Severe tick-borne encephalitis in Slovenia in the years 2001-2005: time for a mass vaccination campaign?
Wien Klin Wochenschr
; 118(23-24): 765-8, 2006 Dec.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17186173
ABSTRACT
The aim of this retrospective study was to assess some clinical, epidemiological and laboratory parameters of severe tick-borne encephalitis in Slovenia in the last five years, to compare them with published data, and to estimate need for providing a policy of active immunization. Thirty-three adult patients with a severe course of the disease, admitted to the intensive care unit of the Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Slovenia during a five year period, participated. All the patients had specific serum IgM antibodies against tick-borne encephalitis virus at admissions and IgG antibodies were present in 29 out of 33 patients. Twenty-two patients were admitted because of severe consciousness disturbances, nine suffered from spinal nerve paralysis, in two patients cranial nerve paralysis was observed, and one suffered from generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Ten patients were mechanically ventilated and three died. Leukocytosis in peripheral veins was found in twenty-one patients and nine had a C-reactive protein serum concentration over 50 mg/l. Nineteen patients had a cerebrospinal fluid leukocyte count exceeding 100 x 10(6)/l and a cerebrospinal fluid protein concentration was over the cut-off value of 0.45 g/l in majority. The findings of the present study confirmed some previous reports about clinical, epidemiological and laboratory characteristics of patients with severe tick-borne encephalitis. We have found that tick-borne encephalitis in Slovenia has a relatively low fatality rate. However, the severe course with long-lasting sequelae of the disease justifies vaccination of a risk population in endemic areas.
Buscar no Google
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Vacinas Virais
/
Vacinação em Massa
/
Encefalite Transmitida por Carrapatos
/
Vírus da Encefalite Transmitidos por Carrapatos
Tipo de estudo:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2006
Tipo de documento:
Article