Statistical analyses were performed with the R 2.13.0 software (R Development Core Team 2011). Two-sided χ2 tests and two-sided Wilcoxon exact tests were used for assessing the statistical significance of observed differences. P values <0.05 were considered significant. Table 1 shows the background

characteristics of the study population (n = 48). The majority were generally healthy adult travelers of Finnish or Swedish origin, median age 35 years (range 21–71 years). 41% (20/49) of the subjects had received a yellow fever (YF) vaccine in the past, and 18% (9/49) reported tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccination. Fig. 1 shows both the individual PRNT50 titers and their geometric means for the various vaccination groups as tested against each of the seven JEV test strains two years after the last vaccine dose. The rates of seroprotection against the test strains are displayed in Table 2. selleck products No significant learn more differences were found in the seroprotection rates against the various test strains within each study group. Of the subjects primed two years earlier with JE-VC (n = 15), 93% had protective levels of neutralizing antibodies against the vaccine strain SA14-14-2, and 87% against the other two GIII test strains at follow-up ( Table 2). The seroprotection rates against the test strains of heterologous genotypes were

73% (GI), 93% (GII), and 87% (GIV) ( Table 2). The geometric mean titers (GMTs) against the various strains ranged between 24 and 62 ( Fig. 1). Of those primed and with JE-MB and subsequently boosted with a single JE-VC dose (n = 19), 100% showed protective levels of neutralizing antibodies against the three GIII test strains at follow-up ( Table 2). The seroprotection rates against the test strains of other genotypes were 89% (GI) and 95% (GII and GIV strains) ( Table 2). The GMTs varied between 95 and 239 ( Fig. 1). Notably, a representative of genotype V was not available

for testing. However, as long as GV remains such a rare cause of encephalitis, this genotype appears to be of minor clinical significance. Of the subjects primed and boosted with JE-MB (n = 14), 93% displayed protective antibody titers against the GIII test strains at follow-up ( Table 2). The respective seroprotection rates against test strains of heterologous genotypes were 93% (GI) and 100% (GII and GIV) ( Table 2). The GMTs recorded against the various test strains ranged between 101 and 582 ( Fig. 1). No significant differences were found in the seroprotection rates between the booster groups. While recent data prove that a single JE-VC dose efficiently boosts immunity in JE-MB-primed travelers [5] and [6], and that both JE-MB and JE-VC induce cross-protection to non-vaccine genotypes [16], the question of the duration of immunity has remained unanswered.