CHITWAN, SEPTEMBER 15
A 60-year-old woman of Madi Municipality in Chitwan district died of Japanese encephalitis. She died after returning home from the hospital where she received treatment.
According to health office Chief Durga Dutta Chapagain, a total of nine cases of Japanese encephalitis have been confirmed so far in the district. Of them, a woman succumbed to the disease in the district.
The deceased was admitted to Bharatpur Cancer Hospital on August 22 after she suffered from headache and fever. Out of 22 tests, nine cases of Japanese encephalitis have been confirmed in the district.
According to the office, four cases of Japanese encephalitis have been detected in Bharatpur Metropolitan City, two in Madi Municipality and one each in Rapti, Ratnanagar and Kalika municipalities.
The infection was first detected in the first week of August. Nine cases of Japanese encephalitis have been detected till September 3.
"This is probably the first time the district is tackling time the district is the situation at this level," said Chapagain.
Of the infected, five were females and four males aged 29 to 77. According to the World Health Organisation, Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) is a flavivirus related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses, and it spreads by mosquitoes.
When one case of Japanese encephalitis is detected, there may be hidden 300 cases because as the WHO says the infection is mostly asymptomatic and has mild short-lived symptoms.
Office Chief Chapagain said, "Being based on the WHO assessment, it can be said that the district is probably gripped by the Japanese encephalitis epidemic as there may be 2,700 cases across the district.
In 2018, 2020 and 2021, the district reported one case each year and the figure was nil in 2019. According to the WHO, the virus is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected Culex mosquitoes which lay their eggs in irrigated rice paddies and other pools of stagnant water. Pigs and birds serve as amplifying vertebrate hosts.
The first case of Japanese encephalitis was detected in Nepal in Rupandehi in 1978 and the year 2004 observed a nationwide campaign against it.
In 2006, 2011 and 2016, Nepal observed a national campaign for the containment of the infection. Vaccination against Japanese encephalitis has been incorporated in the national immunisation schedule since 2009. It is given after a child completes 12 months.
The fatality rate can be as high as 30 per cent while permanent neurologic or psychiatric sequelae can occur in 30 per cent to 50 per cent of those with encephalitis, WHO says.
The infection is primarily seen from April/May to September/October. According to Bharatpur Hospital's physician Dr Govinda Kunwar, pigs and ducks are the primary carriers of the virus. It is then transmitted to mosquitoes when they bite the infected animals and is passed to humans when the same mosquito bites humans.
There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. The rural areas in the district seem vulnerable to the infection. Its symptoms include high fever, headache, and vomiting, unconsciousness, stiff neck and body convulsions.
Staying away from mosquito bite is the best way to prevent the infection. For this, the control of mosquito population is needed. Likewise, it is preventable through vaccination, proper management and handling of farm animals.
There is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of Japanese Encephalitis Virus
A version of this article appears in the print on September 16, 2022 of The Himalayan Times.
