More than a third of this year’s TBE cases in Bavaria were reported in Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate. The Bavarian State Office for Health and Food Safety (LGL) announced this in response to a request from BR24. Thus, ten people were affected in Lower Bavaria by the deadline of June 17, and twelve in the Upper Palatinate – a total of eight more cases than in the same period in 2023.
Lower Bavaria is also the absolute hotspot for Lyme disease. Out of a total of more than 1,000 cases of the disease throughout Bavaria, more than 300 were found here – 80 more than in the previous year. Lower Bavaria and the Upper Palatinate have been the administrative districts with the highest incidence of TBE and Lyme disease for many years. TBE causes meningitis, which can potentially lead to death. There have been no deaths in the whole of Bavaria this year.
Go to article: Ticks: A Breakthrough in Vaccination Against Lyme Disease?
Climate change extends tick season
Since experience shows that June is the month with the highest number of TBE or Lyme disease cases, the number of cases rose again by Friday, June 28. There is no official update from the LGL. However, BR24 asked several health authorities in the region for the current figures. In the Upper Palatinate alone, the number of TBE cases is now expected to be in the double-digit range. For example, ten TBE cases had already been reported in the Schwandorf district by Friday.
What was also new this year: By the end of June, 37 cases of TBE had already been reported across Bavaria – more meningitis than ever before in this period since the reporting obligation began in 2001. There are several reasons for this, says André Gessner, microbiologist at the University Hospital Regensburg (UKR). For one, climate change plays a role: “Milder winters, warmer summers: these are favourable conditions for ticks, which are therefore active for a longer period of time.”
Doctors: “They expect the number of diseases to increase”
In addition, the entire ecosystem is changing, more and more people are spending time in nature – and awareness and the number of reports of tick-borne diseases are generally increasing: “This interaction means that we continue to see an increase in the incidence of tick-borne diseases over the years,” Gessner told BR24. The health authorities in the districts of Cham and Schwandorf in the Upper Palatinate as well as the district of Regen in Lower Bavaria also expect the number of cases to continue to rise.
Dr. Gessner attributes the fact that Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate have had some of the highest incidences of TBE and Lyme disease for years to the fact that many people live in rural areas and are also relatively frequently outdoors. Many areas of the country are sparsely populated and there are many meadows and forests. Just yesterday, Gessner and his colleagues at the UKR Institute of Microbiology and Hygiene diagnosed another severe case of TBE in a child from Eastern Bavaria.
Only 20 percent of adults in Bavaria are vaccinated against TBE
Around to protect yourself from ticksknown recipes help. Anyone who is in nature should – even if it is annoying – wear clothing that is as long as possible and that covers as much skin as possible. So-called repellents are also effective – i.e. sprays that keep ticks away. If a tick has already bitten, it should be removed as quickly as possible. While Lyme disease is transmitted on average after one day, TBE is transmitted much faster. The viruses are located in the salivary gland.
That’s why you should definitely get vaccinated against TBE, emphasizes André Gessner. 94 of the 96 districts and cities in Bavaria are now designated as risk areas for TBE. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), in 2020 less than a fifth of all adults in Bavaria were fully vaccinated. “The vaccination rate needs to increase – especially among people who are often in nature,” demands Gessner. The vaccination rate is slightly higher among those starting school. According to data from the 2016/2017 university entrance exams, it is just over a third.
Lyme disease vaccine starting in 2026?
There is currently no vaccine for Lyme disease. However, research may be on the verge of a breakthrough. Pharmaceutical companies “Valneva” and “Pfizer” have been working on the VLA15 vaccine against Lyme disease for a long time. If the other results of the study are also positive, the two companies want to apply for approval from the responsible authorities in 2026.