Atomode et al.
Tick-borne encephalitis in a 29-year-old returning traveller
Am. J. Infect. Dis. Microbiol. 2021; 9:1-3, doi:10.12691/ajidm-9-1-1
From the UK, only very few imported TBE cases have been reported so far. Recently, a TBE infection acquired during a holiday stay in Germany has been described in a 29-year-old traveler whose disease has been analyzed at the University Hospital, Norfolk, UK.
The patient suffered from fever, nausea, generalized body aches, dizziness, clumsiness, and felt unsteady on his feet needing support to mobilize. These symptoms had started while he was on holiday in Germany and had been bitten by a tick.
Diagnostic analyses yielded positive TBE IgG in CSF and detected TBE virus RNA. After some weeks in the neurology clinic, the patient was discharged without neurological complications.
Until 2019, TBE virus was not considered to occur in the UK. The first case of a TBE infection acquired in the UK has been notified in 2019 and its broad discussion in the media may have resulted in an increase of awareness for this disease, also as a travel disease. Travelers to endemic areas, even children (see Snapshot week 4/2021 about TBE in a Spanish child), should be vaccinated.