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Bibliothèque Tick Bite Risk as a Socio-Spatial Representation—An Exploratory Study in Massif Central, France

Tick Bite Risk as a Socio-Spatial Representation—An Exploratory Study in Massif Central, France

Tick Bite Risk as a Socio-Spatial Representation—An Exploratory Study in Massif Central, France
Volume 8 Issue 3

Resource information

Date of publication
Mars 2019
Resource Language
ISBN / Resource ID
10.3390/land8030046
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Ticks are responsible for the largest number of transmissions of vector-borne diseases in the northern hemisphere, which makes the risk from tick bites a serious public health problem. Biological scientific research and prevention studies are important, but they have not focused on the population’s perception of tick bite risk, especially at a spatial level. This exploratory article sets out to study this point through an innovative methodology involving the collection of 133 mental maps associated with a semi-structured interview and a socio-demographic questionnaire collected in the Massif Central region, France. The results show a strong link between the representation of the tick bite risk and the representation of particular landscapes. Forests appear as dangerous for the population, especially in the traditional activities of family walking or hiking. This calls into question overly anxiogenic prevention approaches that neglect the impact on practices in risk-prone spaces. It accentuates the need for localized education measure to improve knowledge about tick biology and avoid stereotypical and unnecessary negative representations associated with the environment.

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Authors and Publishers

Author(s), editor(s), contributor(s)

Dernat, Sylvain
Johany, François

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Geographical focus