A lethal Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) due to TBE Virus in Sicily (Italy): a case of IgG+/IgM- response?

Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) is an important viral infection of the central nervous system with high morbidity and mortality. With the increase of tourism TBE is becoming a problem also outside endemic regions. Italy is considered a country with low incidence of TBE and geographically restricted to the central and north eastern part of the country. In the south of Italy there is no evidence of disease presence, but neither is there much evidence of its absence. We report our experience about a lethal case of meningoencephalitis with a single-phase clinical course of the disease likely due to TBEV infection in a 13-year-old man. This is the first report of an autochthonous case of TBE in Sicily, region in the in Southern Italy.