Most patients recover fully without long-term sequelae, although in severe presentations (e.g., following infection with the [Ural-] Siberian or the Far Eastern virus subtypes) 30% may have impaired neurological function and 6% may have persistent paralysis.[10]Barlow G, Irving WL, Moss PJ. Infectious disease. In: Feather A, Randall D, Waterhouse M, eds. Kumar & Clark’s clinical medicine. 10th ed. London: Elsevier, 2021.
The mortality rate is 1% in patients with Western/European virus infections, and up to 8% in patients with (Ural-) Siberian virus infections.[8]Kuhn JH, Crozier I. Arthropod-borne and rodent-borne virus infections. In: Loscalzo J, Fauci AS, Kasper DL, Hauser SL, Longo DL, Jameson JL, eds. Harrison’s principles of internal medicine. 21st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2022.[15]World Health Organization. Tick-borne encephalitis. 2025 [internet publication].
http://www.who.int/immunization/diseases/tick_encephalitis/en
Infection with TBE results in lifelong immunity to that particular virus subtype.[20]Hills SL, Fischer M. Arboviral encephalitides. In: Heymann DL, ed. Control of communicable diseases manual. 21st ed. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association; 2022.