Japanese encephalitis in Uttar Pradesh, India: A situational analysis

INTRODUCTION: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a vector-borne, viral illness caused by the Japanese Encephalitis Virus. Permanent neurologic or psychiatric sequelae can occur in 30%–50% of those with encephalitis; hence, JE is a cause of major public health concern. For the ease of diagnosis and facilitation of surveillance, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme uses the term Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES). In this study, an attempt has been made to ascertain the status and trends of AES and JE in Uttar Pradesh, India. METHODOLOGY: This is a record-based retrospective study. The data were obtained from the Directorate of Medical and Health Services of Uttar Pradesh and analyzed using software SPSS version 24.0. RESULTS: In Uttar Pradesh, there were 47,509 reported cases of AES from 2005 to 2018,. With yearly fluctuations, the average Case Fatality Rate of AES was 17.49% with highest in 2005 (24.76%) and lowest in 2018 (8%). Among the patients with AES, 9.98% were found positive for JE. The most commonly affected age group is 1-5 years for both AES and JE, closely followed by the age group of 5-10 years. Peak occurrence of both AES and JE was recorded in month of September. Among the AES-affected patients 53.8% were males and 46.2% were females. CONCLUSION: The most commonly affected age group was 1-5 years with peak occurrence in the month of September. Though there was a downward trend in CFR, awareness activities like “Dastak” campaign and intersectoral preventive activities, needs to be strengthened.