With the ability of TBEV to infect neutrophils (Plekhova et al., 2012) and a tendency toward positive association of IL-8 levels with total pleocytosis and CSF neutrophil counts observed in VBT patients, IL-8 expression could significantly contribute to virus dissemination and CNS immunopathology during TBE in patients previously vaccinated against this disease. This evidence concerns the gene CXCL8 and tick-borne encephalitis.