japanese encephalitis

What is the general opinion on japanese encephalitis amoungst ex-pat community? I am planning a 6 month visit to India and have read mixed reviews about the need to be vaccinated against it.. Any advice on prevalence of the disease etc would be helpful.
Thanks

There is an epidemic going on in Andhra Pradesh; those who have died are all between 6 months and 21 years of age.

Thus far, I have not gotten the injection for this, but I still have 60 days to think about it.

The CDC website has some info about it: CDC

If you are going to be spending all your time in rural, rice growing areas then maybe you could consider it. But if you stick to the usual destinations then I don't think you need to bother.... I wouldn't but then I'm a teacher not a health professional!

From above website:

Q. How is Japanese encephalitis transmitted?
A. By rice field breeding mosquitoes (primarily the Culex tritaeniorhynchus group) that become infected with Japanese encephalitis virus (a flavivirus antigenically related to St. Louis encephalitis virus).

Q. How many cases of Japanese encephalitis occur in the world and the U.S.?
A. Japanese encephalitis is the leading cause of viral encephalitis in Asia with 30-50,000 cases reported annually. Fewer than 1 case/year is reported in U.S. civilians and military personnel traveling to and living in Asia. Rare outbreaks in U.S. territories in Western Pacific have occurred.

Q. Who is at risk for getting Japanese encephalitis?
A. Residents of rural areas in endemic locations, active duty military deployed to endemic areas, and expatriates who visit rural areas. Japanese encephalitis does not usually occur in urban areas

Travelers: Japanese encephalitis vaccine is NOT recommended for all travelers to Asia. In general, vaccine should be offered to persons spending a month or longer in endemic areas during the trans-mission season, especially if travel will include rural areas. Under specific circumstances, vaccine should be considered for persons spending <30 days in endemic areas, e.g., travelers to areas experiencing epidemic transmission and persons whose activities, such as extensive outdoor activities in rural areas, place them at high risk for exposure. In all instances, travelers should be advised to take personal precautions; e.g., to reduce exposure to mosquito bites.

Thanks you all for your help - I don't think I will have the jab, it sounds pretty nasty anyway and is unlicensed in the UK. I will cover up/ use mozzie repellent/nets as much as possible. The statistics seem low for travellers - I read that there have only been 2 reported cases in people from the UK ever!!

The number is expected to rise by 50% in March next year.

why is that? would you recommend having the jab?

....or is it something to do with the fact that march coincides with the end of my india 6 months in India???!!

You got it

Just my humour playing games again

hmm, it could be tempting fate though......!

tempting fate is something you will find yourself doing quite often in your 6 months in India -- riding in buses, drinking Coke, taking fake medicine, etc -- don't get yourself worked up too much in trying to anticipate and head off every low-risk threat, would be my advice

m2- is fake medicine widespread in India? I know the pharmacies often look a little dodgy, but I thought that they had pretty decent generic drug manufacturers in India, and that the main concern was getting the (prevalent) expired pills!

I've heard of fake medicine being a problem in S.E.Asia, but didn't know it was widespread in India too...

I agree with the comment to the original poster.. you will be putting your life in the hands of chance frequently on your visit! But the bus rides will help you polish up your prayer skills!

One in five drugs in India is fake

yer, i just read your post just after asking that question! :/

but as i'm reading the article, it seems as if that 'statistic' is including a definition of FAKE as in.... may well be the correct chemical... but is infringing on multinational pharmaceutical companies patents.

I've been reading about fake drugs for years in the weekly newsmags but I never saw any real studies to support the 'around one-quarter' are fake estimates. I don't know 'the degrees of bogusness' we are talking about here either, but at least the government finally seems to be getting the picture.

heh -- just picked Coke and drugs to use as they were the 'hazard du jour' to go along with the serious threat to life and limb, the road bus.

I always thought the fake drug thing was just generic drugs being produced in India and the big pharmaceutical companies getting pissed off that they were being undercut............. didn't realise there were actually dangerous drugs being sold.