Andere tekenbeetziekten

When a patient falls ill after a tick bite, Lyme disease tends to be the only disease taken into consideration. In addition to Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, the pathogen that causes Lyme disease, ticks may also carry other bacteria, parasites and viruses that may cause disease when they are transmitted to humans. There are different tick species in the Netherlands, each of which can transmit different pathogens to humans. The clinical picture caused by these pathogens mainly includes fever, a few weeks after the tick-bite. It is not known how often these other tick-borne diseases occur in the Netherlands. This is due to the fact that there are only a few case reports of these diseases to be found in the literature and because diagnostic possibilities are limited. In this article we explain the different kinds of ticks, the diseases that can develop after a tick-bite and how patients with these diseases should be treated.

Conflict of interest and financial support: none declared.