Tick-borne encephalitis and golden agers: position paper of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-borne encephalitis (ISW-TBE).
One of the primary goals of the 11th Annual Meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-borne encephalitis (ISW-TBE) held in 2009 was to develop the first update of the Position Paper on TBE in Golden Agers, summarizing the most essential aspects of the disease in this age group. TBE morbidity has continued to increase in recent years, which is thought to be due to an interplay of social, political, ecological, economic and demographic factors combined with climate changes. Today's golden agers i.e. individuals aged 50 years or above, are healthier and more mobile, lead more active lifestyles and spend more time travelling and performing outdoor leisure activities. This places them at an increased risk of infection. At the same time, increasing age is associated with a quantitative and qualitative decline in innate and adaptive immunity, which is why elderly individuals are more susceptible to infection and severe disease than younger people. Also, their response to vaccination tends to be slower, antibody titres generally reach lower levels and titres tend to decrease earlier than in younger individuals. Evidence is accumulating that this is also the case with TBE vaccination, emphasizing the importance of administering the first TBE booster vaccination no later than 3 years after the completion of primary immunization or at an even shorter interval. Encouragingly, recent data have shown that the field effectiveness of TBE vaccination exceeds 97%, with no significant differences between age groups.
Jelenik
Zsuzsanna
Z
National Center for Epidemiology, Budapest, Hungary. jelenik.zsuzsanna@oek.antsz.hu
Keller
Michael
M
Briggs
Benjamin
B
Günther
Göran
G
Haglund
Mats
M
Hudeckova
Henrieta
H
Jilkova
Eva
E
Mickiene
Aukse
A
Sandell
Birger
B
Steffen
Robert
R
Strle
Franz
F
D056704:Adaptive Immunity / Q000276:immunology; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D004675:Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000635:transmission; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D005060:Europe; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000502:physiology; D007117:Immunization, Secondary; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D014765:Viral Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology
D000914:Antibodies, Viral; C547297:FSME-IMMUN vaccine; D014765:Viral Vaccines