Abstract
Until the 1940s, tick-borne encephalitis had been unknown. However, it has spread from natural reservoirs in Central Europe to nearly all countries of the continent and about ten thousand cases of the disease are reported annually.
The three virus subtypes are nearly identical immunologically but, clinically, the course of the infection spread by Ixodes ricinus ticks is much more benign than that of infections transmitted by Ixodes scapularis ticks in Siberia and Far East. The ultimate prevention from the infection is immunization with an inactivated vaccine that is safe and effective.
However, the vaccination rate in the population of the Czech Republic is very low; therefore, hundreds of cases of the disease occur here whereas in neighbouring Austria where more than 90 % of the population are vaccinated, only tens of cases of meningoencephalitis occur annually.