Antigen dependent adverse reactions and seroconversion of a tick-borne encephalitis vaccine in children.

ABSTRACT

Two randomized, double blind dose comparison studies were conducted in 595 children in Austria and Germany with an albumin-free and thiomersal-free tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccine. Vaccinated subjects of an age between 6 months and 12 years randomly assigned received either the full adult dose or half the adult dose. Results from vaccinated children under 1 year of age at the time of the first vaccination (159 subjects) showed an age dependent immune response. There were significantly fewer adverse systemic events (e.g. fever reactions). In children who received only half the adult dose, while seroconversion was not significantly different (93% versus 98%) after the second vaccination, and 100% for both groups after the third vaccination. Based on these results, it is recommended to vaccinate children between the ages of 1 and 12 years with half the adult dose.