Tick-borne encephalitis —a substantial increase in cases in Western Europe

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a severe viral disease that predominantly affects the central nervous system. This debilitating condition is caused by the tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), and while historically rare in Western Europe, it has been endemic in forested regions of Asia and eastern Europe. There has been a substantial increase in cases observed this year in Western Europe. We therefore welcome the authoritative Commentary piece published in this issue of the Journal by Dr. Neyhazi and colleagues from Ghalib University, Afghanistan, on this worrying trend. They highlight that over a ×7-year period (2016–22), there were 1223 cases identified in Western Europe. To date in 2023, there have been just over 19 000. They discuss the importance of having a low threshold to consider the diagnosis, the treatment and regional strategies to prevent the disease. The European subtype of TBEV is associated with 20–30% of patients exhibiting central nervous system involvement of which up to 30% will have prolonged neurological sequelae. Overall mortality rates of between 0.5% and 2% are reported.1
Source: QJM - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research