Health Warning on Japanese Encephalitis....

The government in Hong Kong is warning people to watchout for mosquitoes that carry Japanese Encephalitis and Dengue Fever.

The culex mosquito, whose bite can infect victims with Japanese encephalitis, has been found in urban parks in Causeway Bay, North Point, Chai Wan and Shek Kip Mei, the government said on Friday.

Japanese Encephalitis is a particularly nasty disease, but is uncommon urban areas like Hong Kong. The reason being is that proximity to live pigs [wild birds can also be carriers of the disease], that serve as the amplification hosts and rice paddy breeding water are necessary ingredients for a full fledged outbreak. Even so, there were a couple of cases last year in Hong Kong and many more in rural China. The particular vexing problem with this disease is that it has a case-fatality ratio of 30% and if you are lucky enough to survive the chances of serious neurological sequela is 30% [I got that word, sequela, from the CDC website]. The brain damage could include paralysis, blindness and many other unwanted nasty out comes. Some facts from the CDC website:

Q. What is the mortality rate of Japanese encephalitis?
A. Case-fatality rates range from 0.3% to 60%.

Q. How many cases of Japanese encephalitis occur in the world and the U.S.?
A. Japanese encephalitis is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30-50,000 cases reported annually. Fewer than 1 case/year is reported in U.S. civilians and military personnel traveling to and living in Asia. Rare outbreaks in U.S. territories in Western Pacific have occurred.

Q. How is Japanese encephalitis treated?
A. There is no specific therapy. Intensive supportive therapy is indicated.

Q. Is the disease seasonal in its occurrence?
A. Seasonality of the illness varies by country (see table).

Q. Who is at risk for getting Japanese encephalitis?
A. Residents of rural areas in endemic locations, active duty military deployed to endemic areas, and expatriates who visit rural areas. Japanese encephalitis does not usually occur in urban areas (see table).

I am not too fond of getting vaccinations and avoid them unless absolutely necessary. I got this one last year since sometimes I travel to rural areas in the region.