“Honest Sign” spoke about a two-fold increase in demand for vaccinations against encephalitis

From January to April 2023, Russian medical organizations used up 3.1 million doses of vaccines against encephalitis. This is 51% higher than the same period last year. This was reported to Kommersant by the national system for labeling goods “Honest Sign”. Rospotrebnadzor confirms the growth in demand, but not so significant – according to the sanitary department, 2.6 million people were vaccinated, while last year the number of vaccinated people approached 2.2 million by June. Experts explain the trend by the fact that citizens are likely to skipped revaccination against tick-borne encephalitis during the pandemic years and are doing it now.

Experts from the Chestny Znak national product labeling system analyzed the data on “disposal” (this can be both intended use and loss) of the tick-borne encephalitis vaccine from medical institutions in the period from January to April 2023. It turned out that more than 3.1 million doses of drugs for encephalitis were used in Russia during this time. This is 51% higher than in the same months last year, when 2.1 million doses of vaccines were spent.

The leader in terms of vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis in the period from January to April, according to the analysts of “Honest Sign”, was the Republic of Tyva – 1115 doses of the vaccine per 10 thousand inhabitants there. The Vologda Oblast is on the second place (1077 doses), the Republic of Khakassia is on the third place (1030 doses). This is followed by the Kemerovo (853 doses) and Tyumen (851 doses) regions. The top 10 also includes Udmurtia, Novosibirsk region, Altai, Buryatia and Perm region.

The head of the scientific group for the development of new methods for diagnosing natural focal diseases of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology of Rospotrebnadzor, Lyudmila Karan, confirms the growth in demand for the vaccine, although not so significant. According to the supervisory service, 2.6 million people have been vaccinated against tick-borne encephalitis. A year ago, over the same period, 2.2 million people were vaccinated. Note that, unlike the “Honest Sign”, Rospotrebnadzor counts exactly the number of vaccinated, and this can be both primary vaccination (three doses) and revaccination (one dose).

Ms. Karan notes that 47 subjects are endemic for tick-borne encephalitis in Russia. The highest incidence in 2022 was registered in the Republic of Tyva: 17.78 cases per 100 thousand of the population, followed by the Kirov region – 12.07 per 100 thousand and the Krasnoyarsk Territory – 8.76 per 100 thousand. The average for the Russian Federation is 1 .34 per 100 thousand population.

At the same time, in the last decade in Russia, there has been a tendency to reduce the annual number of registered cases of tick-borne encephalitis. “Thus, the increase in the number of vaccinated is not associated with an increase in the incidence or increased tourist flows in the territory with the highest risk of infection with the tick-borne encephalitis virus,” continues Lyudmila Karan. “Most popular tourist destinations are still Moscow, St. Petersburg, and the southern regions of the Russian Federation , where the incidence of tick-borne encephalitis is either not recorded at all, or is quite low. The policy of vaccination in endemic territories has not changed either: in most of them, children and persons at risk are vaccinated at the expense of the budgetary funds of the territories. Therefore, the most likely reason for the increase in the number of vaccinated people is the vaccination campaigns, information about which is actively disseminated in the media. Ms. Karan emphasizes that the educational work of the Rospotrebnadzor bodies and medical organizations contributed to the increase in interest in vaccination. She points out that for the past few years, vaccination against coronavirus has been a priority, and it is not always easy to combine vaccinations according to epidemiological indications: “I assume that a number of people missed revaccination against tick-borne encephalitis in the pandemic years and do it in 2022 and 2023.”

Tetyana Kogut, an infectious disease specialist at the Doctis telemedicine service, confirms that over the two years of the pandemic, all vaccine programs have “sunk”: people have been vaccinated against covid. When the situation with the coronavirus “leveled off”, the Russians returned to routine vaccinations: “Perhaps this also coincided with the revaccination period: the encephalitis vaccine is administered every three years, and just three years after the start of the pandemic, the contingent of people subject to vaccination and revaccination against encephalitis.

Mrs. Kogut recalls that encephalitis belongs to the category of natural focal diseases and occurs in Siberia, the Urals, the Far East, and the Volga region. This is due to the spread of vectors here – ixodid ticks. Demand for the vaccine has grown in precisely those regions that are traditionally endemic. “It is also important to get vaccinated for those who visit these regions, for example, schoolchildren who come on vacation to children’s camps, people who come on hikes,” continues Tatyana Kogut.

Russia has both domestic and registered foreign vaccines. Vaccination is possible from one year of age, the scheme involves a three-time administration of the drug with revaccination – a single injection every three years. The vaccines are interchangeable, that is, the second injection can be given with another drug in a situation where, for example, the first one is not available. Tatyana Kogut notes that vaccination against tick-borne encephalitis, according to known data, protects in 95% of cases, but does not cancel all other measures of individual protection against ticks: the use of repellents, self- and mutual examinations after walking through the forest, trips to endemic territories.

Natalia Kostarnova