Mommy, Mosquito-borne Diseases November 20, 2017

Japanese Encephalitis: Know Its Symptoms And Prevention

Wondering what is Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV)? Look no further, we tell you all about this disease, its symptoms and the ways to prevent it.

Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain and the most common viral infection. Japanese encephalitis is a type of brain inflammation caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus which is carried by mosquitoes.

The first case of this kind of encephalitis was documented in Japan (1871) and hence, the name Japanese encephalitis.

It is an endemic disease, which possesses a risk for everyone but cases of kids below 15 years old are more frequent.  This virus mainly survives in pigs, ardeid birds and in mosquitoes.

With over 1200 cases documented over the last year, India is declared as a country with known risk of Japanese encephalitis. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to understand the disease, its symptoms and prevention as it will help you protect your family from the disease.

We list out the symptoms, which will help you recognize Japanese encephalitis symptoms and would help you to differentiate from the other similar conditions.

Symptoms Of Japanese Encephalitis

• It can begin with mild fever, headache, vomiting, fits and can have rapid progession to disorientation and even coma over a span of hours or days
• Mental status changes, neurological symptoms, weakness and movement disorders might develop over the next few days
• Muscle stiffness is one symptom which you need to check on – sudden or shooting pain is observed during the movement of the muscle; do not pass it off as causal muscular spasm
• For persons who develop symptoms, the incubation period (time from infection until illness) is typically 5 to 15 days
• In an area where encephalitis is known to occur, it is important to seek medical advice at the onset of any of these symptoms
• Seizures are common, especially among children

At some stage, it  would be confusing to understand or to judge the symptoms or even to set out a definite diagnosis during its initial days of disease. It is essential to have a check on the severity of symptoms and maintain a timely report of the treatment.

Recognizing the symptoms is important but it is also essential to know the ways you can prevent the disease, so let’s read and understand the ways you can prevent it.

Ways To Prevent Japanese Encephalitis (JE)

There are safe and effective JE vaccines available which can be administered to you and your children.

Some points to note before taking JE vaccine:

• JE vaccine can be taken by anyone who is at a risk of exposure to the disease, please do consult your doctor before hand.
• The dosage of vaccine depends on the age of your children or yourself:
  – Normally 2 doses of this vaccine is required , and it has to be administered after 28 days
  – If your child is below 3 years of age then they would require fewer dosage
  – If your child is over 17 years of age a booster dose maybe administered after a year
• Pregnant women should usually not take this vaccine

While vaccinations offer protection from the disease for you and your family, it is always advisable that you use safe mosquito repellents like liquid vapourizers (Goodknight Gold Flash) when you are indoors and personal mosquito repellents to keep yourself and your family safe from mosquito bites and mosquito-borne diseases.

Reference Sources:

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention

NHS Choices

WedMD

wikiHow

blog.forumias.com