Vitebsk pediatricians recommend vaccinating children against tick-borne encephalitis for the summer holidays

According to Irina Gribovskaya, head of the immunization office at the regional children's center, this vaccine became available to pediatricians this spring and is intended for children aged one to 16 years. This is especially relevant for those whose parents will send them to suburban health resorts or to relatives in the countryside. Moreover, as last summer's experience shows, bites from dangerous blood-sucking insects were reported not only by those who had been in the forest, but also by those who had vacationed in the suburbs where there was unmown grass. Therefore, vaccinations against tick-borne encephalitis should become an effective means of preventing the aforementioned infection among the child population, Irina Alexandrovna expressed her hope.

By the way, vaccinations are also provided for adults, and not only for those in risk groups, for whom they are prescribed for epidemiological reasons and are given on a planned basis, for example, to forestry workers. Vaccination will not hurt hunters, fishermen, summer residents, and nature lovers in general.

The relevance of the issue is also emphasized by specialists from the Vitebsk Zonal Center for Hygiene and Epidemiology. They note that about 70% of ticks that were examined in the laboratory last season were infected with the tick-borne encephalitis virus. This means that a person bitten by an insect must undergo antibiotic prophylaxis. Otherwise, unpleasant consequences await them: a severe clinical condition, long-term treatment, and rehabilitation after the illness. Therefore, doctors recommend playing it safe and resorting to immunoprophylaxis.