Publication details

Clinical Characteristics of Patients with Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE): A European Multicentre Study from 2010 to 2017

Authors	KOHLMAIER B. SCHWEINTZGER N. SAGMEISTER M. SVENDOVA Vendula KOHLFURST D. SONNLEITNER A. LEITNER M. BERGHOLD A. SCHMIEDBERGER E. FAZEKAS F. PICHLER A. REJC-MARKO J. RUZEK Daniel DUFKOVA Lucie CEJKOVA Darina HUSA Petr PÝCHOVÁ Martina KRBKOVÁ Lenka CHMELIK Vaclav STRUNCOVA Vera ZAVADSKA D. KARELIS G. MICKIENE A. ZAJKOWSKA J. BOGOVIC P. STRLE F. ZENZ W.
Year of publication	2021
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	Microorganisms
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Medicine
Citation
Web	https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2607/9/7/1420
Doi	http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9071420
Keywords	tick-borne encephalitis; vaccine-preventable disease; meningomyelitis; central paresis; peripheral paresis
Description	Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) virus is a major cause of central nervous system infections in endemic countries. Here, we present clinical and laboratory characteristics of a large international cohort of patients with confirmed TBE using a uniform clinical protocol. Patients were recruited in eight centers from six European countries between 2010 and 2017. A detailed description of clinical signs and symptoms was recorded. The obtained information enabled a reliable classification in 553 of 555 patients: 207 (37.3%) had meningitis, 273 (49.2%) meningoencephalitis, 15 (2.7%) meningomyelitis, and 58 (10.5%) meningoencephalomyelitis; 41 (7.4%) patients had a peripheral paresis of extremities, 13 (2.3%) a central paresis of extremities, and 25 (4.5%) had single or multiple cranial nerve palsies. Five (0.9%) patients died during acute illness. Outcome at discharge was recorded in 298 patients. Of 176 (59.1%) patients with incomplete recovery, 80 (27%) displayed persisting symptoms or signs without recovery expectation. This study provides further evidence that TBE is a severe disease with a large proportion of patients with incomplete recovery. We suggest monitoring TBE in endemic European countries using a uniform protocol to record the full clinical spectrum of the disease.