The best defence against Japanese encephalitis is the Japanese encephalitis vaccine, which is available in three doses. If you plan on travelling to high-risk areas, such as most of Asia and parts of the western Pacific, come in and see us immediately to get started on the vaccine. Even once you are vaccinated, it is important that you practice wise habits when travelling in high-risk areas, such as wearing long-sleeve shirts and pants, sleeping with mosquito nets and applying mosquito repellent.
What is Japanese encephalitis?
Japanese encephalitis is a virus spread to humans by infected mosquitos. While it cannot be spread from human to human, an infected human can spread it to uninfected mosquitos.
Japanese encephalitis symptoms
The vast majority of people infected with Japanese encephalitis experience no symptoms. However, in a small number of cases, people may experience fever and headache, with particularly bad cases involving neck stiffness, tremors, coma, and convulsions. If symptoms do occur, it will usually be around 5 to 15 days after being bitten.
For more information please view the Better Health website.
For information on other vaccines, see also:
- Typhoid vaccines
- Hepatitis A vaccines
- Hepatitis B vaccines
- Yellow Fever vaccines
- HPV vaccines
- Measles vaccines
- Whooping Cough vaccines