[The prevention of tick-borne encephalitis (author's transl)].

Tick-borne encephalitis is one of the most frequently-encountered virus diseases of the central nervous system in Europe. Hence, prophylactic measures for the prevention of tick-borne encephalitis are of particular importance, especially since it is virtually impossible to influence the course of the manifest disease by means of current therapeutic procedures. Moreover, complications (paralysis and other sequelae) are frequent. A recently-developed vaccine (killed virus) is capable of providing easy and long-lasting protection for a large part of the population. The safety and efficacy of the vaccine was proved in 30,000 persons who were vaccinated in a field trial. Wide-scale implementation may be recommended mainly for persons under regular exposure, but also for the protection of people remaining in an endemic area for a short time only. However, if immediate protection of non-immunised persons is required, i.e. persons who discover ticks on their body or who show the presumptive signs of an existing virus infection, passive immunisation with tick-borne encephalitis immune globulin is recommended.