Prevention and Prophylaxis of Tick Bites and Tick-Borne Related Diseases

Abstract

Ticks are obligate haematophagous arthropods present all over the world able to produce human diseases. Several factors have increased the abundance, circulation and distribution of the pathogens transmitted by ticks, contributing to the change in the vector-borne diseases epidemiology in the last years. This review collects the most important measures for the prevention and prophylaxis of tick-borne diseases. The preexposition measures to avoid tick-borne diseases are based on the prevention of tick bites by avoiding tickinfested areas, using of protective clothing, repellents and controlling tick populations by physical, mechanical, biological and chemical methods. It is also reviewed other measures as the utility of educational programs and the use of human vaccines. On the other hand, we also review some key aspects referred to the measures to carry out after tick bites as how to remove a tick correctly and the utility of making an antibiotic prophylaxis.

Syndromic classification of rickettsioses: an approach for clinical practice

“…178 A review on the prevention of tick-borne diseases has recently been published, which provides useful information for the prevention and prophylaxis of tick-borne rickettsioses. 179 Table 7 describes the duration, dosage, and other considerations of the most commonly used treatments for rickettsioses in adults, children, and pregnant women. 62 …”

Field and Laboratory Evaluations of the Efficacy of DEET Repellent against <i>Ixodes</i> Ticks

“…In other words, users should not rely only on DEET repellents. It is important to combine personal protection methods against tick bites, such as the use of both repellent and protective clothing, the avoidance of tick-infested areas, tick control, and educational activities about ticks (21).…”

Lyme disease: Current issues, implications, and recommendations for tourism management

“…If tick habitats cannot be avoided, there are simple things that individuals can do to minimize the risk for tick bites and pathogen exposure (see Table 2). Wearing protective clothing mechanically decreases direct skin exposure and wearing light-coloured clothing makes it more likely that the tick will be detected and removed before it finds a feeding site (Garcia-Alvarez, Palomar, & Oteo, 2013). Repellents containing DEET (N, N-diethylmeta-toluamide) applied to skin and permethrin-based insecticides applied to clothing have been shown to effectively decrease the risk of tick bites and they are reasonably safe to use (Patey, 2007;Piesman & Eisen, 2008).…”

“…gov/ticks/removing_a_tick.html). The tick should be saved in a sealed container and provided to a physician for testing when the victim seeks medical attention (Due, Fox, Medlock, Pietzsch, & Logan, 2013;Garcia-Alvarez et al, 2013). In this regard, knowing the early signs and symptoms of infection are important for early diagnosis and treatment (Symptom guide: http://www.cdc.gov/ ticks/symptoms.html).…”

“…Decisions regarding the primary prevention of vector-borne diseases such as Lyme disease are as a matter of course, made at the national, state, or regional level and do not involve tourism industry stakeholders but should. In the past, a plethora of methods for large-scale Lyme disease prevention including vaccines, biological and chemical tick control methods have been adopted by government agencies at a variety of scales (Garcia-Alvarez et al, 2013). In 1998, the United States Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved the LYMErix™ vaccine and the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommended vaccination for those living in high risk areas (Nigrovic & Thompson, 2007).…”