During the entire 2024, a total of 384 Swedes were infected with TBE (Tick-borne encephalitis) or tick-borne meningitis.
And already halfway through August this year, the Public Health Agency has 269 registered cases of the potentially very dangerous disease.
It's a higher level than in recent years, says Caroline Schönning, investigator at the Public Health Agency, to TT.
Climate a factor
Why more and more Swedes are infected with TBE is difficult to answer, according to Schönning. One reason may be the climate. Ticks get a longer season when it's warmer for a larger part of the year compared to before, and at the same time, warmer summers make more people stay outdoors in nature.
There are many factors that interact, says Schönning.
A proportion of those infected with TBE have hardly any symptoms at all, and we actually know very little about those people. But it can become very serious where you first get sick, then recover, and then get sick again. It's a very serious disease that can affect the nervous system.
Common symptoms of TBE are fever, severe headache, vomiting, light sensitivity, neck stiffness, and concentration problems. If the virus reaches the brain, it can affect the central nervous system and cause paralysis, personality changes - and in severe cases, lead to death. Every year, about ten people die in Sweden from TBE, according to the Social Insurance Agency's cause of death register.
"Remove them"
There is a vaccine against TBE, and apart from that, it's mainly about keeping an eye on your body to avoid the disease.
If you've been outdoors in nature and haven't worn long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, it's very important to check that you don't have ticks on you. If you do, you should remove them as soon as possible, regardless of whether they're crawling around or sitting tight. You can't really do much more than that, says Caroline Schönning.
Ticks bite to suck blood. A tick bite usually doesn't cause any problems, but ticks can transmit diseases such as TBE (tick-borne meningitis), borreliosis, and tick fever (anaplasmosis).
The regions' infection control units advise those who stay in tick-dense areas to get vaccinated.
The entire Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Södermanland, Stockholm, and Värmland counties 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 disease.
The mapping that SVA, the National Veterinary Institute, does in collaboration with Uppsala University can specify where the disease-carrying ticks are found.
Sources: 1177, the Public Health Agency, and SVA
