Bengaluru (The Hawk): Beginning on December 5 and lasting for three weeks, a special vaccination push against Japanese encephalitis (JE) will be conducted in Karnataka for an estimated 48 lakh children between the ages of 1 and 15 years.
Encephalitis is an inflammation of the brain brought on by an allergy or an infection. In India, JE is one of the most frequent causes of encephalitis, with 68,000 cases recorded annually.
"Among them, death rates range from 20 to 30 percent. According to Karnataka Health Minister K. Sudhakar, 30 to 50 percent of individuals who receive a treatment develop lasting physical and mental abnormalities, sensory and motor deficits, and other impairments.
JE is largely spread by Culex mosquitoes, who also carry the flavivirus that causes the disease. Pigs and wild birds serve as the virus's amplifier hosts and are maintained in those animals. The host that leads nowhere is man.
Speaking of the particular vaccination effort, Sudhakar stated that it will largely target private and public schools during the first week of December. Following that, the push will concentrate on medical facilities, anganwadi centres, etc. over the following two weeks.
The Jenvac vaccination would be provided to us by the Union Health Ministry so that we may carry out the push, he said.
Bellary, Raichur, Koppal, Vijayapur, Chikkaballapur, Kolar, Mandya, Dharwad, Chitradurga, and Davanagere districts are the 10 endemic districts for this virus in Karnataka according to the Universal Immunization Program. In these regions, the first dose of the JE vaccine is administered to infants after nine months, and the second dose is administered after 1.5 years of age.
(Inputs from Agencies)
