Japanese encephalitis is a rare but serious life threatening infection you can acquire from mosquito bites in some parts of the world. If you’re visiting an area where there’s a risk of contracting it, you can get vaccinated to prevent it.

Ascertain if you’re at risk of Japanese encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis is nonexistent in the UK. It’s mostly prevalent in rural areas of Asia. Rarely travelers get it. It is caused by a virus which is transmitted through mosquito bites.

Places where Japanese encephalitis is prevalent include parts of:

How to protect yourself fromJapanese encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis vaccine

A two dose vaccine is available for Japanese encephalitis prevention and is highly recommended if you’re travelling to a part of the world where the virus is present, especially if:

Japanese encephalitis vaccine is not free and you’ll have to pay for it. You can easily get it from pharmacies with travel health services and travel health clinics. You will have to plan well in advance if you want to get vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis before embarking on any tour. This is a two dose vaccine and a gap of 28 days is maintained between first and second dose. Second dose needs to be taken at least 1 week before travel. So, first dose needs to be taken 35 days before start of travel.

How to lower the risk of contracting Japanese encephalitis?

Apart from getting vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis risk of contracting this ailment can be lowered by taking steps to avoid mosquito bites when visiting areas with a risk of Japanese encephalitis.

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Why Japanese encephalitis vaccination in important?

Japanese encephalitis is more often than not a mild illness and in many cases there are no visible symptoms. But some cases are fatal. 1 in every 250 infected people fall ill so seriously that permanent brain damage or even death can result. In these people, the infection may begin with high fever, headache, tiredness, vomiting and sometimes agitation and confusion, but later on may progress to inflammation of the brain causing permanent brain damage and in some cases death.

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