Larsen Astri Lervik, Kanestrøm Anita, Bjørland Marthe, Andreassen Ashild, Soleng Arnulf, Vene Sirkka, Dudman Susanne G
From the Centre for Laboratory Medicine, Østfold Hospital Trust , Fredrikstad , Norway.
Scand J Infect Dis. 2014 Mar;46(3):181-4. doi: 10.3109/00365548.2013.865140. Epub 2014 Jan 21.
Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an emerging tick-borne disease in Europe. In Norway, the first TBE case occurred in 1997, and since then 1-14 cases have been detected annually along the southern coast. No TBE cases have yet been notified from the eastern coastal area. This study was conducted to assess the need for diagnostic tests and vaccine recommendation for this part of Norway.
Four hundred and sixty-one blood donors living in the county of Østfold were enrolled. After informed consent was obtained, the participants submitted a blood sample and filled out a questionnaire regarding tick bites, outdoor activities, and Flavivirus vaccines and diseases. Ixodes ricinus ticks were collected from the immediate vicinity and were examined in pools of 10 for TBE virus.
Eight human samples were TBE virus IgG-positive by ELISA and 5 of these samples were confirmed positive by neutralization test. Excluding the 2 samples from participants who had reported previous TBE vaccination, this shows a seroprevalence among blood donors of 0.65%. The existence of TBEV in the region was verified in nymphs of Ixodes ricinus by a prevalence of 0.14%.
The seroprevalence of TBE virus IgG and the TBE virus detected in ticks, indicate that TBE cases could occasionally occur in the area. The results should be made available to health care personnel to raise awareness for preventative measures.
蜱传脑炎（TBE）是欧洲一种新出现的蜱传疾病。在挪威，首例TBE病例于1997年出现，自那时起，每年在南部沿海地区检测到1至14例病例。东部沿海地区尚未报告TBE病例。本研究旨在评估挪威这一地区对诊断检测和疫苗推荐的需求。
招募了居住在东福尔郡的461名献血者。在获得知情同意后，参与者提交了一份血样，并填写了一份关于蜱叮咬、户外活动以及黄病毒疫苗和疾病的问卷。从附近采集蓖麻硬蜱，并将10只蜱作为一组检测TBE病毒。
通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA），8份人类样本的TBE病毒IgG呈阳性，其中5份样本通过中和试验确认为阳性。排除2份来自曾报告接种过TBE疫苗的参与者的样本后，这表明献血者中的血清阳性率为0.65%。通过0.14%的流行率在蓖麻硬蜱若虫中证实了该地区存在TBE病毒。
TBE病毒IgG的血清阳性率以及在蜱中检测到的TBE病毒表明该地区可能偶尔会出现TBE病例。应将结果提供给医护人员，以提高对预防措施的认识。
