A Review of the Current Status of Japanese Encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh, India

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is an arboviral disease transmitted by mosquitoes. It is a disease of the poor and young (less than 15 years of age) in rural settings with maximum probabilities of their exposure to mosquitoes that are zoophilic. The disease pattern reflects a large proportion of subclinical cases to a small proportion with disease manifestations. It becomes fatal in U.P. in about 40% of the cases (due to seizures) in the absence of early treatment and leads to sequelae in one-third of the cases. Nearly half of the states of India are endemic for Japanese Encephalitis. Both the Govt of India and the State Govt have taken up the disease seriously and made all possible multi-sectoral approaches/ efforts to contain the menace of the disease. Rehabilitation centres have been established in the affected districts to provide physio and speech therapy. Even National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) participated to generate awareness among the community against the dreadful disease. With all efforts, a plateau-like situation of the disease has been reached over the years. More coordinated efforts are required in tackling this problem. The environmental conditions will govern the spread of the virus along with the vector. The present article reflects an overview of the problem of JE and efforts made so far to tackle this disease and make the younger generation aware of their contribution through open field of the research in restricting the spread of the disease as well as complete cure of the seizures due to JE.