There really is no specific cure for tick-borne viral encephalitis. However, they still try to treat the disease, for example, various antiviral drugs are used.
Photo: Nikolai OBEREMCHENKO
The tragic case of the death of 17-year-old Russian bandy champion Yevgeny Khvalko from a disease caused by tick-borne viral encephalitis once again made us think about the serious danger that can lie in wait for a person unexpected and imperceptible. . According to media reports, the guy received a bite in his hometown of Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk region, a few days later the athlete fell ill and was hospitalized in St. Petersburg, but, unfortunately, it was not possible to save the young man. Is it true that there is still no cure for the tick-borne encephalitis virus and how to fight back, Vladislav Zhemchugov, immunologist, virologist, doctor of medical sciences, told KP.RU.
IS IT POSSIBLE TO CURE ENCEPHALITIS BY TIC?
There really is no specific cure for tick-borne viral encephalitis. However, they still try to treat the disease, for example, various antiviral drugs are used.
– Here you can use drugs from the group of peptide immunostimulants, – says Vladislav Zhemchugov. – Once in the Soviet laboratories, we were engaged in the development of such drugs. One of the drugs is described in my doctoral thesis. We have tested it on mice and in connection with plague infection. If such a drug is given ahead of time, 1 hour in advance, and then it infects the mice with plague, then they survive without antibiotic treatment. We have tried this method with West Nile fever, which is very severe. Animal deaths decreased significantly. Now a similar proprietary immunostimulant is used in the treatment of viral hepatitis, there are similar drugs for the treatment of various purulent processes and sepsis. However, at the moment, only the vaccine protects against tick-borne viral encephalitis.
In fact, the body has everything to defeat almost any virus, only the work of protective molecules is not activated in advance on its own, it is activated, for example, by a vaccine, says the expert. So it happens that a person is not vaccinated and when the infection is established, it may already be too late to apply the treatment.
– There are reports that they tried to treat the guy with immunoglobulins, was that the right direction?
– Of course it’s true. This is a passive defense treatment, when prepared serum or prepared immunoglobulins against a specific virus are injected into the body. This is how it works with botulism, and with gangrene, with hepatitis A and jaundice in severe cases. But these are specific immunoglobulins produced in response to a specific infection. Whether this was the case in the treatment of tick-borne encephalitis in this case, we do not know. If these were immunoglobulins specific for the tick-borne encephalitis virus and they didn’t work, then it was too late. If they were non-specific immunoglobulins, they might help too, but the chances are much lower.
– Is it possible to say that death from tick-borne encephalitis in modern medicine is a rarity, and a talented athlete is simply unlucky?
– I wouldn’t say that. Another thing is that, fortunately, people are trying to get vaccinated against this infection, which means they get less sick. However, now holidays in Altai, the Urals and Siberia have become popular. Very good, of course, but not being vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis to go on such tours is very dangerous. Because the risk is huge! It is necessary to vaccinate and develop a specific treatment. It’s very important.
WHERE CAN DANGEROUS TICKETS BE COLLECTED?
Siberia, the Volga region, some regions of the North-West and Central Federal Districts are traditionally considered unfavorable in connection with tick-borne infections. So, in the year 2020, which is prosperous for tick-borne infections, most people applied for tick bites in the Tomsk region and the Altai Republic. The frequency of applications has increased in the Novosibirsk, Tyumen and Kemerovo regions.
– Every year there are more and more ticks in the western territories of Russia. If in the 1970s they were beyond the Urals, then they moved to Karelia, to Komi, now it is both the north-west and the south-east of the Moscow region, says Vladislav Zhemchugov.
According to the results of research conducted by the Kirov State Medical University in Russia, the mortality rate (the number of deaths times the number of infected) from tick-borne viral encephalitis diseases ranges from 1.1% in the Volga Federal District and more. to 17.5% in the Far East. Much depends on the strain of the virus.
According to the Ministry of Health, more than 500,000 requests for medical assistance in connection with tick bites are registered annually in Russia. In addition, the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko notes that now in almost all regions it is the season of tick activity.
According to Rospotrebnadzor, by the beginning of August 2023, 401.5 thousand people had already applied for medical care in connection with tick bites. Mostly in the Kemerovo, Sverdlovsk, Kirov, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Kostroma and Irkutsk regions, the Republic of Udmurtia, Krasnoyarsk and Perm.
3.16 million people were vaccinated against tick-borne viral encephalitis in Russia, compared to 2.8 million last year.
There are other preventive measures that apply at the state level. This is the treatment of territories against ticks. In 2023, said anti-mite disinfection was carried out in an area of 200.3 thousand hectares.
