Nepal on JE alert!

Expanding and facilitating access to vaccination can effectively reduce the human toll of this virus to near zero.

A few days ago, a relative of a patient receiving treatment for Japanese encephalitis (JE) at a private hospital in Kathmandu asked me where he could get the vaccine against JE virus. He also shared an incident about a patient with a high-grade fever, who collapsed on the way back from buying medicine. The patient was later brought to Kathmandu for confirmation and treatment, as he was suspected of being infected with JE virus. According to him, around half a dozen more patients suspected of having the JE virus have also come to Kathmandu for treatment. Since all the patients were from Chitwan, there may be an ongoing JE outbreak, perhaps spreading rapidly in the area (Chitwan), indicating a comeback of the virus in Nepal after a nearly 19-year hiatus.