Tick vaccination: Who should get vaccinated against TBE (Zeckenimpfung)?

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You can be vaccinated against early summer meningoencephalitis, and health insurance companies usually cover the costs. For whom is a vaccination suitable, how does it work, and what should be considered?

Who should get vaccinated?

The vaccination should have everyone who lives in areas where TBE repeatedly occurs and moves a lot in the great outdoors. So anyone who hikes, bikes, or walks in the woods is at risk.

“Vaccination is recommended for every citizen in Bavaria who is not just sitting at home on the sofa.”

How does the vaccination work?

There are different schemes for the TBE vaccination. With a rapid vaccination schedule with three vaccine doses, one can achieve protection within a few weeks or months. However, if you do not need immediate protection, you should prefer the long-term regimen. Here, too, there are three injections, with the second being given after two to three months and the third injection then again six months later. The manufacturers of the vaccines also recommend the long-term regimen because more stable vaccine protection is built over this extended period.

Depending on age, the vaccine protection lasts for three to five years before you need a booster.

Can children also be vaccinated?

Minor children should not be vaccinated yet, because they can more often have fever reactions after the vaccination. Otherwise, immunization is very well tolerated and no longer a problem for children over five or six.

TBE vaccination as travel vaccination

The vaccination is recommended for people who live in a risky area and travelers who go there on vacation.

At the same time, it looks at the moment as if the risk area is also expanding more and more worldwide. There are now more and more cases in the Baltic States and even in Sweden and Norway. In addition, TBE is also widespread eastward across Russia and as far as Japan. There it occurs as Russian or Asian meningoencephalitis. However, the vaccine that we receive in this country is also effective against these forms of the disease.