There is currently no vaccine against Lyme disease.
However, there is now a vaccine candidate from Pfizer, VLA15, which has shown promising results.
Three doses have so far shown a good effect against Lyme disease.
Johan Sanmartin Berglund, professor of health sciences at Blekinge University of Technology, leads the Lyme disease vaccine study that is currently underway in Sweden.
- We are in full swing with the study and have recruited 400 people for it.
We will start testing the vaccine soon.
It will take place in Blekinge, Örebro, Lund, Stockholm and western Götaland, says Johan Sanmartin Berglund.
"Creeps for half an hour"
Until there is an effective vaccine against Lyme disease, Johan Sanmartin Berglund recommends that you get into the habit of examining your body after you have been out in nature.
He says that 1 in 200 tick bites leads to Lyme disease.
- The tick usually crawls around on the body for about half an hour before it decides to bite.
You usually have time to brush it off, he says.
Once it has bitten itself, make sure to remove it within 24 hours, then the risk of infection decreases dramatically.
The borrelia bacteria are located in the tick's gastrointestinal tract, so it is not the bite itself that transmits the infection.
- Avoid pouring grease or the like on the tick to make it let go.
This only increases the risk of the tick vomiting the bacteria into the blood.
And do not touch it with a needle, says Johan Sanmartin Berglund.
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Hear Johan Sanmartin Berglund, professor of health sciences at Blekinge Institute of Technology, talk about the study in the clip above.
Photo: Erlend Aas / TT / SVT