When and where do you find them?
Ticks can be found all over Sweden in forests, meadows, and long grass, meaning the biggest risk is when you're out in nature – especially hiking, camping, or berry-picking – but they can also be found in city parks in affected areas.
Ticks are active when the temperature is higher than around 5C, but are most common during the summer months. Tick season is roughly from March to October, with most bites occurring in summer.
What diseases can they cause?
In Sweden, the two main tick-borne diseases are Lyme disease and Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE).
Lyme disease (also called borrelia) causes no symptoms in around half of all people who catch it. For others, it can cause skin redness, headaches, and pain, and can attack the nervous system. Symptoms usually appear between two and six weeks after the bite, but can take longer.
TBE is a viral brain infection, which can cause a range of symptoms, usually starting with typical flu-like symptoms and then developing to include nausea, dizziness, and in around a third of cases, severe problems. Symptoms usually appear around a week after the bite, but can take longer. There is no cure, but it can be treated, and there is a vaccination too.
While ticks are found across Sweden, ticks carrying TBE have historically been concentrated in certain areas in the southern half of the country and the Stockholm archipelago. The disease has however spread in recent years.
How can I protect myself?
Lyme disease has no vaccine but can be treated, while TBE cannot be cured but both a vaccine and treatments are available.
Because of the risk of Lyme disease, even if you're up to date on your TBE vaccines, you should still do what you can to prevent ticks.
If you'll be spending time in wooded areas with long grass, especially those known to have a high tick presence, take precautions like wearing long sleeved clothing and tucking trousers into socks. Try to avoid brushing against long grasses by walking along the middle of the path where you can.
After returning home from a day out, you should check carefully for ticks and shower shortly after coming inside. This can give you the chance to remove them before they bite, for example if you spot them on your clothes. Putting clothes in a tumble dryer for one hour should kill ticks.
What if I get bitten?
If you do get a tick, you should remove it safely. The sooner you can do this, the lower the risk that it will be able to infect you with Lyme disease as it can take up to 24 hours for the bacteria to be transferred.
It can be done with a special tick remover (which you should be able to buy at most Swedish pharmacies) or tweezers. The important thing is making sure you remove the whole tick, by grabbing it as close to the skin as possible and pulling slowly. Then, wash and clean the bite, and contact a doctor if you're worried, especially if you experience symptoms of illness in the weeks after being bitten.
How can I get a TBE vaccine?
Vaccinations are recommended for those living in areas with TBE-infested ticks, and/or who spend a lot of time out in forests. The cost of the vaccine varies depending on where in Sweden you live, but it's usually a few hundred kronor.
You get three doses within the first year (or four if you're over 50), each one increasing the level of protection, another dose after three years and then will need top-ups every five years. Because you need several doses to be fully protected, it's recommended that you begin the vaccination programme well ahead of tick season.
You can search for healthcare centres near you through the 1177 service or the website Fästing.nu, or use a private company.
Swedish vocabulary
tick – (en) fästing
lyme disease – borrelia
tick remover – (en) fästingplockare
vaccine – (en) vaccin
dose – (en) dos
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