South Korea reports 1st Japanese encephalitis case of 2021

September 4, 2021

Asia, Headlines

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The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed the first case of Japanese encephalitis in Korea this year on August 30th, and requested special attention, such as compliance with mosquito bite prevention rules.

The case is a woman in her 40s living in Sejong City. She had no underlying disease other than ovarian cyst and had no history of Japanese encephalitis vaccination.

The location of infection may be different from the patient’s residence, and an epidemiological investigation is currently in progress.

This patient is the first patient since the Japanese encephalitis advisory issued (Monday, March 22) and warning issued (Thursday, August 5) in 2021, and the first patient more than a month earlier than last year (October 8) has occurred.

Japanese encephalitis can be transmitted when bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, and clinical symptoms occur in about 1 in 250 people, some progress to fatal acute encephalitis, 20 to 30% die, and 30 to 50 percent of survivors will have neurological, cognitive or behavioral sequelae.

Children aged 12 months to 12 years old are subject to the Japanese Encephalitis National Vaccination Program need to be vaccinated according to the standard vaccination schedule.

Vaccination is recommended for adults who have never been vaccinated against Japanese encephalitis in the past among those who live in areas with high risk of Japanese encephalitis vector mosquitoes and who plan to travel to countries with Japanese encephalitis.

Japanese encephalitis endemic countries include: Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, China, Guam, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Russia, Saipan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand , Vietnam, East Timor, etc.