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Prevention of borreliosis in persons bitten by infected ticks

Prävention der Borreliose nach Stich durch infizierte Zecken

  • Special Addendum — Part II
  • Therapy And Prophylaxis In Lyme Borreliosis
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Summary

A study on prevention of borreliosis in humans bitten by infected ticks was performed in 1992–1994 in the Perm' region of Russia. AdultIxodes persulcatus ticks were removed from the study subjects, and live preparations made from the material obtained from the gut of each tick were microscopically analyzed (up to 250 microscopic fields per preparation). Persons were divided into experimental and control groups (261 and 97 persons, respectively). The experimental group received doxycycline (100 mg twice daily) for 3–5 days after the tick bite. In the control (untreated) group, 12 persons contracted borreliosis. In the experimental group, the disease was diagnosed in three subjects. Morbidity per 100 patients in the experimental group was 1.1, i.e. 11 times lower than that in the control group. Identification ofBorrelia in ticks by microscopic analysis, followed by a short-term treatment with antibiotics according to microbiological indications, is an efficient method for preventing persons from contracting borreliosis.

Zusammenfassung

In der Perm-Region, Rußland, wurde von 1992–1994 eine Studie bei Personen, die von borrelieninfizierten Zecken gestochen worden waren, durchgeführt. Erwachsene Zecken der SpeziesIxodes persulcatus wurden abgenommen und nach Sektion auf Anwesenheit von Borrelien im Darm mikroskopisch untersucht (bis zu 250 Gesichtsfelder pro Präparat wurden untersucht). In der experimentellen Gruppe waren 261 und in der Kontrollgruppe 97 Personen eingeschlossen. Die experimentelle Gruppe erhielt eine Therapie mit 100 mg Doxycyclin zweimal täglich für 3–5 Tage nach dem Zeckenstich. In der unbehandelten Kontrollgruppe zogen sich 12 Personen eine Borrelieninfektion zu. In der experimentellen Gruppe wurde bei drei Personen eine Borreliose diagnostiziert. Die Morbidität war in der behandelten Gruppe mit 1,1/100 11 mal geringer als in der Kontrollgruppe. Identifizierung von Borrelien in den Zecken unter dem Mikroskop und kurzzeitige Antibiotikabehandlung entsprechend dem mikroskopischen Befund erwies sich als effiziente Methode, um nach Zeckenstick eine Borrelia-Infektion zu verhüten.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gameleya Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russian Academy of Medical Science, Gamaleya St. 18, 123098, Moscow, Russia

    E. I. Korenberg &  Henrietta G. Moskvitina

  2. Perm' Medical Academy, Kuibyshev St. 38, 614000, Perm', Russia

    Natalia N. Vorobyeva M. D.

  3. Perm' City Center of State Sanitary-Epidemiological Administration, Kommunisticheskaya St. 51, 614001, Perm', Russia

    Lidiya Ya. Gorban' M. D.

Authors
  1. E. I. Korenberg
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  2. Henrietta G. Moskvitina
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  3. Natalia N. Vorobyeva M. D.
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  4. Lidiya Ya. Gorban' M. D.
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Korenberg, E.I., Moskvitina, H.G., Vorobyeva, N.N. et al. Prevention of borreliosis in persons bitten by infected ticks. Infection 24, 187–189 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01713337

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