Author/Editor     Jelenik, Zsuzsanna; Keller, Michael; Briggs, Benjamin; Strle, Franc
Title     Tick-borne encephalitis and golden agers: position paper of the International scientific working group on tick-borne enchepalitis (ISW-TBE)
Type     članek
Source     Wien Klin Wochenschr
Vol. and No.     Letnik 160, št. 9
Publication year     2010
Volume     str. 247-51
Language     eng
Abstract     One of the pri mary 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 the due to an interplay of social, political, ecological, economic and demographic factors cornbined with climate changes. Today's golden agers ie. individuals aged 50 years or above, are healthier and more mobilee, lead more active lifeslyles and spend more time travelling and performing outdoor leisure activities. This places thern 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 generalIy reach lower levels and titres tend to decrease earlier than in younger individuals. Evidence is accumulating that this is also the case with TEE vaccination, emphasizjng 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 vacination exceeds 97%, with no significant differences between age groups.
Descriptors     ENCEPHALITIS, TICK-BORNE
AGING
VIRAL VACCINES
AGED