Be careful with Japanese encephalitis

(Baonghean) - Encephalitis is raging in the southern provinces and cities, and in Nghe An since the beginning of June, the number of hospitalized cases of encephalitis has also been increasing. Most of the patients come from mountainous districts...

Encephalitis vaccination for children at Hung Phuc Ward Health Station.

Encephalitis, a dangerous disease

Three days ago, Hoang Phuong Anh (26 months old, in Coc village, Yen Hoa commune, Tuong Duong district) had symptoms such as high fever, fatigue, and convulsions around the mouth. The family took her to the district hospital, although she took fever-reducing medicine, her illness did not improve. Seeing her gradually faint, the family asked to transfer her to the Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital and after examination, the doctors diagnosed her with encephalitis. Currently, although she has been treated for more than a day, her illness is still showing dangerous signs, her fever has not gone down, and she still has occasional convulsions. Another case is Ngan Yen Chi (30 months old) in Na Lay village, Tien Phong commune, Que Phong district. For a week now, she has had a high fever, and her whole body has had many convulsions. When she was admitted to the hospital, she was almost unconscious and unresponsive, so in addition to having to breathe with oxygen, the patient also had to have a tube inserted through her stomach so that her family could feed her porridge or milk. Currently, although Yen Chi has been accurately diagnosed with encephalitis, even Dr. Nguyen Van Son, Head of the Infectious Diseases Department, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, has not yet confirmed whether the disease can be completely cured or not. Because encephalitis is a dangerous disease, there is no specific medicine and it often leaves sequelae.

There are many types of encephalitis, so there are many cases where people have been vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis or meningitis but still get infected. For example, in the case of Hoang Phuong Anh, her mother - Ms. Phan Thi Thom said: When she was over 1 year old, her family took her to get the first and second shots of Japanese meningitis vaccine but she still got sick. Or in Yen Thanh district, the case of Nguyen Hong Phac, born in October 2009 in Hamlet 1, Bao Thanh commune, has been confirmed, even though she had been vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis three times, she still got encephalitis. Her condition is currently quite severe so her family has transferred her to the National Children's Hospital for treatment.

Viral encephalitis is a dangerous disease caused by many types of viruses, including Japanese encephalitis virus. The disease occurs year-round, but the epidemic season is in the summer months and peaks in June, July, and August. Children under 15 years old (especially those from 2 to 7 years old) are at high risk of contracting the disease. In the first 6 months of 2014, the country recorded 325 cases of viral encephalitis in 31 provinces and cities, including 5 deaths. At Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital alone, from the beginning of July until now, there have been 13 cases hospitalized, all in critical condition. The main symptoms of the disease are high fever accompanied by symptoms related to damage to the central nervous system including: severe headache, nausea and vomiting, stiff neck, confusion, disorientation, personality changes, convulsions, hearing and speech disorders, hallucinations, memory loss, lethargy, and coma. The mortality rate is high, up to 10%. The reason why the disease often occurs in the summer is because this is the favorable season for mosquitoes to develop and is also the season when many types of ripe fruit attract birds from the forest to bring pathogens from the wild, then from there spread to pigs, cattle, and then to humans. Also through recent monitoring in Nghe An, the reason why the disease appears a lot in children in mountainous and rural areas is because according to custom, in many places, people still have the habit of building cowsheds and pigpens near the family's living area. Therefore, after biting cattle, mosquitoes will transmit the disease to humans.

Promote propaganda

Working at the Infectious Diseases Department, Yen Thanh General Hospital for many years and currently Deputy Director of the District Preventive Medicine Center, Dr. Nguyen Thanh Linh said: Previously, when the expanded immunization program did not include Japanese encephalitis vaccination, Yen Thanh had 30-40 cases of encephalitis per year. One of the main reasons was that people were not aware of environmental hygiene and built livestock barns near their homes. Faced with this reality, the District Preventive Medicine Center has recently sent many documents to communes and towns to promote propaganda about encephalitis, directing localities to do a good job of environmental hygiene and clearing bushes. In addition, since the beginning of 2014, the district has carried out Japanese encephalitis vaccination twice for children over 1 year old, the first time for children to receive the 3rd injection and the second time just held this July for children over 1 year old to receive the 1st and 2nd injections. Thanks to the promotion of propaganda, currently, more than 7,000 injections have been basically completed, the rate of children coming to receive vaccination is over 90%. Some cases have not been vaccinated because the children are sick or have moved their residence. In particular, there are some communes in the religious areas or mountainous communes that previously had a low vaccination rate for children such as Hop Thanh, Cong Thanh, Long Thanh, Tay Thanh, Quang Thanh, Thinh Thanh, now thanks to full propaganda, the number of children coming to receive vaccination is over 95%...

Talking about the most effective disease prevention measures today, Mr. Tran Nguyen Truyen, Deputy Head of the Medical Affairs Department, Department of Health affirmed: Families should vaccinate their children fully and on schedule. In which, the first and second shots are given when the child is over 1 year old. The third shot is given 1 year later. Then, every 3 to 4 years, the child should be vaccinated with another shot until the child is 15 years old. There are many types of encephalitis, which can be caused by the Japanese encephalitis virus or can be caused by complications from other viruses such as whooping cough, mumps, measles, etc. Therefore, in addition to encephalitis vaccination, families need to vaccinate their children with all other vaccines to prevent diseases for children.

Currently, more than 60,000 doses of Japanese encephalitis vaccine have been delivered to 21 districts, cities and towns for the first and second injections for children aged 12-24 months. In addition, the Department of Health has also sent an official dispatch to medical examination and treatment facilities; strengthen monitoring, early detection of suspected cases of viral encephalitis, Japanese encephalitis and proactively report cases to the Provincial Center for Preventive Medicine for timely coordination in handling according to regulations. At the same time, units organize retraining for doctors and medical staff on "Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of acute viral encephalitis in children". Medical examination and treatment facilities prepare isolation areas, medicine, medical equipment, supplies, and personal protective equipment to be ready to admit, provide emergency care, and treat patients, ensuring proper treatment according to the assigned level, avoiding the situation of patients being pushed to higher levels. Strengthen communication work on prevention and control of viral encephalitis and Japanese encephalitis in the community through various forms; promote environmental sanitation, house and livestock sanitation, regularly kill mosquitoes and larvae; practice good personal hygiene, regularly wash hands with soap, ensure food safety, eat cooked food and drink boiled water.

Particularly for children, when there are signs of high fever along with symptoms of central nervous system damage, it is necessary to take the child immediately to a medical facility for timely diagnosis and treatment.

My Ha