THE Department of Health (DOH) on Monday, February 4, said that it will introduce the Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine in their immunization program this year in Central Luzon through its Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI).
The DOH announced this during a press conference in Angeles City. The vaccine will be given for free to children under five years old. The introduction of the vaccine will be simultaneous in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley and the Cordillera Region.
The vaccination will start this March.
The vaccine has 90 percent effectiveness according to clinical tests but its effectiveness decreases over time.
Doctors clarified that most people infected by the Japanese encephalitis virus do not develop any symptoms, or they get only mild, flu-like symptoms. Only around one person in 250 develops “fully blown” Japanese encephalitis after being infected.
Japanese encephalitis is a disease spread through mosquito bites. Symptoms of the JE, which usually take five to 15 days to develop, include fever, headache, vomiting, confusion, and difficulty in moving.
JE is also known to cause swelling around the brain and, subsequently, result to the patient going on coma, thereby making it a serious disease that may cause death.
There were 53 cases of JE recorded in the region in 2018.