TBEV (Tick-borne encephalitis virus) ELISA

In Europe, FSME (Tick-borne Encephalitis referred to as TBE) and Lyme Disease (Borreliosis) are the most frequent tick-borne infections. Borreliosis is very widespread but TBE is confined to special endemic regions (in Southern Germany, Thuringia, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, Sweden, Czech, Slovak Republics, Croatia, Slovenia as well as some regions of former Soviet Union, etc.). Both infections are similar in their development, consisting of two or more phases. The viraemic phase of TBE has an incubation period of 3-14 days with influenza-like symptoms in the first phase (1-8 days). After a non-febrile interval of about one week the infection may enter into a second phase, characterized by neurological symptoms of varying intensity. This stage may last for many weeks. At the beginning of the second sickness phase, usually anti-TBE-IgM antibodies are detectable. Antibody levels reach their peak after 2-6 weeks. It can take 10 months for antibodies to fall below the level of detection. Anti-TBE-IgG antibodies are detectable simultaneously or a few days after the appearance of IgM-antibodies. Infection means immunity which mostly lasts a lifetime. Vaccination will also prevent the disease. Regular serological checks establish whether boosters are required ('vaccination management'). TBE-specific antibodies in Cerebrospinal Fluid (CSF) may be caused by a dysfunction of the hemato-encephalic barrier before or during an immune response to TBE antigens or may be the result of a local immune response. The antibody level fluctuations in the CSF may differ from those prevalent in serum/plasma. With TBE IgM and TBE IgG it is possible to differentiate between specific TBE antibodies of the IgG and the IgM classes. Rheumatic factors and specific IgG do not interfere with IgM determination due to the addition of the RF/IgG-Absorbent. The combination of both test systems allows the determination of the humoral immune status following TBE-vaccination or infection (IgG), early diagnosis of primary infection with TBE (IgM) and monitoring of changes of antibody levels (IgM/IgG) in human serum, plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.