Underestimated danger

Boy in intensive care after tick bite

Anyone who is not vaccinated and is bitten by ticks runs the risk of contracting TBE. Two boys even had to receive intensive medical treatment in hospital.(Bild: KPixMining/stock.adobe.com)

Every year, several children in Carinthia have to be treated for TBE. Doctors are therefore appealing not to underestimate the danger and advise vaccination.

Several times a year, young patients suffering from TBE (tick-borne encephalitis) - an inflammation of the brain or meninges - are treated at the Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at Klagenfurt Hospital. This disease is caused by ticks.

"They carry pathogens that are transmitted to humans through the bite and trigger infectious diseases," explains Head of Department Prim. Jörg Jahnel and Senior Physician Stefan Ring, Head of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, adds: "Once the disease is present with various foci of inflammation in the brain, there is no treatment for it, only symptomatic treatment."

One young patient contracted TBE so severely that he had to be treated in the intensive care unit for weeks.

Intensivmediziner im Klinikum Klagenfurt

The consequences of inflammation can be so severe that those affected require intensive care - like a boy last year. "This year too, a young patient fell so seriously ill with TBE that he had to be cared for in the intensive care unit at ELKI for weeks. Both children were unimmunized or only partially immunized," explain the doctors and therefore appeal to people not to underestimate the danger that ticks can pose and to have their children vaccinated.

"Vaccination saves lives"
This can be done as early as the end of the first year of life - in consultation with the doctor even after the sixth month of life. "If the child is crawling in the grass or outdoors, ticks have an easy time of it. Vaccination saves lives," Jahnel is convinced. Two vaccinations and a booster provide lasting protection.