Vietnam’s Ministry of Health will conduct Japanese encephalitis B vaccination for children under three years old throughout the country in 2014, after an increasing number of encephalitis patients were reported. This was the first time the National Immunization Program distributed Japanese encephalitis vaccine to all 63 provinces and cities nationwide, instead of focusing on high-risk areas as previously done. So far this year, 280 encephalitis patients have been recorded with four deaths, according to the ministry. Nguyen Nhat Cam, director of Hanoi Preventative Medicine Center, told the media that the capital city will vaccinate children born between Jan 1 of 2011 and May 31 of 2013 against Japanese encephalitis B for free in two phases. The first phase is slated for June 22-23 while the second will be on June 29-30. Following the move, Hanoi expects the Japanese encephalitis B vaccination ratio at as high as 95%. Hanoi-based National Pediatrics Hospital has received its first cases of Japanese encephalitis this year. The viral disease typically breaks out between May and October every year. Do Thien Hai, deputy head of the hospital’s Infectious Diseases Ward, said his ward was treating 14 encephalitis patients, five of them infected with the Japanese encephalitis virus. For several years now, the National Pediatrics Hospital has been receiving about 400-600 encephalitis patients per year, with around 10% turning out to suffer from Japanese encephalitis. Tran Dac Phu, chief of the ministry’s General Department of Preventive Medicine, said that last year more than 90% of children between one and five years old in areas with high risk for the disease, including the northern provinces of Nam Dinh and Bac Giang and the central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh, received three doses of the Japanese encephalitis vaccine. (Suc Khoe Doi Song – Health & Life Jun 9)
