Vaccination Drive May Help Combat Japanese Encephalitis

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is a flavivirus related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, and is spread by mosquitoes. JEV is the main cause of viral encephalitis in many countries of Asia. The Odisha government will launch a massive vaccination drive to combat killer Japanese Encephalitis (JE) in 13 districts of the state. The campaign, starting November 27, will continue for nearly 20 days. Over 71 lakh children in the age group of 1 year to 15 years would be vaccinated with one dose of the Japanese Encephalitis vaccine during the campaign.

The disease had killed over 100 children in the state last year, said sources. The vaccination campaign will be launched in Balasore, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Kalahandi, Kendrapara, Khurda, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Puri, Rayagada, Sonepur and Sundergarh.

In a joint letter, Health secretary P.K. Meherda and Panchayati Raj Secretary Deoranjan Kumar Singh asked the district collectors in the 13 identified districts and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner to assess the actual beneficiary load and prepare an action plan.

"After completion of the campaign, JE vaccine will be included in the routine immunisation programme. In this context, support of the District Panchayat Officer and PRI members for the activities to achieve 100 percent coverage during the campaign," the letter said.

The letter instructed to create community awareness for vaccination campaign, community mobilisation for achieving the target, to discuss the benefits of vaccination during Gramsabha and Gram Panchayat meetings and also to monitor the school and community level campaign activities.

Source-IANS