Cargando…

Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020

In Germany, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) infections mainly occur in southern regions. Despite recent increases in incidence, TBE vaccination coverage remains low, necessitating additional preventive strategies against TBE. Our case-control study in Southern Germany from 2018 to 2020 mapped knowledg...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nygren, Teresa Marie, Pilic, Antonia, Böhmer, Merle Margarete, Wagner-Wiening, Christiane, Wichmann, Ole, Harder, Thomas, Hellenbrand, Wiebke
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9025759/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35456742
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040690
_version_ 1784690953072672768
author Nygren, Teresa Marie
Pilic, Antonia
Böhmer, Merle Margarete
Wagner-Wiening, Christiane
Wichmann, Ole
Harder, Thomas
Hellenbrand, Wiebke
author_facet Nygren, Teresa Marie
Pilic, Antonia
Böhmer, Merle Margarete
Wagner-Wiening, Christiane
Wichmann, Ole
Harder, Thomas
Hellenbrand, Wiebke
author_sort Nygren, Teresa Marie
collection PubMed
description In Germany, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) infections mainly occur in southern regions. Despite recent increases in incidence, TBE vaccination coverage remains low, necessitating additional preventive strategies against TBE. Our case-control study in Southern Germany from 2018 to 2020 mapped knowledge/application of tick-protective strategies and identified TBE risk factors. We calculated odds ratios (OR), with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We interviewed 581 cases and 975 matched controls. Most participants recalled lifetime tick bites, mainly while walking, gardening, or hiking. However, only 45% of cases noticed ticks during exposure time; another 12% reported unpasteurized milk intake. While tick-protection knowledge was satisfactory, application lagged behind. Risk factors included dog ownership (OR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.85–3.24), walks ≥ 4×/week (OR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.42–3.12), gardening ≥ 4×/week (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.11–3.02), and garden proximity < 250 m of forests (OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.82–3.56). Applying ≥2 tick-protective strategies (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.40–0.68) and keeping lawns mowed (OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43–0.91) were inversely associated with TBE. In 2020 (likely pandemic-related), cases reported significantly more walks than previously, potentially explaining the record high case numbers. Our findings provide guidance on targets for TBE prevention. Persons with gardens near forests, frequent outdoor activities, or dogs could particularly benefit from targeted information, including on vaccination and preventing tick bites.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9025759
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-90257592022-04-23 Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020 Nygren, Teresa Marie Pilic, Antonia Böhmer, Merle Margarete Wagner-Wiening, Christiane Wichmann, Ole Harder, Thomas Hellenbrand, Wiebke Microorganisms Article In Germany, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) infections mainly occur in southern regions. Despite recent increases in incidence, TBE vaccination coverage remains low, necessitating additional preventive strategies against TBE. Our case-control study in Southern Germany from 2018 to 2020 mapped knowledge/application of tick-protective strategies and identified TBE risk factors. We calculated odds ratios (OR), with 95% confidence intervals (CI). We interviewed 581 cases and 975 matched controls. Most participants recalled lifetime tick bites, mainly while walking, gardening, or hiking. However, only 45% of cases noticed ticks during exposure time; another 12% reported unpasteurized milk intake. While tick-protection knowledge was satisfactory, application lagged behind. Risk factors included dog ownership (OR = 2.45, 95% CI: 1.85–3.24), walks ≥ 4×/week (OR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.42–3.12), gardening ≥ 4×/week (OR = 1.83, 95% CI: 1.11–3.02), and garden proximity < 250 m of forests (OR = 2.54, 95% CI: 1.82–3.56). Applying ≥2 tick-protective strategies (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.40–0.68) and keeping lawns mowed (OR = 0.63, 95% CI: 0.43–0.91) were inversely associated with TBE. In 2020 (likely pandemic-related), cases reported significantly more walks than previously, potentially explaining the record high case numbers. Our findings provide guidance on targets for TBE prevention. Persons with gardens near forests, frequent outdoor activities, or dogs could particularly benefit from targeted information, including on vaccination and preventing tick bites. MDPI 2022-03-23 /pmc/articles/PMC9025759/ /pubmed/35456742 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040690 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Nygren, Teresa Marie
Pilic, Antonia
Böhmer, Merle Margarete
Wagner-Wiening, Christiane
Wichmann, Ole
Harder, Thomas
Hellenbrand, Wiebke
Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020
title Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020
title_full Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020
title_fullStr Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020
title_full_unstemmed Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020
title_short Tick-Borne Encephalitis Risk Increases with Dog Ownership, Frequent Walks, and Gardening: A Case-Control Study in Germany 2018–2020
title_sort tick-borne encephalitis risk increases with dog ownership, frequent walks, and gardening: a case-control study in germany 2018–2020
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9025759/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35456742
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms10040690
work_keys_str_mv AT nygrenteresamarie tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020
AT pilicantonia tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020
AT bohmermerlemargarete tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020
AT wagnerwieningchristiane tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020
AT wichmannole tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020
AT harderthomas tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020
AT hellenbrandwiebke tickborneencephalitisriskincreaseswithdogownershipfrequentwalksandgardeningacasecontrolstudyingermany20182020