Japanese encephalitis vaccinations at Kalleda Rural School, 2007.

Japanese Encephalitis is a virus spread by mosquitoes. It occurs throughout much of southern and southeastern asia, and there have been outbreaks in Andhra Pradesh. Some medical personnel may recommend vaccinations before travelling to this area.

I do not give medical advice, and if you are advised to get vaccinated, I will certainly not advise to the contrary. However, if you are told that the vaccination is optional and you are trying to decide, or if you simply want to know more about it, I can provide the following information.

Outbreaks of Japanese encephalitis are uncommon; I have recently re-confirmed with my friends at the Rural Development Foundation that they have never heard of an outbreak in the Kalleda area. Even when outbreaks do occur, the percentage of individuals infected is low; and the great majority of people affected have only mild symptoms. It is especially uncommon for people over the age of 15 to become sick from this virus. The doctor who advises us in Andhra recommended that no college students be vaccinated, even when vaccinations were readily available (the kids at Kalleda Rural School were vaccinated in summer 2007).

Another consideration is that the vaccine is both expensive and reactogenic; the CDC indicates that risk of adverse reaction from the vaccine may be worse than the risk of contracting the disease:

Estimates suggest that risk of Japanese encephalitis in highly endemic areas during the transmission season can reach 1 per 5,000 per month of exposure; risk for most short-term travelers may be 1 per million. Although Japanese encephalitis vaccine is reactogenic, rates of serious allergic reactions (generalized urticaria or angioedema) are low (1 to 104 per 10,000).

In 2007 our group included my own son, who had just turned 17; I did not have him vaccinated.

Glenn Stone