JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS

Encephaliti is a disease caused by the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus.The Japanese encephalitis virus is a virus from the family Flaviviridae.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS

Severe rigors may mark the onset of this disease in humans. Fever, headache and malaise are other non-specific symptoms of this disease which may last for a period of between 1 and 6 days. Signs which develop during the acute encephalitic stage include neck rigidity, cachexia, hemiparesis, convulsions and a raised body temperature between 38–41 °C 100.4–105.8 °F. Mental retardation developed from this disease usually leads to coma.

PREVENTION

A formalin-inactivated mouse-brain derived vaccine was first produced in Japan in the 1930s and was validated for use in Taiwan in the 1960s and in Thailand in the 1980s. The widespread use of vaccine and urbanization has led to control of the disease in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The high cost of this vaccine, which is grown in live mice, means that poorer countries have not been able to afford to give it as part of a routine immunization program.