DOH to include JE vaccine in immunization program

The Department of Health ( DOH) is mulling the inclusion of the vaccine for Japanese encephalitis (JE), a disease spread by mosquitoes, in its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).

Health Secretary Janette Garin said the DOH is sending a team of experts to a vaccine facilty in Japan to discuss possible acquisition of vaccines against JE.

“We are asking for their help if they can bring down the price of the vaccines for us. We are also coordinating with the Japanese government. We hope to include JE in our immunization program,” Garin said.

While there should be no JE cases in the country, the DOH has recorded 12 confirmed cases since January. In 2013 and 2014, there were 24 and 69 cases, respectively.

The DOH is investigating the case of a 12-year-old girl at the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City who was suspected of having JE.

“We are in contact with the family of the patient. She manifested numbness of the feet, stiffening of the back shoulder and neck which is very much suggestive of encephalitis. We are waiting for the results of the laboratory tests,” Garin said.

News reports showed that the girl had developed symptoms a week after she was given anti-tetanus vaccine in school as part of the DOH’s school-based immunization campaign.

Garin assured the public that the tetanus vaccine is not related to the girl’s getting the disease.

“The vaccines that we give are WHO (World Health Organization) pre-qualified. They are safe. Some (beneficiaries) may have fever or may experience pain in the injection stage, but JE is not among its possible side effects,” she added.

In its website, the WHO descibes JE as a flavivirus related to dengue, yellow fever and West Nile viruses that are spread by mosquitoes. It is the main cause of viral encephalitis in many Asian countries with nearly 68, 000 clinical cases every year.

Most JE virus infections are manifested by mild fever and headache or without apparent symptoms, but approximately one in 250 infections results in severe disease characterized by rapid onset of high fever, headache, neck stiffness, disorientation, coma, seizures, spastic paralysis and death.