Epidemiology of tick-borne encephalitis in China, 2007- 2018

Xiaojing Chen; Fan Li; Qikai Yin; Wenjing Liu; Shihong Fu; Ying He; Wenwen Lei; Songtao Xu; Guodong Liang; Shiwen Wang; Guang Yang; Xiaopeng Qi; Huanyu Wang

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0226712

Epidemiology of tick-borne encephalitis in China, 2007- 2018

PLoS One. 2019 Dec 26;14(12):e0226712. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0226712. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Xiaojing Chen^{1

2}, Fan Li^{1

3}, Qikai Yin^{1

3}, Wenjing Liu^{1

4}, Shihong Fu^{1

3}, Ying He^{1

3}, Wenwen Lei^{1

3}, Songtao Xu^{1

3}, Guodong Liang^{1

3}, Shiwen Wang^{5

6}, Guang Yang², Xiaopeng Qi⁷, Huanyu Wang^{1

3

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Viral Encephalitis, NHC Key Laboratory of Biosafety, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
² Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
³ State Key Laboratory for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Basic Medical, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, China.
⁵ Office for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.
⁶ CDC-WIV Joint Research Center for Emerging Diseases and Biosafety, Wuhan, China.
⁷ Center for Global Public Health, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is endemic to Europe and some Asian countries and is prevalent in northeast China. We analyzed the epidemiology of TBE in China from 2007 to 2018. A total of 3,364 TBE cases were reported in mainland China from 2007 to 2018, for an annual incidence of 0.09 to 0.44/100,000. Among the TBE cases, 89.92% were reported in forest areas (41.94% in DaXingAnLing, 8.70% in XiaoXingAnLing, and 39.21% in ChangBaiShan) in northeast China. The TBE cases were primarily male with a proportion of 67.15% (2,259/3,364 cases) and in 40-49-year age group with a proportion of 31.89% (1,073/3,364 cases). The epidemiology of TBE differed slightly among the three forest regions. Domestic workers and forestry workers accounted for the most of the TBE cases in DaXingAnLing, and domestic workers and farmers in XiaoXingAnLing and ChangBaiShan, respectively. The TBE cases mainly occurred from April to August with a peak in June. The TBE laboratory confirmed rate in DaXingAnLing (84.14%, 1,189/1,413 cases) was highest, compared with XiaoXingAnLing and ChangBaiShan (13.99% and 11.37%, respectively). Moreover, the hospital with the highest laboratory confirmed rate (88.01%, 1,336/1,518 cases) was Inner Mongolia Forestry General Hospital of DaXingAnling region. Systematic enhanced TBE surveillance and a vaccination program are needed to improve the laboratory confirmed rate and reduce the incidence of TBE in northeast China.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Child
Child, Preschool
China / epidemiology
Encephalitis Viruses, Tick-Borne / isolation & purification
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / diagnosis
Encephalitis, Tick-Borne / epidemiology*
Female
Humans
Incidence
Male
Middle Aged
Young Adult

Grants and funding

This work was supported by grants from National Science and Technology Major Project of China (2018ZX10101002-001-012;2018ZX10711001); the Development Grant of State Key Laboratory of Infectious Disease Prevention and Control (2015SKLID505). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.