Open AccessJapanese Encephalitis Vaccine for Travelers: Exploring the Limits of Risk
Author(s) -
David R. Shlim,
Tom Solomon
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
clinical infectious diseases/clinical infectious diseases (online. university of chicago. press)
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.44
H-Index - 336
eISSN - 1537-6591
pISSN - 1058-4838
DOI - 10.1086/341247
Subject(s) - medicine , japanese encephalitis vaccine , vaccination , travel medicine , disease , incidence (geometry) , encephalitis , japanese encephalitis , pediatrics , family medicine , environmental health , immunology , psychiatry , pathology , virus , physics , optics
The prevention of Japanese encephalitis in travelers presents the juxtaposition of 4 factors: a disease that is widespread throughout Asia, a disease with a low incidence in travelers, a vaccine about which there are safety concerns, and a clinical course that can result in death or permanent disability in two-thirds of symptomatic cases. Travel medicine practitioners often seem to be polarized into 2 groups: a group that gives more weight to the severity of the disease (and therefore often recommend vaccination) and another group that is more persuaded by the low occurrence of cases in travelers (and therefore rarely recommend vaccination). This review assesses the known risks of contracting Japanese encephalitis and the risks associated with the vaccine and tries to develop an appropriate way to recommend this vaccine to travelers who may be at significant risk.