Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine - a wave of news

In view of a tsunami on COVID-19 articles, the discreet wave of exciting publications relating to tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) and characteristics of vaccines against this potentially devastating infection has gone less noticed. On the basis of 553 patients, experts from six affected countries updated our knowledge of disease outcomes. For the 2010–17 period, the case fatality rate during the acute phase remained at 0.9%. Almost 60% of patients had an incomplete recovery at discharge, among them 45% with persisting sequelae.1 TBE is not just a threat for residents in Europe and Asia but also for exposed travellers. From 2010 to 2020, six patients with imported TBE were identified in the USA.2 Obviously, American expatriates treated in Europe are not included in this survey and the completeness of testing in US hospitals remains unknown. The authors conclude that while TBE is uncommon among US civilian travellers, it remains an important consideration as patients are often hospitalized for lengthy periods and there is no specific antiviral treatment. The licensure of ‘Ticovac’ (in some European countries, marketed as ‘FSME-IMMUN’) by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in August 2021 offers an additional preventive measure for those potentially exposed to the TBE-virus, be they vacationers or expatriates