Tick-borne viral encephalitis is a viral infection that leads to fever, intoxication and severe damage to the nervous system.
This extremely dangerous disease often becomes the cause of disability, and in the absence of medical care, death. The fight against tick-borne encephalitis includes:
- Protection against ticks - closed clothing for walking, processing of parks, squares, suburban recreation areas, etc.
- Vaccination is recognized as the most effective way. When carried out correctly, the effectiveness of modern vaccines reaches 95%.
When and who needs vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis?
Tick-borne encephalitis vaccine is a vaccine used to prevent acute infection.
Routine vaccination is carried out for both adults and children. At the same time, special attention is paid to risk zones in areas endemic for tick-borne encephalitis. Vaccination is recommended in winter or spring, no later than 2 weeks before the peak of insect activity (May-September).
Vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis, while, are shown:
- Leading an active lifestyle, traveling a lot to the countries of Eastern and Northern Europe, China, Mongolia, Russia, etc. (vaccination is carried out before traveling abroad).
- For hunters, fishermen, tourists, owners of country cottages.
- Representatives of professions associated with frequent visits to forests and fields (recreational workers, farmers, geologists, builders, military personnel, employees of logging enterprises).
- Living directly in the habitat of ticks.
In this case, the vaccination procedure includes a doctor's consultation before vaccination. The specialist provides complete information on the issues, the procedure for administering the vaccine, the timing of the immune response, etc. The doctor's duties also include discussing alternative options for prevention or protection against encephalitis if there are contraindications to the procedure.
Vaccination against encephalitis in children: indications and contraindications
Children from 1 year old can be vaccinated. In the absence of obvious threats and the presence of risks, it is better to vaccinate a child against tick-borne encephalitis after 3 years.
