Expert urges nationwide immunization vs JE
CLARK FREEPORT – A Japanese expert from the Expanded Immunization Program (EPI) of the World Health Organization (WHO) has urged nationwide immunization against the mosquito-borne viral ailment Japanese encephalitis (JE).
Speaking during the regional forum on JE held by the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday, Dr. Kohei Toda said Filipinos should be “very, very afraid” of the ailment which has no cure yet.
He said some 30 percent of those infected, mostly children who have developed no resistance to the JE virus, die from the ailment while most of those who survive suffer from abnormalities related to the brain or the nervous system.
Toda noted cases in various parts of Central Luzon where survivors suffer from the consequences of JE.
“In one case in Nueva Ecija, a child survived but could no longer move her limbs while in another case, a boy in the top of his class changed behavior and even resorted to hurting his mother. In another case, a child no longer knew the way home from school, while there’s also a case wherein the child no longer recognized members of his family,” he said.
Most adults, however, have developed resistance to the JE virus, especially in Asian countries with records of JE cases, according to Toda.
The Philippines is located somewhat centrally in JE-infected countries in the Asian region, he noted.
“Most adults have developed antibodies against JE, so our concern is focused particularly on young people 15 years old and below as they are not immunized,” Toda said.
Toda urged the DOH to undertake JE immunization nationwide not just in selected regions. He noted that China has developed JE vaccines costing only about P30 per dosage, which is enough for one person.
At present, the only JE vaccine available in the Philippines costs $60 per dosage.
During the forum, the DOH reported a total of 133 JE cases nationwide so far this year, based on cases reported to nine sentinel hospitals in various parts of the country.
It noted that the number is much lower than those in recent years.
DOH entomologist Jeffrey de Guzman, who was also present in the forum, said that the culex mosquito, which transmits the JE virus, abound in piggeries and ricefields.
He thus urged owners to maintain a distance of five kilometers between piggeries and populated communities, saying that the mosquitoes could transmit the JE virus to pigs which could pass on the virus to their piglets.
In turn, culex mosquitoes that bite the pigs can transmit the JE virus to humans.
While culex mosquitoes can transmit JE virus from pigs to humans, there is no case of the virus being transmitted between humans, according to De Guzman.
The DOH is now in the process of negotiating for the least expensive anti-JE vaccines amid plans for mass immunization initially in some regions and nationwide by 2018, DOH family health office chief Wilda Silva said.