Zecke and Vitaparcours

I learned a few useful German words:

Zecke - tick

Arzt - Doctor

We knew that ticks were common in Switzerland and more specifically Zürich. I even had it on my to-do list to get a vaccination for Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) before we left, but never got around to it. However, we probably didn't have time before we left as it is a series of three shots.

Yesterday I went for a run to one of the Vitaparcours around Zürich. There are many of these throughout Switzerland. A vitaparcour is a trail run that has exercise stations with equipment made primarily out of wood. The exercises include pull-ups, balance beam, ring hold, parallel bars walk, jumping over logs, etc. I think these are great, as I can run and have a sort-of crossfit workout. The one I did yesterday was at the foot of the Üetliburg (which I wrote about a couple days ago) and I found a steep trail with stairs and switchback that went straight up the side of the mountain. I knew that I wasn't far from the peak (in distance) so I thought I would check it out. I gave it a try but when the stairs ran out and it was just muddy clay, I decided that my track shoes weren't so good for climbing mountains and headed down. I saw two other people grunting up hill but it was a narrow trail so I'm pretty sure that is where my hitch hiker joined me for the day.

Tick on the back of my left knee

I didn't notice the sucker until about 7:00 that evening, and by that time almost everything is closed in Zürich. So after consulting Doctor Google and calling the 24-hour medical clinic here, Torrey tried his hand at removing it. Unfortunately, it had burrowed in very deep and he wasn't able to get it all. I think digging in the back of my leg with a knife and tweezers was harder for him than for me. Aparently you can buy tweezers specially designed for removing ticks, I will be getting a pair of those. Again after more consultation with Google and an other call to the clinic (they weren't particularly concerned) we went to bed. In the morning, I took myself to the pharmacy and they recommended I go into the doctor and have the remainder removed.

I was a bit worried about this as we do not yet have medical insurance here. We are required to get Swiss medical and it is supposed to be retroactive to the the day we moved here, but I wasn't so sure that we would get reimbursed. The visit to the doctor only cost 36.50 Swiss francs which is about $43.00, so even if we don't get reimbursed, it wasn't expensive and was definitely worth the piece of mind. Having lived in the US and seen the bills that were paid for simple procedures I was expecting to pay a much larger sum.

So the diagnosis? TBE is viral and not treated with antibiotics, so not much we can do about it. However, it is quite rare to contract the disease even though most ticks carry it. We will however, be starting the vaccinations soon. Lyme disease is treatable with antibiotics so we need to watch for some of the classic symptoms, such as a rash with a white centre. Also, the tick wasn't engorged so apparently it hadn't been feeding long so it is less likely I would get Lyme disease.

The trip to the doctor's office wasn't really that different than in the US or Canada, they would have preferred I had an appointment but kindly fit me in. I did take a picture of the doctor's office.

I will be running on the Üetliburg again soon and won't be avoiding the forests but I think I will stick to the wider trails and wear pants when I hike. And be getting that vaccine...