Volume 1, Issue 10
Japanese Encephalitis Epidemic In India
Author: Jyoti Jaiswal
Abstract: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a serious infection caused by a virus. It occurs mainly in rural parts of Asia. JE virus spreads through the bite of infected mosquitoes. It cannot spread directly from person to person. The risk of JE is very low for most travelers, but it is higher for people living or traveling for long periods in areas where the disease is common. Most people infected with JE virus don't have any symptoms at all. For others, JE virus infection can cause illness ranging from fever and headache to severe encephalitis (brain infection).Symptoms of encephalitis are fever, neck stiffness, seizures, changes in consciousness, or coma. About 1 person in 4 with encephalitis dies. Of those who don't die, up to half may suffer permanent brain damage. There is some evidence that an infection in a pregnant woman can harm her unborn baby. JE is an inflammation of the brain tissue and is caused due to the infection by a mosquito bite which carries the virus. At present, there is no anti-viral therapy and the vaccination is considered the most effective way to control the disease. India's first Japanese encephalitis vaccine launched. JE is highly prevalent in south-east Asia and the Far East and nearly 67,900 cases are recorded annually with 1169 deaths reported from India alone. An epidemic outbreak of Japanese Encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh, India, and Nepal killed more than 1,200 children in 2005. During the last few years, over 10 million children have been affected worldwide by JE and 4 million have died or become permanently disabled, Pharma firm Biological E Limited (BEL) today launched the country's first indigenous vaccine to tackle Japanese encephalitis (JE), a deadly viral disease.
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