Vaccination — programme of TBE vaccination by an accident insurance company

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is a very severe infection of the brain transmitted by ticks. Austria was one of the European countries most at risk with more than 700 cases recorded annually before the vaccination era. There is no specific drug therapy for TBE, but it can be successfully prevented by vaccination. The farmers’ accident insurance company was particularly interested in this vaccine, because farmers and forest workers were high risk groups.

The aim of the vaccination campaign was to minimise and eventually eliminate the risk of tick-borne encephalitis. The legal driver for the campaign was the General Social Insurance Act, which required preventative measures to be taken to protect workers.