Vaccination drive to prevent Japanese Encephalitis

Harsh Pandey / TNN / May 20, 2009, 22:17 IST

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The vaccination drive to fight Japanese Encephalitis (dimaagi bukhaar, in common parlance) started in city on Wednesday. The vaccination was carried out at 369 booths in the city.

Vaccination drive to prevent Japanese Encephalitis

KANPUR: The vaccination drive to fight Japanese Encephalitis (dimaagi bukhaar, in common parlance) started in city on Wednesday. The vaccination was carried out at 369 booths in the city.
Talking to TOI, additional chief medical officer (CMO) P K Porwal, said, "The children in the age group of 1 year old to 15 years old are most vulnerable to the disease and have been chosen for the vaccination programme.The programme will start from May 20 and continue till June 3 in Kanpur district."
There are 247 centres in urban areas and 122 in rural areas. In each team there will be five members each. The district needs 18.5 lakh vaccines for 16 lakh children. However, there are currently 14 lakh vaccines available. In case of shortage, the vaccines will be brought from Bareilly.
Porwal further added, "To prevent Japanese Encephalitis, Indian government has started a vaccination campaign in those states where there are high chances of its spread. Residents of both rural and urban areas have been asked to avail the benefit of the drive and ensure safety of their children."

Dr Porwal added, "The region of Terai belts and Eastern UP has been particularly prone to disease. On an average, every year about 100 to 150 lives are lost due to JE."
He further said that if a child after diagnosis reports JE, there are two possibilities -- first, chances of death up to 30 per cent and second, lifelong loss of mental balance.
The vaccination starts every day at 9.00 in the morning and will continue till 4.00 in the evening.
The children will be administered a dose of .5 ml sub-cutaneous injection. The injection is maintained in a temperature range of +2 degrees and +8 degrees.
Experts say that once vaccinated, the human body develops immunity to the disease.

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