Spring has arrived and the lure of the great outdoors grows as the days get longer and warmer. This also means the return of ticks: little parasitic mites, whose bites can have severe consequences for our health through the transmission of various infectious agents. The most common infections caused by tick bites are Lyme disease (Lyme Borreliosis), generally treatable with antibiotics, and tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), which is rarer than Lyme disease with 5000 to 13 000 cases reported globally each year. Although there is no vaccine against Lyme disease, one does exist against TBE and it is recommended for anyone, including children residing in or travelling to areas where the disease is prevalent. In Europe, the TBE vaccination is recommended in Switzerland as well as Austria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and Western Russia.

If you are bitten by a tick, you can go to the CERN Medical Service infirmary to have it removed and to get advice and guidance.

Find out more about ticks and tick-borne diseases, vaccination possibilities, how to protect yourself and what to do if you are bitten by a tick on the dedicated Medical Service webpage: https://hse.cern/ticks.