TBE vaccinations are being fiercely sought after again. However, the number of vaccines will not be up to the figures of 2021, when the pandemic made people travel and get vaccinated.
The dog plays a big part in the fact that Finns go to get TBE or tick vaccination.
The TBE vaccine protects against tick-borne encephalitis, i.e. tick-borne encephalitis.
– We have happily treated Tepa dog for ticks every year. Then my husband and I decided that it would be necessary for us as well. The tick population and disease cases have increased so much.
Tepa gets a solution for ticks in Turkey and a pill in her mouth. Pirkko Valakar, on the other hand, is about to have the last of the series of three tick vaccines. He took the first one a year ago.
Valakari often moves in forests and dog parks in the capital region.
– There are a lot of ticks. You don’t have to go to the Laajalahti trails in Espoo or the Villa Elfvik nature house, they are there. I recommend the vaccine to other people in tick areas as well. It brings a certain kind of security.
The American got excited about the vaccine bus
– We have two labrador retrievers who occasionally bring ticks inside. In addition, we have rented a summer house in Lappeenranta, Schneider explains his TBE vaccination.
He became interested in the vaccine already last summer.
– I saw a vaccine bus like this last summer in front of Ruokakauppa and I wondered what it was. I hadn’t heard of the mite vaccine before, because in my home country, the United States, it has only recently received marketing authorization. When spring came, I wanted to get myself and my whole family vaccinated, says Schneider.
In the corona year 2021, a record number of vaccinations were taken
According to Olivia Kuusinen, vaccinations are also eagerly sought by people who move a lot in nature and spend time at summer cottages.
During the Corona period, camping and camping increased, which can also be seen in the statistics. They have a peak in 2021, when almost 246,000 doses of self-paid TBE vaccines were taken, says the pharmaceutical company Pfizer.
Last year, the number dropped somewhat, to 231,000. It was still significantly bigger than before the pandemic. For example, in 2019, 204,000 doses of vaccinations were taken.
– When people went out into nature, the number of TBE cases also increased. In the record year 2021, close to 150 TBE cases were diagnosed. The trend has been upward during ten years, and during that time TBE cases have tripled, says Kuusinen.
You should report your tick observations to the Punkkilive service, which gathers information for naturalistic research on the distribution of ticks.
Those living in risk areas receive a free TBE vaccine through the national vaccination program. THL has listed 12 areas whose residents are entitled to free vaccination.
Ticks are constantly spreading more widely, which is reflected in the national vaccination program. This year, the Espoo Summer Area has been added to it.
THL has also issued vaccination recommendations for areas outside the national vaccination program. Recommendations for these risk areas are based on incidence and case-by-case consideration. Residents of these areas have to pay for their vaccines themselves.
Lyme disease vaccine coming in the next few years
The TBE vaccine only protects against tick-borne encephalitis, and there is still no vaccine for another disease spread by ticks, borreliosis.
However, it is in sight in the next few years. The pharmaceutical company Pfizer, together with Valneva, is developing a borreliosis vaccine, the research of which is already in stage three, i.e. at a long stage.
Finns are also involved in the research. One of them is the CEO of Rokotepalvelu, Olivia Kuusinen.
– It is at a good stage in the investigations. Hopefully we can get a vaccine for Finns in a couple of years*,* says Kuusinen.
*Are you planning to take or have you already taken a tick vaccine? Did your dog make a difference? You can discuss the topic on 6.5. until 11 p.m.*