Coronavirus and more: Russians’ fear of borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis grows

Russians have grown more afraid of diseases that can be caused by a tick bite. Over the year, the share of Russians fearing borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis and other serious diseases carried by ticks increased by 1.5 percentage points to 6.4%, Sberbank Insurance found out following a survey of residents of Russian cities with a population of more than 500,000 people.

In the Top 10 cities mostly concerned with possible tick bites, this proportion averages 15%. The cities where people have highest concerns about tick-borne diseases are Kirov (23%), Kemerovo (17%), Yekaterinburg (16%), Perm and Krasnoyarsk (15% each), Izhevsk and Yaroslavl (14% each), Novosibirsk (12%), Tomsk and Ufa (10%).

An average of 6% of the respondents are aware of tick bites their relatives and friends, including close ones, have encountered over the past year. The highest number of those bitten by ticks was named in Kirov (14.5%), Kemerovo (14.2%), Novokuznetsk (12.5%), Perm (10.5%), Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk (10.1% each), Novosibirsk (10%), Yekaterinburg and Yaroslavl (8.9%), and Barnaul (7.8%).

According to the survey, an average of 2.2% of city residents are vaccinated against encephalitis. In the cities where the risk of tick bites is the highest, the metric averages 7%. The highest vaccination rates were spotted in Yekaterinburg (11.5%), Kemerovo (8.4%), Novokuznetsk (6.5%), Krasnoyarsk (5.6%), Omsk (5.1%), Novosibirsk (5%), Kirov (4.9%), Tomsk (4.8%), Perm (4.7%), and Tyumen (4.1%).

According to the survey results, only 1% of people living in cities have taken out insurance coverage for consequences of tick bites. In the cities where tick activity is maximized, the percentage is much higher. Here is the breakdown of policies against tick bites taken out by city: 10% of respondents in Krasnoyarsk, followed by Irkutsk and Barnaul with 7% each, 6% in Tomsk, 5% in Novosibirsk, and some 4% in each of the following cities - Chelyabinsk, Kirov, Kemerovo, and Yaroslavl. Sberbank insurance has registered over 300 claims from tick-bitten customers in the last two months alone.

Denis Kuzmin

Acting Director of Protective Products and Services, Sberbank

Sberbank insurance has upgraded its Tick Protection program this year, raising the insured value to RUB 1.5 mn and making policies available to people of any age. Policy prices now vary depending on the region. Also, with Pet under Protection policy you can insure your pets against tick bites because many cats and dogs live in summer cottages and are exposed to tick-related risks even more than their pet parents.

The survey was conducted in May and June 2021 in 37 cities of Russia with 500,000+ people each.