[Epidemiologic and clinical studies of patients with tick-borne encephalitis from northeastern Poland]

The authors discussed the epidemiological and serological evaluation as well as the clinical symptomatology of thick-borne encephalitis in 215 patients from North-East Poland. They found, among other things, that in 94 per cent of cases the infection was percutaneous from the tick bite and caused via the digestive route in 6 per cent of cases by drinking unboiled cow milk. It was demonstrated that during the late phase of convalescence i.e. one to five years after the outbreak of the disease, the injuries to the nervous system were more frequently manifest than in patients during the acute phase. The authors pointed out that 25.3 per cent of those who recovered from tick-borne encephalitis, suffered to a varying degree from a limited physical and psychic efficiency. This condition originated from the existing injuries to the nervous system and led not infrequently to a permanent disability of the persons concerned.