Spiez Laboratory, Federal Office for Civil Protection, Spiez, Switzerland.
Swiss National Reference Centre for Tick-Transmitted Diseases, Spiez and La-Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
Blood Transfus. 2023 Mar;21(2):100-109. doi: 10.2450/2022.0099-22. Epub 2022 Aug 9.
Disease morbidity of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) has been increasing over the last decades. Since the 1990s, however, no extensive seroprevalence studies on TBE in humans have been performed in Switzerland. Here we assessed the prevalence of anti-TBE virus (TBEV) antibodies among different groups of the Swiss blood donor population.
The study was carried out from July 2014 to January 2015. Blood donors participating in the study (n=9,328) were asked to fill in a questionnaire relating to vaccination against or infection with different flaviviruses, and blood samples were collected. All samples were screened for the presence of anti-TBEV IgG antibodies using ELISA testing. Seropositivity rates in different groups of blood donors were compared using Chi square tests with Bonferroni correction.
In 2014 and 2015, 24.6% of healthy Swiss blood donors indicated vaccination against TBE. Among vaccinated blood donors, antibody prevalence was significantly higher in younger (<40y: 85.3%) than older individuals (≥40 to <55y: 80.0%, ≥55y: 76.7%; p=0.005). In non-vaccinated individuals, antibody prevalence was significantly higher in younger (<40y: 10.0%) than older (≥40 to <55y: 4.0%, ≥55y: 3.9%; p<0.005), male (6.8%) than female (3.7%, p<0.0001), and blood donors from endemic (7.0%) than border (6.2%) or non-endemic regions (4.2%, p<0.001). Possible asymptomatic infection, as defined by positive IgG ELISA results in blood donors indicating no vaccination against TBEV, was found in 5.6%.
Our data importantly complement the knowledge on TBEV vaccination rates and estimate the frequency of subclinical TBE in Switzerland.
在过去几十年中，蜱传脑炎（TBE）的发病率一直在增加。然而，自 20 世纪 90 年代以来，瑞士尚未对人类 TBE 进行广泛的血清流行率研究。在此，我们评估了瑞士献血人群中不同人群抗 TBE 病毒（TBEV）抗体的流行率。
本研究于 2014 年 7 月至 2015 年 1 月进行。参与研究的献血者（n=9328）被要求填写一份与不同黄病毒疫苗接种或感染相关的问卷，并采集血样。所有样本均采用 ELISA 检测筛查 TBEV IgG 抗体。使用卡方检验和 Bonferroni 校正比较不同献血人群的血清阳性率。
2014 年和 2015 年，24.6%的瑞士健康献血者表示接种了 TBE 疫苗。在接种疫苗的献血者中，年轻（<40 岁：85.3%）者的抗体阳性率显著高于年长（≥40 至<55 岁：80.0%，≥55 岁：76.7%；p=0.005）者。在未接种疫苗的个体中，年轻（<40 岁：10.0%）者的抗体阳性率显著高于年长（≥40 至<55 岁：4.0%，≥55 岁：3.9%；p<0.005）、男性（6.8%）高于女性（3.7%；p<0.0001）以及来自流行区（7.0%）的献血者高于边境（6.2%）或非流行区（4.2%；p<0.001）的献血者。在未接种 TBEV 疫苗的献血者中，根据 IgG ELISA 阳性结果定义的无症状感染（5.6%）被发现。
我们的数据重要地补充了 TBEV 疫苗接种率的知识，并估计了瑞士亚临床 TBE 的频率。
