{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,23]],"date-time":"2026-02-23T15:58:40Z","timestamp":1771862320276,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":23,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,25]],"date-time":"2024-12-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1735084800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004329","name":"Slovenian Research Agency","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["P3-0154"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P3-0154"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004329","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004329","name":"Slovenian Research Agency","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["TP20230182"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TP20230182"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004329","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia","award":["P3-0154"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["P3-0154"]}]},{"name":"University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia","award":["TP20230182"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["TP20230182"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: In Slovenia, patients with suspected tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) were historically referred to infectious diseases (ID), but during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were increased referrals to neurology. This study compared the clinical management of TBE patients between ID specialists and neurologists and assessed patients\u2019 outcomes. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical, laboratory, and imaging data of 318 adult patients with TBE managed by ID (n = 256; 80.5%) and neurology (n = 62; 19.5%) at a tertiary centre in Slovenia between March 2020 and September 2022 to explore variations in diagnostic and therapeutic approaches by specialty and to assess the severity and outcome of acute illness. Results: Patients referred to ID or neurology did not differ regarding their basic demographic and epidemiologic characteristics or basic laboratory parameters. However, patients referred to neurology more often presented with severe illness, including impaired consciousness and\/or focal neurological signs (72.6% vs. 55.5%; p &lt; 0.001). ID specialists used head imaging before lumbar puncture (6.6% vs. 64.5%; p &lt; 0.001), performed microbiological tests other than for TBE (16.0% vs. 51.6%; p &lt; 0.001), and empirically prescribed antimicrobials less often than neurology (5.1% vs. 22.6%; p &lt; 0.001). When adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, vaccination status, and the severity of acute illness, clinical outcomes were similar between the two groups of patients, but those with more severe acute illness had higher odds for incomplete recovery. Conclusions: Differences in clinical presentation between ID and neurology referrals could only partially explain the narrower diagnostic and therapeutic approach used by ID, which, given the study design, was not associated with adverse outcomes. Additionally, in patients with clinical characteristics suggestive of TBE in endemic areas, tremor in the absence of other focal neurological signs or impaired consciousness may not necessitate head imaging before lumbar puncture. Future prospective studies could help to optimise the management of this clinical syndrome.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm14010045","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,25]],"date-time":"2024-12-25T19:29:52Z","timestamp":1735154992000},"page":"45","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Presentation, Management, and Outcome of Tick-Borne Encephalitis in Patients Referred to Infectious Diseases or Neurology"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0000-2176-2512","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jana","family":"Gulin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-9200-4769","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lu\u010dka Marija","family":"Neudauer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Dermatology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3069-9863","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nata\u0161a","family":"Kej\u017ear","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Biostatistics and Medical Informatics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4274-9477","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fajko F.","family":"Bajrovi\u0107","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Institute of Pathophysiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Stefan","family":"Collinet-Adler","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Park Nicollet\/Health Partners, Methodist Hospital, Saint Louis Park, MN 55426, USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8927-2683","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Da\u0161a","family":"Stupica","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, University Medical Centre Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"},{"name":"Department of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"303","DOI":"10.1086\/589747","article-title":"The Management of Encephalitis: Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America","volume":"47","author":"Tunkel","year":"2008","journal-title":"Clin. 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