Tickborne diseases (TBDs) such as Lyme disease (LD), babesiosis, ehrlichiosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever cause substantial morbidity and even mortality in the USA. Data indicate that Hispanic populations may be at greater risk for occupational exposure to ticks and disseminated LD; however, information on knowledge and practices of Hispanic populations regarding TBDs is limited. We surveyed 153 Hispanic and 153 non‐Hispanic residents of Maryland and Virginia to assess awareness of TBDs, prevention practices and risk of tick encounters. Hispanic respondents were less likely than non‐Hispanics to report familiarity with LD symptoms (21% vs. 53%, p < 0.001) and correctly identify ticks as vectors of LD (40% vs. 85%, p < 0.001). Although there was no significant difference in overall proportion of respondents who routinely take one or more preventive measures to prevent tick bites (59% vs. 61%, p = 0.65), Hispanics were more likely to report showering after coming indoors (36% vs. 25%, p = 0.04) but less likely to conduct daily tick checks compared with non‐Hispanics (17% vs. 35%, p < 0.001). History of tick bite or finding a tick crawling on oneself or a household member in the past year did not significantly differ between Hispanics and non‐Hispanics (19% vs. 24%, p = 0.26). Notably, after controlling for Hispanic/non‐Hispanic ethnicity, primary language (English vs. Spanish) was a significant predictor of whether an individual had knowledge of LD symptoms, correctly identified ticks as vectors for LD and performed daily tick checks. These results provide guidance for future development of more targeted and effective TBD prevention education for both Hispanic and non‐Hispanic communities.

中文翻译：

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马里兰州和弗吉尼亚州的西班牙裔和非西班牙裔居民对壁虱传播疾病的了解和预防。

壁虱病（TBD），例如莱姆病（LD），巴贝虫病，埃希氏病和落基山斑疹热在美国引起大量发病甚至死亡。数据表明，西班牙裔人群可能更容易遭受tick和传播性LD的职业危害；但是，关于西班牙裔人群有关TBD的知识和做法的信息有限。我们对马里兰州和弗吉尼亚州的153名西班牙裔居民和153名非西班牙裔居民进行了调查，以评估他们对TBD的认识，预防措施以及tick的风险。与非西班牙裔美国人相比，西班牙裔受访者不太可能报告熟悉的LD症状（21％vs. 53％，p  <0.001）并正确地将壁虱识别为LD的病因（40％vs. 85％，p <0.001）。尽管常规采取一种或多种预防措施来防止tick虫叮咬的受访者的总体比例没有显着差异（59％比61％，p  = 0.65），但西班牙裔人报告进入室内后淋浴的可能性更大（36％vs 25％，p  = 0.04），但与非西班牙裔美国人相比，进行每日滴答检查的可能性较小（17％比35％，p  <0.001）。在过去的一年中，西班牙裔和非西班牙裔之间ics虫叮咬的历史或发现ing虫在自己或家庭成员上爬行的历史没有显着差异（19％对24％，p = 0.26）。值得注意的是，在控制了西班牙裔/非西班牙裔种族之后，主要语言（英语vs.西班牙语）是个人是否具有LD症状知识，正确识别壁虱作为LD病媒并进行每日壁虱检查的重要预测指标。这些结果为将来针对西班牙裔和非西班牙裔社区开展更有针对性和更有效的TBD预防教育提供了指导。