Japanese encephalitis on the rise in PH

Japanese encephalitis, a mosquito-borne illness endemic to the Philippines and which is fatal in nearly 3 out of 10 severe cases, may be on the rise, a World Health Organization (WHO) report said, after the discovery last year by Chinese researchers that the current vaccine may not be effective against a re-emerging strain of the virus.

Three billion people are at risk from Japanese encephalitis, the WHO report said, with an average fatality rate of 3 out of every 10 patients who exhibit severe symptoms, which affect about one out of every 250 people who contract the illness. There are about 68,000 severe cases of Japanese encephalitis worldwide annually, most in Asia.