– I have been bitten twice before and know how bad it can be, says Anne Margrethe Dahlen. She and her husband often go for walks in the forest in Sandefjord. Last year they chose to vaccinate against TBE in order to be able to move around without worrying about the tick-borne disease. More and more people are doing the same. But now it’s starting to hurry if one has to be protected before the summer. Several cases of TBE in Norway Dahlen has had the tick-borne disease Lyme disease twice. – Both times I got a red mark around the bite and felt very bad, she says. After several courses of penicillin, she got rid of the disease. She feels lucky to have escaped without lasting harm. There is no vaccine against Lyme disease, but there is, on the other hand, for the rarer tick-borne virus TBE (forest tick encephalitis). Since 2018, the number of people who have been infected with TBE in Norway has gradually increased. The increase is largest in Porsgrunn and Larvik. Some do not get symptoms. Others get mild flu. But someone becomes seriously ill with meningitis, encephalitis or spinal cord inflammation. The Norwegian Institute of Public Health is now expanding the recommendations for areas where people should consider getting vaccinated. – The geographical area then runs from Flekkefjord along the coast to Drammen, and along the east coast of the Oslofjord, from Vestby to the Swedish border, says Solveig Jore at FHI. When the married couple Finn Røijen and Anne Margrethe Dahlen found out that there was a vaccine against TBE, the choice was easy. – We don’t want that. Taking that vaccine seems to us to be very important, says Dahlen. Photo: Magnus Skatvedt Iversen / news Doubling the number of people vaccinated The Institute of Public Health registered a sharp increase in the number of people who took the vaccine last year. In 2022, 54,000 Norwegians chose to take the TBE vaccine. There were twice as many as in 2019. Nevertheless, Yvonne Kerlefsen at the tick center in Agder suspects that some of those who need the vaccine the most do not take it. She says that people who live in the risk zones, who travel a lot in nature and are used to tick bites, should consider taking the vaccine. – But it’s not like everyone is going to run and take him. There are many people who never get bitten by a tick, she underlines. The vaccine can be taken all year round. But to have the best protection, he should be taken in winter, well before ticks are most widespread and the risk of being bitten is greatest. According to the Association of Pharmacists, this means that you should preferably have the vaccine before Easter to be fully protected this summer. Lyme disease is the most common tick-borne disease in the country, with approximately 8,000 registered cases each year. Over 90 percent get mild symptoms. Photo: Erik Karits Children rarely get sick The Tick Center receives calls from all over the country with questions about the tiny but troublesome tick. Kerlefsen says many people worry that children will be infected with the disease. She emphasizes that there are far more adults than children who get TBE. – A five-year-old can get TBE. But the typical patient is over 40 years old. Hi! Glad you made it down here! Do you have questions about this matter, or other matters to advise me about?
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– Know how bad it can be – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
