Tick-borne encephalitis in the golden agers: A conference report of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW TBE)

The international consensus "Tick-borne encephalitis in childhood" was an important and successful achievement of the International Scientific Working Group on Tick-Borne Encephalitis (ISW TBE) [1]. The main topic of the 2005 conference meeting was "Tick-borne encephalitis in the golden agers". "Golden agers" is the synonym for people over 50 years of age. Still the incidence of TBE is underestimated, even in countries where the disease is known and there must be European regions where TBE occurs and is not yet diagnosed properly. Increasing mobility and the changes in lifestyle of people during the last 10 to 15 years, also in the age group over 50 years, have exacerbated the risk and the number of infections. In order to get more information about tick-borne encephalitis in older ages, data of seven European countries were presented (Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden). Based on the scientific findings adequate conclusions were drafted by the ISW TBE.