Aanalyzing risks of incidence of tick-borne encephalitis in areas with different climatic and geographical conditions

View or download the full article: 
PDF icon health-risk-analysis-2021-4-14.pdf
UDC: 
616.988.25
DOI: 
10.21668/health.risk/2021.4.14.eng
Authors: 

N.K. Tokarevich1,2, A.A. Tronin3, R.V. Buzinov4,5, O.V. Sokolova5,6, T.N. Unguryanu5,6

Organization: 

1Pasteur’s Saint-Petersburg Institute, 14 Mira Str., St. Petersburg, 197101, Russian Federation
2North-Western State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, 41 Kirochnaya Str., St. Petersburg, 191015, Russian Federation
3Scientific Research Centre for Ecological Safety of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 18 Korpusnaya Str., St. Petersburg, 197110, Russian Federation
4North-Western Public Health Research Center, 4 2 Sovetskaya Str., St. Petersburg, 191036, Russian Federation
5Northern State Medical University, 51 Troitskii Ave., Arkhangelsk, 163000, Russian Federation
6Arkhangelsk Region Department of the Federal Service for Surveillance over Customers Rights Protection and Human Well-Being, 24 Gaidara Str., Arkhangelsk, 163000, Russian Federation

Abstract: 

Ticks are natural reservoirs and vectors of a virus that is an infectious agent of tick-borne encephalitis, a communicable disease with great medical and social significance. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is widely spread in Arkhangelsk region (AR) located in the Arctic zone in Russia where substantial climatic changes are taking place at the moment.

Our research involved examining spatial and temporal distribution of numbers of people bitten by ticks, a number of people bitten by ticks per 100 thousand, a number of TBE cases and TBE incidence in districts and settlements in AR. We calculated relative risks of TBE incidence among people bitten by ticks in AR from 1980 to 2019.

We analyzed dynamics of indicators showing numbers of people bitten by ticks per 100 thousand and TBE incidence among people living in Arkhangelsk region. The analysis revealed that a number of bitten people grew slowly in 1980–1990, then there was an exponential growth in 1990–2010, and then the trend stabilized in 2010–2019. Dynamics of TBE incidence was completely in line with changes in number of bitten people up to 2014 but there was a substantial drop in TBE incidence after that.

Spatial distribution of numbers of bitten people and TBE incidence revealed that average number of bitten people amounted to 25.1 per 100 thousand in the northern districts in 1980–2019 and was statistically significantly lower than in the central and southern districts (р < 0.001). Average long-term incidence was the highest (7.9 per 100 thousand) in the southern districts in comparison with the central (3.0 per 100 thousand; р<0.001) and northern ones (0.7 per 100 thousand; р<0.001). Maximum relative risks of TBE incidence was detected in the southern districts in 1990–1999 (38.8) in comparison with the northern ones.

We made an assumption about probable reasons for declining TBE incidence in Arkhangelsk region detected over the last years given the growing numbers of bitten people.

