Farmers and forestry workers stand out in the first national survey of TBE vaccination among outdoor workers, conducted by Umeå University and the Swedish Veterinary Institute (SVA). Thirty-seven and 32 percent respectively said they had not been vaccinated at all, according to the study, which examined the knowledge, vaccination habits and attitudes of just over 1,000 people in various outdoor occupations.
To get more people in these groups vaccinated, increased information and clear recommendations are necessary, according to the researchers. Greater commitment from employers is also needed.
The researcher: Lack of access
Some outdoor workers said they do not see ticks often enough and therefore do not perceive any risk, according to Junwen Guo, a researcher at Umeå University who conducted the study.
Furthermore, most of these people live in rural areas and usually have to drive into town, which means they never get anywhere.
Many said there was a lack of vaccination vans and hoped the vans could visit rural areas more often.
The employer is important in this context, as it matters whether they cover the cost of the vaccine or not, according to Guo. Some employers pay for employees in the field, but far from all.
Only about 35 percent of the participants said that the employer is responsible for it. Many of the 35 percent are self-employed, so I think the actual percentage is even lower.
Based on risk areas
Many people infected with TBE develop no or mild symptoms, but some develop severe neurological symptoms that, in the worst case, can be encephalitis.
Then you end up in hospital for a long time and many also have residual symptoms that cause problems for a long time, often lifelong, says Ulrika Marking, infectious disease specialist at the Swedish Public Health Agency.
Around 400 people receive hospital treatment each year. The last ten years show that the number of cases has increased by an average of six percent a year.
The vaccine protects against the disease, but the Public Health Agency of Sweden does not have recommendations for specific occupational groups. Instead, the agency bases its recommendations on risk areas.
A person who is at risk of getting ticks is recommended to get vaccinated. If you have employees who are exposed to ticks in risk areas, it is not at all wrong as an employer to consider arranging vaccination for them, says Ulrika Marking.
Ticks bite to suck blood. A tick bite usually causes no problems, but ticks can transmit diseases such as TBE (tick-borne encephalitis), Lyme disease and anaplasmosis.
Most people who are infected with TBE experience mild symptoms and recover after a few days. However, up to a third develop encephalitis or inflammation of the meninges.
The regional infectious disease control units advise those staying in tick-dense areas to get vaccinated.
The entire counties of Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Södermanland, Stockholm and Värmland are considered risk areas and a total of 173 of the country's 290 municipalities are classified as risk areas, based on confirmed cases of the disease.
The mapping carried out by SVA, in collaboration with Uppsala University, can pinpoint where the infectious ticks are found.
Sources: 1177, Public Health Agency of Sweden and SVA
