Japanese fever is spread by the bite of Culex mosquito
Raipur. 13 July 2022
With the onset of the rainy season, diseases caused by mosquito bites spread rapidly. Among these, dengue, malaria, chikungunya and Japanese fever (Japanese encephalitis) are prominent. Japanese fever is spread through the bite of mosquitoes infected with the ‘flavivirus’. This is not a contagious fever. It does not spread from person to person. In this the patient has high fever. Stiffness in the neck, weakness and nervousness when fever comes along with sudden high fever are its initial symptoms. Often the disease is not recognized in this fever because all these symptoms are found in most of all types of fever. Japanese fever is a deadly disease. This is a serious disease in which inflammation starts in the brain, which affects the central nervous system. This requires emergency treatment.
How is Japanese fever spread?
When a mosquito of the Culex species sucks the blood of a pig or wild bird infected with the disease, the virus of that disease is transmitted to the mosquito. When this infected mosquito bites a healthy person, then that person also becomes vulnerable to this disease. Symptoms of this disease are seen between 5 to 15 days in a person suffering from infection, which is called ‘incubation period’. This disease spreads more in the months of August, September and October and affects children between the age of one to 14 years. Anyone can be a victim of this disease. But children and the elderly are most at risk.
Director, Epidemic Control Dr. Subhash Mishra said that Japanese fever is mostly in rural areas where paddy cultivation is more. It is believed that ‘flaviviruses’ thrive in paddy fields. It is spread to man by the bite of infected mosquitoes that grow rapidly in the fields “Culex”.
Japanese fever prevention
Preventing Japanese fever requires that all children between the ages of one and 15 years be vaccinated whenever Japanese meningitis is being vaccinated in your area. If a child is missed, then go to the nearest health center of your area and meet the health worker and get it vaccinated. This vaccine is given free of cost in all health centres. Try to prevent mosquitoes from breeding around the houses in your area and especially protect children from mosquito bites. For this, children should be dressed in full sleeves before evening. Make children sleep inside insecticide treated mosquito nets. If you see the initial symptoms of Japanese fever, be sure to visit your nearest health center and seek medical advice.
