Actually, the tick is not the problem, it is the diseases that it can transmit. The most important are Lyme disease, which is caused by an infection with bacteria, and tick-borne encephalitis, also known as TBE. This is a viral infection that can lead to dangerous meningitis, brain or spinal cord inflammation.
So it’s important to protect yourself – maybe with garlic, as a popular tip recommends? “Garlic can have a certain effect,” says Ute Mackenstedt, Professor of Parasitology at the University of Hohenheim and tick expert. “But it’s not a safe protection.”
The most common type of tick in Germany is called the common wood tick and is blind. If she wants to sting a person, “she has to perceive him chemically via smells,” says Mackenstedt. She does this with her first pair of legs – because there is a special sensory organ there, called Haller’s organ, with which she can detect both exhaled carbon dioxide and skin odors such as sweat and can orientate herself in the direction of her victim.
The expert explains that ticks are known to react more strongly to the smells of some people than to those of others. If you eat a lot of garlic, it might make you less attractive for a short time. So-called repellents, i.e. insect repellents, are more effective, and long clothing and socks pulled over trousers are also recommended when walking through tall grass. “And you should definitely look for it.”
There is also a vaccination against the rather rare but particularly risky infection with a TBE virus, which the Standing Vaccination Committee recommends at least for the risk areas, especially in southern Germany. By the way, protection against the small arachnids is even more important today than it used to be, says Mackenstedt: “We should get used to the fact that ticks are now active all year round.” This is due to climate change, which has other consequences: So are in the So-called Hyalomma ticks have been observed in Germany in recent years. They come from warmer regions, were probably brought along by migratory birds – and they not only lurk and wait like the common woodbuck, but are so-called hunting ticks. with eyes.
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