The District Public Health Office (DPHO) of Kathmandu said 1.3 million residents of Kathmandu will be administered the vaccine during the campaign.[break]
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has taken the move as 28 cases of encephalitis had been detected in Kathmandu last year. The DPHO said that among the patients, 24 were inhabitants of Kathmandu.
Japanese encephalitis is caused by the mosquito-borne Japanese encephalitis virus. Transmission of this virus to humans may cause symptoms like fever, headache and malaise, which may last up to a week. Acute encephalitic stage shows signs like neck rigidity, convulsion and a raised body temperature between 38 and 41 degrees Celsius. Doctors say mental retardation from the disease usually leads to coma. Mortality associated with the disease is much higher among children.
The MoHP had distributed encephalitis vaccine last year but only the 900,000 people had administered the vaccine.
Chief of DPHO Krishna Prasad Chand said the government has planned to regularly administer Japanese encephalitis vaccine to the children in the capital.
The DPHO said the campaign will be run in two phases. In the first phase, the campaign will be run in 57 VDCs and in Kirtipur municipality.
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