Beware of Japanese encephalitis B

(Baonghean.vn) - The Department of Infectious Diseases, Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital, has received 10 cases of children with Japanese encephalitis B since the beginning of summer. Although the number of cases is not large, it is noteworthy that patients with Japanese encephalitis B have complications and can leave serious sequelae later. It is known that these cases are children in mountainous, remote and isolated areas and have not been vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis B.

The case of patient Lo Van Xao (10 years old) in Luc Da commune - Con Cuong district. He was hospitalized with high fever, convulsions, gradually falling into a coma, and was diagnosed with Japanese encephalitis B. He has been treated for 2 weeks, and at times it seemed that he was stable, but in the past 4 days, he has had serious symptoms again such as: fever, drowsiness, twisted limbs, sometimes unconscious, sometimes awake, and incontinence. Similarly, the case of Va Xinh Chua (3 years old) in Tri Le commune - Que Phong district, Chua was hospitalized in the same condition as Xao: fever, drowsiness, coma and is currently being actively treated at the Infectious Diseases Department - Nghe An Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital.

Assessing the above 2 cases, Dr. Tran Thai Phong - Department of Infectious Diseases, Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital stated: These are severe cases with symptoms of the disease later on such as: twisted limbs, mental stagnation, poor mobility, and even bedridden. Because when the children got sick, their parents left them at home to self-treat for a long time and only brought them to the hospital when they showed abnormal symptoms, leading to a very serious condition. Currently, the treatment for these children is mainly prevention and monitoring to prevent the disease from progressing further because there is no specific medicine to treat it, so the time may be prolonged.

At the same time, Dr. Tran Thai Phong recommends that to prevent Japanese encephalitis B, it is necessary to practice good environmental hygiene, keep houses and livestock barns clean to limit mosquito shelters, move livestock barns away from the house, and eliminate mosquito larvae nests. When going to bed, use mosquito nets, regularly use mosquito repellents and insecticides in households, and do not let children play near livestock barns to prevent mosquito bites. Notably, Japanese encephalitis is an infectious disease and there is no specific treatment, so vaccination is considered the most effective solution. Japanese encephalitis vaccine is injected with 3 basic doses, the first dose is injected when the child is 1 year old, the second dose is 1-2 weeks after the first dose, the third dose is injected one year after the second dose, and then a booster dose is given every 3 years until the child is 15 years old.

Hien Trang(Provincial Information and Education Center)