Poland’s National Institute of Public Health (NIZP), a state research body, has launched a preventive healthcare programme to tackle tick-borne illnesses like Lyme disease, which have become more common as rising temperatures make ticks increasingly prevalent.
Lyme disease is caused by a bacterium transmitted to humans through the bite of ticks. Most infected people develop a rash, and can also suffer headaches and a fever. If untreated, the illness can cause more severe pain, facial paralysis and heart palpitations.
In the 1990s, Poland recoded a few hundred cases of the disease each year. That has since risen to thousands, reaching a peak of 21,220 in 2016 and 21,516 in 2017.
One of the reasons is a warming climate, which has allowed ticks to live in areas previously too cold for them and has extended their period of activity, reports Onet. But the NIZP also notes that improved detection of Lyme disease has increased the official numbers of cases.
To tackle the problem, the NIZP has launched a pilot preventive health scheme with European Union co-funding. Health centres in central Poland will provide testing and other help to people who have suffered tick bites.
While Lyme disease is relatively mild and can be treated with antibiotics, another disease, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), can be much more dangerous, warns Joanna Zajkowska from the Department of Infectious Diseases and Neuroinfections at the University Teaching Hospital in Białystok.
To avoid ticks, doctors advise wearing tight clothing covering as much of the body as possible when walking in woods, parks and grassland, then carefully checking for bites after returning home. If discovered on the body, ticks should be removed with tweezers, and not with oily substances, writes Interia.
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
