Prevention of borreliosis in persons bitten by infected ticks

Abstract

A study on prevention of borreliosis in humans bitten by infected ticks was performed in 1992-1994 in the Perm' region of Russia. Adult Ixodes persulcatus ticks were removed from the study subjects, and live preparations made from the material obtained from the gut of each tick were microscopically analyzed (up to 250 microscopic fields per preparation). Persons were divided into experimental and control groups (261 and 97 persons, respectively). The experimental group received doxycycline (100 mg twice daily) for 3-5 days after the tick bite. In the control (untreated) group, 12 persons contracted borreliosis. In the experimental group, the disease was diagnosed in three subjects. Morbidity per 100 patients in the experimental group was 1.1, i.e. 11 times lower than that in the control group. Identification of Borrelia in ticks by microscopic analysis, followed by a short-term treatment with antibiotics according to microbiological indications, is an efficient method for preventing persons from contracting borreliosis.

Risk for Human Tick-Borne Encephalitis, Borrelioses, and Double Infection in the Pre-Ural Region of Russia

“…However, this ratio varies widely by regions and year. Because most people remove ticks promptly (within <1 day [12]), a physiologic phenomenon called reactivation, which is required for some microorganisms before infectivity is attained, does not have time to develop. The risk for clinical illness of TBE and borreliosis is largely determined by highly infected ticks (20), which always account for only a few of all infected ticks in a population (21).…”

“…Each year, unfed adult ticks were collected from vegetation in several areas where people are exposed to ticks. In most cases (>98%), people are bitten by adult I. persulcatus ticks, and only rarely by nymphs (12). Adult ticks were removed from patients who sought medical treatment at a city laboratory designated for the diagnosis and prophylaxis of TBE and ITBB.…”

Prevention of Lyme Borreliosis

“…A single 200-mg dose of doxycycline was 87% efficacious in prevention of Lyme borreliosis, but adverse effects occurred in 30% of doxycycline recipients. In a study in which 3 or 5 days of doxycycline were administered to 261 persons after I. persulcatus tick bites in Russia, none developed erythema migrans, and evidence of any symptom considered Lyme borreliosis was 11-fold lower in antibiotic recipients versus 97 untreated controls (Korenberg et al, 1996).…”

Risk for Human Tick-Borne Encephalitis, Borrelioses, and Double Infection in the Pre-Ural Region of Russia

“…We studied 66,289 adult I. persulcatus ticks, including 3,473 collected from vegetation and 62,816 removed from humans. Some ticks remained attached 1 to 6 days before being removed, but in most cases (~90%) people came to the laboratory <1 day after the tick attached (12), virtually before it began to feed.…”