Investigation of tick bites in outpatients with fever from health care facilities in Tengchong County / 中国血吸虫病防治杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To study the prevalence of tick bites and relative factors of outpatients with fever from health care fa?cilities in Tengchong County. Methods From July to August,2014,the outpatients with fever in five health care facilities namely Tengchong Center for Disease Control and Prevention,Hehua Health Center,Jietou Health Center,Qushi Health Cen?ter and Xinhua Health Center were investigated by questionnaires. The factors related to tick bites were explored with the univari?ate analysis and multiple regression models. Results Totally 884 effect questionnaires were acquired. Among the 884 partici?pants,85(9.6%)had experienced tick bites. The frequency of tick bites was associated with locations,gender,age group,own?ership of cattle,working at foreign country,firewood cutting and lumbering in the forest(all P<0.05). The multiple regression revealed that the male and people raising cattle,working at foreign country,engaging in firewood cutting and lumbering in the forest had a more risk for tick bites. Conclusions Tick bites are common in the residents of Tengchong County. The risk of be?ing bitten varies in different populations. The local health departments should promote health education in the high?risk popula?tion to reduce the risk of infecting tick?borne diseases.