Tick ​​alert in Austria – new vaccine in sight

This year, the tick season in Austria is raging more severely than in a long time. Especially in Lower Austria, Styria, and Upper Austria, doctors and hospitals are reporting a strikingly high number of cases – some of them severe. In Linz, four children are currently receiving inpatient treatment after tick bites. Two of them have even been diagnosed with brain inflammation. Therefore, doctor Ariane Biebl urgently calls for monitoring TBE vaccinations – especially in children.

While successful vaccinations against TBE have been available for years, there is still no vaccine available for tick-borne Lyme disease. And the risk is particularly high in Upper Austria: In the Linz-Wels area, an AGES study found that 18 of 59 ticks were infected with Borrelia. Particularly insidious: Some forms of Lyme disease can affect the nervous system and cause severe neurological consequences.

Now, a medical development offers hope: According to the Association of Vaccine Manufacturers, a Lyme disease vaccine is in the final stages of clinical trials. Infectious disease specialist Rainer Gattringer from the Wels Hospital explains that children, in particular, could benefit from a future vaccination—because the disease can be particularly severe in them.