It was one evening in July that Mio Fessé from Hörnefors suddenly developed a high fever and headache. At first he thought it was the flu, but when the balance disappeared during the night, he contacted health care. He was in his cabin out on Holmön and was taken by ambulance helicopter to the hospital in Umeå.
– Then I spent nine days in the infection clinic. I could barely eat and was vomiting from the headache, says Mio Fessé.
Needs a walker
There is no treatment for TBE. Mio Fessé received painkillers and drips. Now he is at home in Hörnefors again.
– I still have poor balance and need a walker when I walk longer distances. The balance gets worse when I’m tired.
His case is the first where it is confirmed that the TBE infection occurred in Västerbotten. He did not notice the tick bite itself, but the doctors were able to quickly establish that he had TBE antibodies in his blood. He does not know if it is in the cottage on Holmön or in Hörnefors or somewhere else in the county that he was infected. As a hunter and dog owner, he is out in nature a lot.
Would like to draw attention to the fact that TBE exists
– In retrospect, you should have been vaccinated. But we don’t travel much and have always believed that there is no TBE in the county. I think it’s good that people find out about it now, says Mio Fessé, who is now focusing on rehabilitation and hopes to be fully recovered.