Expert warns health officials to tackle tick disease
Tick Alert Conference • 24 April 2009
A leading scientist says a potentially fatal tick disease is being diagnosed in the UK and he is urging health authorities to do more to prevent the risk of cases escalating.
The warning, by Professor Michael Kunze, came as thousands of holidaymakers prepared to visit popular destinations across Europe this summer where tick borne encephalitis (TBE) is now endemic in 27 countries.
Professor Kunze, Chair of the International Scientific Working Group (ISWG) on TBE, a group of experts based in Austria which is investigating the disease, says cases have been confirmed in UK travellers, but health officials are ignoring the threat: "TBE is preventable, not treatable in the same manner as other tick diseases, and more must be done to persuade UK travellers of the need for vaccination."
According to the ISWG, there are on average 10,000 cases of TBE needing hospital treatment across Europe every year. It is fatal in two out of a hundred cases.
Professor Kunze made his comments in a speech at Tick Alert 2009, a conference for representatives from primary care, the NHS, travel health and occupational health advisers held at the Royal College of Physicians.
He added: "Doctors are not routinely thinking to test for tick disease, let alone TBE in patients suffering with meningitis and other symptoms typical of these illnesses. There will be more and more people returning from holidays in Europe and visiting their surgery, and doctors are not prepared for a rise in cases."
Lyme disease
His view was echoed by Wendy Fox, Chair of Borreliosis and Associated Diseases Awareness UK (BADA-UK), a charity promoting understanding and prevention of Lyme disease, which is prevalent in the UK.
Speaking at the conference (see following story) she said: "Many GPs with little or no experience of Lyme disease can miss the possible early signs of infection and treatment may not be forthcoming or be delayed. GPs who work in heavily endemic areas will often treat on the basis of suspicious symptoms and will not always exclude Lyme disease based on a negative test result."
Early symptoms of both Lyme disease and TBE are flu-like, but can progress to a second phase involving meningitis, neck stiffness, severe headaches, delirium and paralysis with long-term health problems.
The Tick Alert Campaign, which organised the conference, is distributing leaflets in GP surgeries and outdoor retailers. Information about tick disease and maps showing risk areas in the UK and Europe are included.