TBE prophylaxis and consequences of its shortage in Poland

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Anna Moniuszko Malinowska

Medical University of Bialystok, Poland

: J Immunol Tech Infect Dis

Abstract

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Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a preventable disease. However, it is rapidly becoming a growing public health problem in Europe and other parts of the world. It’s endemic in 27 European countries. The total annual number of cases is estimated to be up to 10,000 in Russia and about 3,000 in European countries. TBE may take various courses with different severity (meningitis, meningoencephalitis, meningoencephalomyelitis or meningoencephalo-radiculitis). The fatality rate in adult patients is less than 2%. However, severe courses of TBE infection with higher mortality and long-lasting sequelae often affect the patient’s quality of life. So far no causal treatment is known but a very efficient and well-tolerated vaccination is available for protection against the disease. Vaccination is recommended to children and adults living in or travelling to endemic areas. Only in Austria, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Slovenia, Russia and Switzerland, TBE vaccination is included in an official governmental vaccination programme under certain conditions. In the remaining European countries, it is available as an optional vaccination, partly recommended, but not reimbursed by health insurance companies. In Poland, only forest worker are vaccinated obligatory, and we observe TBE in them rarely. In other groups we observe fatal cases, severe sequelaes (neurological, psychiatric), which affects everyday life. The aim of this lecture is to increase awareness of anti-TBE vaccination need in all endemic countries.

Biography

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Anna Moniuszko Malinowska is a medical doctor, who has completed her studies in 2005. She defended Ph.D at the age of 27 years from Medical University of Bialystok, Poland and carries on clinical research on infectious diseases, especially on tick-borne diseases. She has published more than 70 papers in reputed journals and serving as a reviewer in many journals.

E mail: annamoniuszko@op.pl