Evidence for a 10-year TBE vaccine booster interval: an evaluation of current data

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is rapidly spreading to new areas in many parts of Europe. While vaccination remains the most effective method of protection against the disease, vaccine uptake is low in many endemic countries.

Areas covered

We conducted a literature search of the MEDLINE database to identify articles published from 2018 to 2023 that evaluated the immunogenicity and effectiveness of TBE vaccines, particularly Encepur, when booster doses were administered up to 10 years apart. We searched PubMed with the MeSH terms ‘Encephalitis, Tick-Borne/prevention and control’ and ‘Vaccination’ for articles published in the English language.

Expert opinion

Long-term immunogenicity data for Encepur and real-world data on vaccine effectiveness and breakthrough infections following the two European TBE vaccines, Encepur and FSME-Immun, have shown that extending the booster interval from 3–5 years to 10 years does not negatively impact protection against TBE, regardless of age. Such extension not only streamlines the vaccination schedules but may also increase vaccine uptake and compliance among those living in endemic regions.

KEYWORDS:

• TBE booster interval
• TBE vaccination
• TBE vaccine effectiveness
• tick-borne encephalitis
• vaccination management

Article highlights

• Long-term persistence of immune response elicited by Encepur across recipients in all age groups was demonstrated through prospective and modeled data (up to 15 years using prospective data and 20 years using modeled data).

• Data from real-world studies on the two European TBE vaccines, Encepur and FSME-Immun, have shown that vaccine effectiveness remains high among those who are completely vaccinated, regardless of age, even when the last dose was received up to 10 years prior. This prolonged time interval also did not increase the rate of breakthrough infections in those who are fully vaccinated.

• Other than reducing the complexity of vaccination schedules, extending the interval for booster vaccination up to 10 years may also improve vaccine uptake and compliance in those living in endemic regions.

Declaration of interests

J Schelling received payment for talks and advisory boards from Bavarian Nordic. S Einmahl is a paid consultant for Bavarian Nordic. R Torgler is employed by Bavarian Nordic AG. CS Larsen has received payment for lectures and participation in advisory boards from Pfizer. He is also employed by European LifeCare Group as Medical Director. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or material discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer disclosures

A reviewer on this manuscript has received honoraria for lectures and/or research grants from Pfizer and Bavarian Nordic. Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no other relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Author contributions

All authors meet the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors criteria for authorship for this article. All authors have substantially contributed to the conception and design of the review article and interpreting the relevant literature; they were also involved in revising the manuscript for intellectual content. Authors take responsibility for all aspects of the work and have given their approval for this manuscript to be published.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Jamy Feng and Helen Smith from Nucleus Global for providing medical writing support. Permission has been granted by these individuals to mention their name in the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This manuscript was funded by Bavarian Nordic.