OREANDA-NEWS. October 22, 2010. Within the period of 01 January 2010 to 01 October 2010, ROSNO’s Kostroma branch concluded over 5.5 thousand voluntary medical insurance contracts under ROSNO’s program "Tick Protection" (as compared to 1,680 contracts concluded during the entire year 2009), reported the press-centre of ROSNO.

The specialized medical insurance program "Tick Protection" contemplates organization of, and payment for, the necessary scope of medical aid to insurants in case of any diseases (vernal encephalitis or borreliosis) resulting from tick bites. The cost of VMI policy "Tick Protection" equals 180 roubles (in the Kostroma Region). The insurance program contemplates outpatient treatment and hospital medical care. The insurance period is one year.

"Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare) notes that in recent years our country has been facing quite tense epidemiological situation as regards vernal encephalitis. Last year, the sickness rate increased by 33 percent, with the quantity of areas registering new cases of vernal encephalitis growing by 15 percent. Unfortunately, vaccination provides no 100% protection guarantee against vernal encephalitis after a vaccinated person suffers a bite by an infected tick. Many residents of endemic areas, including the Kostroma Region, prefer to have insurance policies to protect themselves in case of diseases resulting from bites by infected ticks, because such insurance policies will enable them to receive medical treatment irrespective of how much it would cost. This year, such insurance policies were mainly purchased by private clients, not by companies", comments Mr. Alexander Yeremenko, head of ROSNO’s Kostroma branch.

In 2010, 86 people applied for medical aid under ROSNO‘s VMI policy "Tick Protection" in the Kostroma Region. Tick-borne infections, including vernal encephalitis, are frequent in spring and summer, when infection carriers (ixodic ticks) are highly active. The most dangerous months are May and June. However, this year, due to the abnormal summer heat which suppressed tick activity, only a few ROSNO insurants applied for insurance compensations under the program "Tick Protection" in the Kostroma Region.