Santonja I. and Holzmann H.
FSME 2020
(TBE 2020)
Vir. Ep. Inf. Nr. 02/21, 4-7
Early in the year, some authorities and institutes publish yearly reports dealing with TBE in their countries. The Center for Virology, MedUni Vienna, has now presented data about TBE in Austria, 2020.
Despite the high vaccination coverage, 215 TBE patients have been hospitalized in 2020—the highest number for 33 years.
Most individuals became infected in Tyrol (n=51) and Upper Austria (n=50). Infections were reported from February until November; the highest number of cases was recorded in July (n=66). The youngest patient was 18 months old; the oldest patient was 86 years old. Most patients had a severe form of the disease (48.8%), and of these patients most patients were older than 50 years of age, while 42.8% had a mild case of the disease. Three patients died (all older than 70 years of age).
While most of the infections were tick borne, some cases have been observed by alimentary infections after consumption of non-pasteurized milk products.