A combined cross-sectional analysis and case-control study evaluating tick-borne encephalitis vaccination coverage, disease and vaccine effectiveness in children and adolescents, Switzerland, 2005 to 2022
Eurosurveillance·
- DOI
- 10.2807/1560-7917.es.2024.29.18.2300558
- PMID
- 38699900
- PMCID
- PMC11067431
- OpenAlex
- W4396615323
- Study type
- Case-control study
- Publisher
- European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (ECDC)
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings support vaccination recommendations by demonstrating that even young children can experience severe TBE and that complete vaccination provides durable protection against neurological disease for at least 10 years.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study aimed to estimate tick-borne encephalitis vaccination coverage, disease severity, and vaccine effectiveness in individuals aged 0-17 years in Switzerland.
Study design
The investigation combined a repeated cross-sectional survey (Swiss National Vaccination Coverage Survey, 2005-2022) to assess vaccine uptake with a case-control analysis matching TBE cases from national surveillance to SNVCS controls for vaccine effectiveness estimation.
Population and setting
The study population comprised children and adolescents aged 0-17 years in Switzerland over an 18-year period from 2005 to 2022.
Main findings
Vaccination coverage rose from 4.8% in 2005 to 50.1% in 2022. Complete vaccination (≥3 doses) showed 90.8% effectiveness, and incomplete vaccination (1-2 doses) showed 66.2% effectiveness. Protection remained high at 83.9% up to 10 years following the last vaccination. Both incomplete and complete vaccination reduced the likelihood of neurological involvement compared to no vaccination.
Public-health relevance
The findings support vaccination recommendations by demonstrating that even young children can experience severe TBE and that complete vaccination provides durable protection against neurological disease for at least 10 years.
Important limitations
This summary relies on the supplied single-article abstract and metadata. Full interpretation of study limitations, including potential selection bias in the case-control design, surveillance completeness, and generalizability beyond Switzerland, requires access to the original paper.
GIDS interpretation
This article would be discoverable through GIDS queries for tick-borne encephalitis surveillance, vaccine effectiveness studies, or pediatric vaccination coverage in Switzerland. It provides context on TBE epidemiology and vaccination impact in a defined geographic and age-specific population.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 12 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.