Insights from experience in the treatment of tick-borne bacterial coinfections with tick-borne encephalitis

Langat virus, a prototypic tick‐borne encephalitis virus, impacts IL‐6 signaling by downregulating gp130 expression

“…Five members (tick‐borne encephalitis virus [TBEV], louping ill virus [LIV], Kyasanur Forest diseases virus [KFDV], Powassan virus [POWW] and Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus [OHFV]) comprise the human “tick‐borne encephalitis (TBE) serocomplex,” causing an estimated 12 000 annual cases of TBE in Europe and Asia 4 . TBEV is the largest causative agent of TBE, resulting in disease characterized by an initial nonspecific illness followed by central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and long‐term neurological symptoms in up to one half of the cases 5–7 . TBEV morbidity and mortality rates vary across its three main subtypes (European, Siberian, and far‐eastern), with the far‐eastern strain associated with the highest rates of neurological complications and a mortality rate of up to 40% 8 …”

“…4 TBEV is the largest causative agent of TBE, resulting in disease characterized by an initial nonspecific illness followed by central nervous system (CNS) inflammation and long-term neurological symptoms in up to one half of the cases. [5][6][7] TBEV morbidity and mortality rates vary across its three main subtypes (European, Siberian, and far-eastern), with the far-eastern strain associated with the highest rates of neurological complications and a mortality rate of up to 40%. 8 Further study is needed to develop antivirals against TBEV (which are currently not available) and more optimized TBEV vaccines (which currently require three initial doses followed by booster doses at 3-5year intervals 9 ).…”