[Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) - Fundamentals]. / Frühsommer-Meningoenzephalitis (FSME).

Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) - Fundamentals Abstract. There is widespread endemicity of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in all German-speaking countries. In most regions there is a gradual increase in incidence and further territorial spread. As a proportion of the cases is not diagnosed and since the clinical course is getting worse with growing age, substantial underreporting occurs particularly in the pediatric and adolescent patient population. Infected ticks are transmitting the TBE virus, a flavivirus, within a few minutes after the bite. After an incubation period of 4 to 28 days uncharacteristic flu-like symptoms usually occur during a first viremic phase. This is followed by a brief asymptomatic interval before a minority of patients suffer of a variety of symptoms associated with damage of different parts of the central nervous system. This often results in permanent neurological injury and in about 1% the clinical course is fatal. To establish a diagnosis, it is essential to suspect the infection and to obtain a history of exposure. Depending on the phase of illness IgM and/or IgG antibodies can be detected in the serum and/or in the cerebrospinal fluid. In the early phase of the infection the TBE virus may be detected by PCR.

Design of a scalable AuNP catalyst system for plasmon-driven photocatalysis.

In this work we present a simple, fast and cost-efficient synthesis of a metal nanoparticle catalyst on a glass support for plasmon driven heterogeneous photocatalysis. It is based on efficient mixing of metal salts as particle precursors with porous glass as the supporting material in a mixer ball mill, and the subsequent realization of a complete catalyst system by laser sintering the obtained powder on a glass plate as the support. By this, we could obtain catalyst systems with a high particle proportion and an even spatial particle distribution in a rapid process, which could be applied to various kinds of metal salt resulting in plasmon active metal nanoparticles. Furthermore, the catalyst production process presented here is easily scalable to any size of area that is to be coated. Finally, we demonstrate the catalytic performance of our catalysts by a model reaction of ethanol degradation in a self-designed lab-scale reactor.

Tick-borne encephalitis in childhood--consensus 2004.

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a communicable disease caused by a flavi-virus, ticks being the main vectors. The nervous system is affected, four clinical features of different severity are observed: meningitis, meningoencephalitis, meningoencephalomyelitis, meningoradiculoneuritis. TBE is a preventable disease, which is rapidly becoming a growing public health problem in Europe. So far no causal treatment is possible but an efficient, safe vaccination is available. During the 6th meeting of the International Scientific Working Group on TBE with the main conference issue "Tick-borne encephalitis in childhood" an international consensus was achieved. In countries where TBE is endemic--and not prevented by immunization--both children and adults are affected. The disease in children is generally milder, although severe illness may occur and even lead to permanent impairment of the quality of life due to neuropsychological sequelae. Therefore immunization should be offered to all children living in or traveling to endemic areas.

TBE foci in Switzerland.

To give information about the situation in Switzerland and especially in the canton Thurgau. Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in Switzerland has to be reported to official bodies, such as the Cantonal Office of Health and the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. The registered cases are published weekly in the Bulletin of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. A map with geographical sites of infection has been published by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health from time to time. In addition we collect epidemiological data in our diagnostic setting servicing part of eastern Switzerland. The situation of every patient diagnosed in our laboratory is followed up by a questionnaire. Some data derive from an epidemiological study conducted by Baumberger et al. (1996) and from another study conducted in the principality of Liechtenstein (Krech et al., 1992). The data of a more recent publication are also included (Schwanda et al., 2000). More historical data are taken from Krech (1980). Recently, the global positioning system (GPS) connected to a laptop computer containing a geographical map on CD-ROM was used for better determination of possible TBE microfoci. TBE is endemic in areas of northern Switzerland and the principality of Liechtenstein. The number of reported new infections in Switzerland per year ranges between 60 and 120 cases, most of them with neurological manifestations. This represents an incidence of 0.5-1.5 per 100,000 inhabitants per year. In the last 10 years a prominent increase of the number of reported cases occurred in Switzerland, namely from 30-70 cases per year to 60-120 cases per year. This increase was mainly caused by the emergence of TBE in the cantons of Thurgau, Aargau and St. Gallen, all localised in the north-eastern part of Switzerland. The canton Thurgau became the most dangerous region in Switzerland for TBE during the last ten years. Besides the known endemic areas of the regions of Schaffhausen, Thun and Biel-Ins, a number of additional foci have been detected during the last 20 years. These are situated, for instance, around the lake of Zurich or in the region of Chur. In the canton Thurgau, new cases could be located east of the formerly known foci. Besides the larger epidemic areas known there are several TBE virus microfoci in Switzerland and more microfoci are still recognized. Despite active vaccination of persons at risk the incidence of reported TBE cases has increased during the last 20 years, now being between 60 and 120 cases per year, some of them with a severe and prolonged course. No TBE foci have been recognized in western und southern Switzerland so far. From our observations we have got the impression that real new TBE foci are emerging in some regions of eastern Switzerland.