Beran et al.
Second five-year follow-up after a booster vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis following different primary vaccination schedules demonstrates at least 10 years antibody persistence.
Vaccine 2018, in press
A phase IV, open-label, single-center second extension study has been carried out in adolescents and adults with the TBE vaccine Encepur (GSK). The individuals had received three primary vaccine doses according to the conventional, accelerated conventional, modified conventional or rapid vaccination scheme. In this study, neutralizing (NT) TBE antibodies were analyzed five to ten years after the first booster. Overall, 90 to 100% of the participants had NT antibody titers of at least 2 or 10 (regarded clinically meaningful threshold by the authors). Analyses were done overall and per age strata: 15-49 years, at least 50 years, and at least 60 years. Older age groups showed overall lower GMTs, although GMTs remained higher than at least 10 up to year 10 in all groups independent from the primary vaccination schedule used. Has the time come to reconsider current TBE vaccine booster intervals of age-dependent 3 and 5 years?