VIENNA, Austria, January 28 /PRNewswire/ -- While risk areas keep changing and case numbers fluctuate, the danger of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) persists. However, highly effective and well tolerated vaccines are available, offering 99% protection against TBE, experts of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW-TBE) say.

The ISW-TBE is holding its 12th Annual Meeting in Vienna, Austria, from 28-29 January 2010. In recent years, risk areas of TBE have expanded northward and to higher altitudes - a development thought to be due to climate change. At the same time, TBE incidence has fluctuated considerably: Europe and Russia reported 12,733 TBE cases in 1996-the highest annual number between 1990-2007. Although case numbers dropped to 5,462 in 2007, some countries continued to witness an upward trend, such as Sweden, reporting the highest incidence in Swedish history in 2008. TBE continues to pose a significant threat. The lack of antiviral treatment and the grave health consequences of TBE - 35%-58% of adult patients suffer long-term neurological sequelae - underscore the importance of prevention, the most effective preventive measure being vaccination: Research indicates that the effectiveness of TBE vaccination is in the order of 99%. The ISW-TBE has been recommending that everyone living in or traveling to TBE-endemic regions be vaccinated. Failure to do so may have a price: Dr Vera Weld contracted TBE in 1995. Unvaccinated, her illness took a particularly severe course, taking her some 3.5 years to recover. Thanks to Austria's high TBE vaccination rate, such tragic incidents have declined from around 700 in the prevaccination era to below 100 cases annually. In view of safe and effective vaccines being available, every single case of TBE is one too many.

http://www.ISW-TBE.info, http://www.TBE-prevention.info, and http://www.tick-victims.info.

Michael Leitner, Public Health PR-Projektgesellschaft mbH Tel:+43(0)1-6020530-0, Email: michael.leitner@publichealth.at

SOURCE: ISW-TBE

CONTACT: Michael Leitner, Public Health PR-Projektgesellschaft mbHTel:+43(0)1-6020530-0, Email: michael.leitner@publichealth.at