Tick-borne Encephalitis Vaccination Prevented More Than 10,000 Cases in Austria
Simon Raffl from the Center for Virology at MedUni Vienna and his co-authors published a study in "Vaccine". They found that TBE cases in Europe have increased over the past ten years, including in Austria with the highest vaccination rate. The researchers analyzed all laboratory-confirmed cases of tick-borne diseases from 2000 to 2024 using hospital data and calculated the protection rate of the TBE vaccination.
Regular TBE Vaccination with 99 Percent Protection Rate
The results, according to the study authors: "There were 2,260 TBE cases with hospital stays. 274 (twelve percent) occurred among children (one to 15 years), 1,066 (47 percent) affected adults (16 to 59 years), 920 cases occurred in older people (60 years and above). 26 people (1.2 percent) died." A severe course of illness occurred in 1,051 (47 percent) of the people admitted to the hospital due to TBE. There is no causal treatment for the disease. Severe neurological long-term complications are particularly threatening.
The TBE vaccination provides extremely good protection against the viral infection transmitted by ticks. "The TBE vaccination provided excellent protection (99 percent for regularly immunized and more than 90 percent for people with irregular vaccinations). It prevented more than 10,000 hospital admissions, 4,000 cases with severe courses, and prevented 80 deaths between the years 2000 and 2024)," the experts stated.
Willingness to Vaccinate Decreases for TBE Vaccination
The problem, according to the experts: During the observation period, the willingness of the population in Austria to get the TBE vaccination deteriorated. This also affected regular booster vaccinations. "This coincides with an increasing number of TBE cases among those not vaccinated or not vaccinated according to recommendations and has led to a significant increase in the frequency of the disease," the authors noted.
For the scientists, it is therefore clear: Only a consistently high vaccination rate for the TBE vaccination can prevent such a development. This also leads to a significant reduction in the burden on the healthcare system due to tick-borne encephalitis.
(APA/red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.