RT Journal Article
T1 Living with ticks: Results of an online survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding ticks and tick-borne pathogens in academic environments across Europe.
A1 Estrada-Peña, Agustín
A1 Antunes, Sandra
A1 Domingos, Ana
A1 Esser, Helen
A1 Földvári, Gábor
A1 Fuehrer, Hans-Peter
A1 Gargili, Aysen
A1 van Gestel, Mats
A1 Grandi, Giulio
A1 Kazimirova, Maria
A1 Kiewra, Dorota
A1 Klemola, Tero
A1 Kjær, Lene Jung
A1 Kjelland, Vivian
A1 Kubiak, Katarzyna
A1 de Meneghi, Daniele
A1 Mihalca, Andrei Daniel
A1 Moutailler, Sarah
A1 Potkonjak, Aleksandar
A1 Prokop, Pavel
A1 Robert, Käthe
A1 Ranka, Renate
A1 Sainz Rodríguez, Ángel
A1 Sormunen, Jani
A1 Sotiraki, Smaragda
A1 Strube, Christina
A1 Stuen, Snorre
A1 Široký, Pavel
A1 Tomassone, Laura
A1 Zintl, Annetta
AB We prepared a digital questionnaire to capture knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding ticks and tickborne pathogens (TBPs) in 20 languages. The questionnaire was distributed to 21 universities and research institutions in 22 European countries and 9401 valid responses were collected. Most survey participants identified ticks correctly and regarded ticks as a serious health risk. There was also a good level of knowledge regarding tick  activity, habitats and the predominant TBPs in the country or region. Moreover, most respondents were familiar with effective tick protection and removal measures. Over 75 % of respondents had been bitten by ticks and up to 12 % of participants had been diagnosed with a tick-borne infection in the past. Respondents from northern and central European countries who reported engaging in outdoor activities more frequently, reported increased frequencies of tick bites and infection with TBPs compared to respondents from southern Europe. Awareness of national information campaigns on ticks and TBPs was also greater among respondents from northern and central European countries than among Mediterranean countries. This study identified knowledge gaps among respondents from some European countries where TBPs have not been prioritised historically. These knowledge gaps should be addressed by reputable bodies to encourage personal protective behaviours without causing alarm and to forestall the spreading of incorrect and unreliable information propagated by some social media sources.
PB Elsevier
SN 1877-959X
YR 2025
FD 2025
LK https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123352
UL https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/123352
LA eng
NO Estrada-Peña, A., Antunes, S., Domingos, A., Esser, H., Földvári, G., Fuehrer, H. P., Gargili, A., van Gestel, M., Grandi, G., Kazimirova, M., Kiewra, D., Klemola, T., Kjær, L. J., Kjelland, V., Kubiak, K., de Meneghi, D., Mihalca, A. D., Moutailler, S., Potkonjak, A., Prokop, P., … Zintl, A. (2025). Living with ticks: Results of an online survey of the knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) regarding ticks and tick-borne pathogens in academic environments across Europe. Ticks and tick-borne diseases, 16(4), 102515. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ttbdis.2025.102515
NO CrediT authorship contribution statement: Agustín Estrada-Pena: ˜ Writing – original draft, Formal analysis, Conceptualization, Methodology, Visualization, Data curation. Sandra Antunes: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Ana Domingos: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Helen Esser: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Gabor ´ Foldv ¨ ari: ´ Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Hans-Peter Fuehrer: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Aysen Gargili: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Mats Van Gestel: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Giulio Grandi: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Maria Kazimirova: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Dorota Kiewra: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Tero Klemola: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Lene Jung Kjær: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Vivian Kjelland: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Katarzyna Kubiak: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Daniele de Meneghi: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Andrei Daniel Mihalca: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Sarah Moutailler: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Aleksandar Potkonjak: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Pavel Prokop: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Kathe ¨ Robert: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Renate Ranka: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Angel Sainz: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Jani Sormunen: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Smaragda Sotiraki: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Christina Strube: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Snorre Stuen: Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Pavel Siroký: ˇ Conceptualization, Writing – review & editing. Laura Tomassone: Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization. Annetta Zintl: Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Conceptualization, Formal analysis.
NO European Commission
NO European Health and Digital Executive Agency
NO Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Czech Republic)
DS Docta Complutense
RD 21 mar 2026