Relapsing fever primary prevention
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Overview
Prevention
In order to prevent relapsing fever, one should:
- Avoid sleeping in rodent-infested buildings.
- Limit tick bites by using insect repellent containing DEET (on skin or clothing) or permethrin (applied to cloth or equipment).
- Rodent-proof buildings in areas where the disease is known to occur.
- Identify and remove any rodent nesting material from walls, ceilings, and floors.
- In combination with removing the rodent material, fumigate the building with preparations containing pyrethrins and permethrins. More than one treatment is often needed to effectively rid the building of the vectors, the soft-ticks. Always follow product instructions, and consider consulting a licensed pest control specialist.[1]
- Currently, no vaccine against relapsing fever is available, but research continues. Developing a vaccine is very difficult because the spirochetes avoid the immune response of the infected person (or animal) through antigenic variation (changing its surface proteins).