Pre-course: Tick-borne diseases

Pre-Course: Tick-Borne Diseases

In connection to the NSCMID 2025 meeting, a dedicated pre-course on tick-borne diseases (TBDs) will be held on the afternoon of Wednesday, August 27th, and the morning of Thursday, August 28th. This course will explore the latest insights into the epidemiology, diagnostics, and clinical management of TBDs.

Organized in collaboration with the University of Turku, the ESCMID Study Group for Tick-Borne Diseases (ESGBOR), and the NSCMID Tick-Borne Diseases Group, the course welcomes all healthcare professionals and/or researchers interested to learn more about Lyme borreliosis, tick-borne encephalitis (TBE), and emerging tick-borne diseases.

A special highlight of the course is the case presentation session, where participants are invited to submit abstracts of TBD cases. Topics may include Lyme borreliosis, TBE, neoehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis, babesiosis, and other relevant diseases.

Update:

Exciting opportunity: The best case presentation will be awarded free registration to the next ETBD conference (European conference on Tick-Borne Diseases) in 2026, courtesy of ESGBOR.

Programme

Wednesday, the 27^th of August

Session 1: Of ticks and tick-borne pathogens
16.00-16.30 Lecture 1:Tick biology and ecology in the Nordic countries and the Åland Islands
Peter Wilhelmsson, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

16.30-17.00 Lecture 2: Established and emerging TBD (eTBD) pathogens in ticks
Per-Eric Lindgren, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

Session 2: Focus on the clinical issues of TBDs, part I
17.30-18.00 Lecture 1: Overview of TBDs in the Nordic countries
Nanna S Andersen, University Hospital of Southern Denmark, Denmark

18.00-18.30 Lecture 2: Important Clinical Insights: the Complexities of Emerging Tick-Borne Diseases
Johanna Sjöwall, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden

18.30-19.00 Lecture 3: Burning clinical issues in TBE
Malin Veje, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Thursday, the 28^th of August

Session 3: Challenges and solutions in TBD diagnostics
8.30-9.00 Lecture 1: Novel tools for the identification of biomarkers in Lyme borreliosis and Lyme neuroborreliosis
Anna Henningsson, Ryhov County Hospital, Jönköping, Sweden

9.00-9.30 Lecture 2: TBE or not TBE, that is the question
Jessica Tikkala, Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland

9.30-10.00 Lecture 3: Diagnostics of eTBDs; what tools do we have, and what is still missing
Hanne Quarsten, Sørlandet Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway

Session 4: Focus on the clinical issues of TBDs, part II
10.30-11.00 The many faces of Lyme borreliosis
Marika Nordberg, Ålands hälso- och sjukvård, Borreliagruppen på Åland rf, Mariehamn, Finland
Marjaana Pitkäpaasi, Ålands hälso- och sjukvård, Borreliagruppen på Åland rf, Mariehamn, Finland

11.00-11.30 Clinical characteristics and diagnostics of Lyme neuroborreliosis
Elisa Kortela, Helsinki University Hospital, Helsinki, Finland

11.30-12.00 Persistent Lyme neuroborreliosis symptoms after treatment
Randi Eikeland, Sorlandet Hospital, Kristiansand, Norway

13.00 -14.00 Session 5:TBD case presentations
(4 -5 cases x 12-15 min)
one-two 12-15 min presentation from each Nordic country
Abstracts of cases are invited and then the ones to presented are selected by the organizing committee