Where you live has a major impact on your risk of getting Lyme disease. In total, 14 percent of the world’s population has antibodies against the disease, but the differences between areas are large.
At least one in seven people has been bitten by a tick and has developed Lyme disease as a result. Scientists conclude this on the basis of a data analysis in BMJ Global Health† Although the number of people with Lyme disease was thought to have increased in recent years, it was never certain how big the increase will be. Until now. According to medical microbiologist Jean-Luc Murk of the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital, this picture is in line with the climate changes of recent decades. “Now that we have warm weather more often and for longer, there is also a longer period in which people can be bitten by ticks.”
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For the analysis, 89 different studies from the period 1983 to 2021 were reviewed. A total of 158,287 people took part. Of that group, 14.5 percent turned out to have antibodies against the bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi, which causes Lyme disease. That suggests they were or had been infected at the time of testing.
The researchers have done their best to provide as reliable a picture as possible, says Murk. But he also points to criticisms. “By the way, they discuss them in detail themselves. For example, the way of testing in the studies they used differed enormously. Putting the results of different tests together can give a distorted picture. What they do not comment on is that antibodies against the bacteria can disappear again at some point. If you don’t find any antibodies in someone, that doesn’t mean they’ve never been infected and got sick.”
Not every tick bite will cause you to get Lyme disease; about one in five ticks carries the harmful bacteria. The parasite itself contracts it when it sucks blood from rodents, birds or other infected animals. If it then bites into people, the bacteria can be transferred. Lyme disease can cause symptoms such as fatigue, muscle aches and headaches.
young people
People over the age of 40 are more likely to be infected than young people. That’s no surprise, explains Murk. “Because the longer you live, the greater the chance that you have ever been bitten by an infected tick.”
The worst unlucky ones live in Central Europe; 20.7 percent of the people there have suffered from the disease. In East Asia, 15.9 percent of the population has ever contracted the disease and in Western Europe 13.5 percent. Are you really really scared of being bitten? Then you are in the right place in the Caribbean, South Asia and Oceania. There, less than 6 percent has contracted the disease.
Sources: BMJ Global Health, EurekAlert!, RIVM
Image: Uberprutser / Wikimedia Commons
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