Tick-borne encephalitis epidemiology and surveillance in Poland, and comparison with selected European countries before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2008 to 2020

BackgroundTick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is the most common viral central nervous system (CNS) infection in Poland. Previous research suggests that its incidence was underestimated in the pre-pandemic period. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a considerable burden on surveillance systems, which could further impact reporting.AimWe aimed to assess the completeness of reporting of TBE in the years 2008 to 2020 and explore the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on reporting to the epidemiological surveillance system, compared with hospitalisations for TBEV and other viral neuro-infections.MethodsWe compared the Polish epidemiology of TBE and other viral infections of the CNS from national surveillance reports with data on hospitalisations from 2008 to 2020 and data from selected European countries.ResultsBetween 2008 and 2020, 3,016 TBE cases were reported to surveillance compared with 3,620 hospitalisations. There was an increasing trend in hospitalisations, while surveillance data demonstrated the opposite, with the largest discrepancy observed in the first pandemic year (354 hospitalisations vs 159 cases reported to surveillance). Serological testing for TBE was used more in the known endemic region of north-eastern Poland and less in non-endemic areas. Other European countries reported higher TBE case numbers and an increase during the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas Poland observed an opposite trend.ConclusionThe sensitivity of TBE surveillance in Poland requires improvement. There are considerable regional differences. Regions that test for TBE intensively report most cases. Policymakers should be made aware of the value of quality epidemiological data for planning prophylactic measures in risk areas.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:28

Enthalten in:

Euro surveillance : bulletin Europeen sur les maladies transmissibles = European communicable disease bulletin - 28(2023), 18 vom: 12. Mai

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Paradowska-Stankiewicz, Iwona [VerfasserIn]
Pancer, Katarzyna [VerfasserIn]
Poznańska, Anna [VerfasserIn]
Hordowicz, Martyna [VerfasserIn]
Skibicka, Maria [VerfasserIn]
Słowiński, Marek [VerfasserIn]
Motak, Gerard [VerfasserIn]
Falkiewicz, Bogdan [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Central nervous system
Epidemiological surveillance
Journal Article
NIPH NIH-NRI
TBE
TBEV
Tick-borne encephalitis
Viral meningoencephalitis
Virus

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 08.05.2023

Date Revised 22.08.2023

published: Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2023.28.18.2200452

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM356437299