not arrive.
In recent days there has been news of the death of a 76-year-old woman who died in Trentino, following encephalitis, caused by a tick bite that occurred a month earlier.
The tick threat is expanding
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Unfortunately it is not alarmism. That’s what the most recent data tells us. According to the most recent research published in European scientific journals, the species Ixodes ricinus — the most common tick in Italy — is moving north and towards higher altitudes, thanks to the increase in average temperatures. In some Alpine areas it has already been detected above 1,500 metres. And the risk season, once concentrated between April and October, is lengthening towards the winter months in more temperate areas.
With the arrival of summer, ticks and parasites return to the fore and can undermine our health and that of dogs and cats. Some of the transmissible diseases are already known: Lyme borreliosis, canine ehrlichiosis, button fever, tularemia, Q fever, babesiosis and tick-borne viral encephalitis (TBE). But in recent years a new concern has been added: the spread of alien species such as Hyalomma marginatumvector of the Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, also reported in Southern Europe with increasingly frequent cases.
It is therefore of primary importance to prevent any unwelcome encounter — and possibly know exactly what to do in the event of a bite, without panicking but without underestimating the situation either.
How to avoid a tick bite: the updated rules
What to do in case of a tick bite: the correct procedure
A novelty in recent years concerns vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis (TBE): the vaccine exists and is recommended for those who regularly frequent woods and risk areas in northern Italy, Austria, Germany and the Baltic countries. If you are a regular hiker, it is worth talking to your doctor.