Keywords: 
ticks, tick-borne encephalitis, relative risk, Arkhangelsk region
Tokarevich N.K., Tronin A.A., Buzinov R.V., Sokolova O.V., Unguryanu T.N. Analyzing risks of incidence of tick-borne encephalitis in areas with different climatic and geographical conditions. Health Risk Analysis, 2021, no. 4, pp. 127–135. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2021.4.14.eng
References: 
  1. Heyman P., Cochez C., Hofhuis A., van der Giessen J., Sprong H., Porter S.R., Losson B., Saegerman C. [et al.]. A clear and present danger: tick-borne diseases in Europe. Expert Rev. Anti Infect. Ther., 2010, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 33–50. DOI: 10.1586/eri.09.118
  2. Provorova V.V., Krasnova E.I., Khokhlova N.I., Savel'eva M.A., Filimonova E.S., Kuznetsova V.G. Old and new tick-borne infections in Russia. Infektsionnye bolezni: novosti, mneniya, obuchenie, 2019, vol. 8, no. 2 (29), pp. 102–112. DOI: 10.24411/2305-3496-2019-12013 (in Russian).
  3. Noskov A.K., Andaev E.I., Nikitin A.Ya., Pakskina N.D., Yatsmenko E.V., Verigina E.V., Tolmacheva M.I., Balakhonov S.V. Tick-Borne Viral Encephalitis Morbidity Rates in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation. Communication 1: Epidemiological Situation on Tick-Borne Viral Encephalitis in 2018 and Forecast for 2019. Problemy osobo opasnykh infektsii, 2019, no. 1, pp. 74–80. DOI: 10.21055/0370-1069-2019-1-74-8 (in Russian).
  4. Sokolova O.V., Buzinov R.V., Popova O.N., Pasynkova M.M., Gudkov A.B., Chashchin V.P. Epidemiological Character of Tick-Borne Viral Encephalitis Extension in the Arkhangelsk Region. Ekologiya cheloveka, 2017, no. 4, pp. 12–19. DOI: 10.33396/1728-0869-2017-4-12-19 (in Russian).
  5. Korenberg E.I., Sirotkin M.B., Kovalevskii Yu.V. Adaptive Features of the Biology of Similar Species of Ixodes Ticks that Determine their Distribution (on the Example of the Taiga – Ixodes persulcatus Sch. 1930 and European Forest – Ixodes ricinus L. 1758). Uspekhi sovremennoi biologii, 2021, vol. 141, no. 3, pp. 271–286. DOI: 10.31857/S0042132421030078 (in Russian).
  6. Shvartsman Yu.G., Bolotov I.N. Prostranstvenno-vremennaya neodnorodnost' taezhnogo bioma v oblasti pleistotsenovykh materikovykh oledenenii [Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of Taiga biome in the area of Pleistocene continental glaciation]. Ekaterinburg, Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Publ., 2008, 263 р. (in Russian).
  7. Hasle G. Transport of ixodid ticks and tick-borne pathogens by migratory birds. Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol., 2013, vol. 3, pp. 48. DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2013.00048
  8. Sparagano O., George D., Giangaspero A., Spitalska E. Arthropods and associated arthropod-borne diseases transmitted by migrated birds. The case of ticks and tick-borne pathogens. Vet. Parasitol., 2015, vol. 213, no. 1–2, pp. 61–66. DOI: 10.1016/j.vetpar.2015.08.028
  9. Korenberg E.I., Zhukov V.I., Shatkauskas A.V., Bushueva L.K. The distribution of Ixodes persulcatus in the USSR. Zoology, 1969, vol. 48, no. 7, pp. 1003–1014. Available at: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/263926549 (in Russian).
  10. Tronin A., Tokarevich N., Blinova O., Gnativ B., Buzinov R., Sokolova O., Evengard B., Pahomova T. [et al.]. Study of the Relationship between the Average Annual Temperature of Atmospheric Air and the Number of Tick-Bitten Humans in the North of European Russia. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2020, vol. 17, no. 21, pp. 8006. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17218006
  11. Subbotina N.S., Dorshakova N.S., Petrova A.V. Epidemiological characteristic of tick-borne encephalitis in North-West region of Russia. Ekologiya cheloveka, 2007, no. 7, pp. 15–19 (in Russian).
  12. Chashchin V.P., Kovshov A.A., Gudkov A.B., Morgunov B.A. Socioeconomic and behavioral risk factors of disabilities among the indigenous population in the Far North. Ekologiya cheloveka, 2016, no. 6, pp. 3–8. DOI: 10.33396/1728-0869-2016-6-3-8 (in Russian).
  13. Madison-Antenucci S., Kramer L.D., Gebhardt L.L., Kauffman E. Emerging tick-borne diseases. Clin. Microbiol. Rev., 2020, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. e00083–18. DOI: 10.1128/CMR.00083-18
  14. Jaenson T.G., Hjertqvist M., Bergstrom T., Lundkvist A. Why is tick-borne encephalitis increasing? A review of the key factors causing the increasing incidence of human TBE in Sweden. Parasit. Vectors, 2012, vol. 5, pp. 184. DOI: 10.1186/1756-3305-5-184
  15. Skarpaas T., Golovljova I., Vene S., Ljostad U., Sjursen H., Plyusnin A., Lundkvist A. Tick-borne encephalitis virus, Norway and Denmark. Emerg. Infect. Dis., 2006, vol. 12, no. 7, pp. 1136–1138. DOI: 10.3201/eid1207.051567
  16. Suss J. TBE – a short overview on epidemiological status in Europe. ISW-TBE, Vienna, February 2–3, 2012.
  17. Suss J. Tick-borne encephalitis 2010: Epidemiology risk areas and virus strains in Europe and Asia – An overview. Ticks Tick Borne Dis., 2011, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 2–15. DOI: 10.1016/j.ttbdis.2010.10.007
  18. Kartashov M.Yu., Mikryukova T.P., Krivosheina E.I., Kuznetsov A.I., Glushkova L.I., Korabel'nikov I.V., Egorova Yu.I., Ternovoi V.A., Loktev V.B. Genotyping of tick-borne encephalitis and Kemerovo viruses in Taiga ticks collected in the Komi Republic. Infektsiya i immunitet, 2020, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 159–166. DOI: 10.15789/2220-7619-GOT-1147
  19. Hedlund C., Blomstedt Y., Schumann B. Association of climatic factors with infectious diseases in the Arctic and Subarctic region – a systematic review. Glob. Health Action, 2014, vol. 7, pp. 24161. DOI: 10.3402/gha.v7.24161
Received: 
19.11.2021
Accepted: 
29.11.2021
Published: 
30.12.2021

You are here

Home