European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology
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Eur. J. Clin. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. · Oct 1992
Two-year survey of the incidence of Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis in a high-risk population in Sweden.
A survey was made over a two-year period (September 1987 to August 1989) of a population living in an area endemic for Lyme borreliosis and tick-borne encephalitis in Sweden. For each patient a blood sample was collected and a questionnaire completed annually. All sera were tested for an antibody response to Borrelia burgdorferi in an EIA using sonicated antigen and for an antibody response to the tick-borne encephalitis virus using an EIA and a haemagglutination inhibition test. ⋯ One case of tick-borne encephalitis was seen each year. Seroconversion for tick-borne encephalitis virus was found in 3 of 258 (1.2%) subjects in the first year and 5 of 211 (2.4%) in the second year, excluding subjects who had undergone successful immunisation or had earlier been hospitalised for tick-borne encephalitis. The study thus demonstrated a high yearly incidence of tick-borne infections in a population at risk.