Riccò et al.
Knowledge, attitudes, and practices on tick-borne human diseases and tick-borne encephalitis vaccine among farmers from north-eastern Italy (2017)
J. Agromed., in press, doi.org/10.1080/1059924X.2019.1659204
In north-eastern Italy (including the Autonomous Province of Trento), 456 TBE cases have been reported between 2000 and 2016. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study has been carried out in Trento among 125 male farmers during courses dealing with the management of pesticides to assess knowledge, attitudes and preventive practices regarding tick-borne diseases. A tick bite during the previous warm season was reported by 30.2% of respondents, and 50.0% have been bitten at least once during the previous five years. A total of 74.5% incorrectly identified alcohol as an appropriate treatment for the tick bites and that tick removal within 24 hours would not require any treatment (71.7%). More than 60% of the respondents believed that there is an association between vaccines and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis. A low percentage of participants correctly recalled early TBE symptoms, i.e. fever (50.9%), headache (30.2%), facial paralysis (14.2%). Only 56.6% of the participants knew that a TBE vaccine is available and only 43.3% of them had been vaccinated. Only 53.8% of the participants recalled at least one protective measure, i.e. the use of long sleeves and pants and/or tucking pants into socks, and only 2.8% reported using a combination of protective measures. In summary, adherence to preventive measures, including vaccination, was unsatisfactory among farmers in Trento.