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Why vaccinate against tick-borne encephalitis

Publication at Faculty of Medicine in Hradec Králové |
2020

Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a serious viral neuroinfection transmitted predominantly by ticks. The article recapitulates the reasons why to use the possibility of vaccination against TBE.

The Czech Republic is a country with endemic TBE and ranks among the most affected countries. Moreover, trends in incidence indicate a long-term increase of the disease.

One of the reasons is undoubtedly changing climatic conditions, which positively influence the expanding areas of ticks and their digestion. The risk of the infection is due to the spread of the carrier in the whole territory of the Czech Republic.

Thanks to popular outdoor activities and life style, all persons in the Czech Republic can be considered as a population at risk. The disease may affect anyone regardless of their age, but specific incidence and the risk of more serious clinical course and development of long-term consequences of the disease, which can significantly affect the quality of infected people's life, increase with age.

Given the risk of the disease in the whole teritory, the vaccination could be recommended to all people living in the Czech Republic.