Japanese B Encephalitis

RNA viruses are not only reported for viral pandemics but also as important agents for emerging/re-emerging diseases. Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is reported to cause epidemics of encephalitis in Southeast Asia, India, Korea, China, and Indonesia. In addition, several reports show that JEV has spread to new populations beyond these geographical regions. The disease mostly affects children with a mortality rate up to 30%. In peridomestic settings, pigs are reported as amplifiers of JEV transmission and aquatic birds as maintenance hosts of the virus. The Culex mosquito is the vector for transmission of JEV. This virus is a member of the family Flaviviridae and has a single-stranded positive-sense RNA virus. Five different genotypes (G-I to G-V) of JEV have been reported. Four different kinds of vaccines have been produced to prevent JEV infection. However, there is no FDA-approved antiviral drug available for JEV. How to cite this article: Mehta A, Singh R, Mani VE, Poddar B. Japanese B Encephalitis. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(Suppl 2):S171–S174.