ABSTRACT
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) causes Japanese encephalitis, which is a leading form of viral encephalitis in Asia, with around 50,000 cases and 10,000 deaths per year in children below 15 years of age. The JEV has shown a tendency to extend to other geographic regions. Case fatality averages 30% and a high percentage of the survivors are left with permanent neuropsychiatric sequelae. Currently, there is no cure for JEV, and treatment is mainly supportive. Patients are not infectious, but should avoid further mosquito bites. A number of antiviral agents have been investigated; however, none of these have convincingly been shown to improve the outcome of JEV. In this review, the current knowledge of the epidemiology and the pathogenesis of this deadly disease have been summarized.
Subject(s)
Animals , Humans , Encephalitis Virus, Japanese/immunology , Encephalitis, Japanese/epidemiology , Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines , Encephalitis, Japanese/diagnosis , Encephalitis, Japanese/therapy , Encephalitis, Japanese/transmission , Insect Vectors , India/epidemiology , Risk FactorsABSTRACT
The preliminary results of our study in vitro on the effect of Interferon on Flaviviruses showed that Interferon alpha and Interferon beta were more effective on JE viruses Vip local strain and JaGAr strain, but less on Dengue virus type 2 strain. However, the effect of these 2 interferons on the 2 strains of JE viruses were still variable which need further investigations. The JE virus Vip local strain seemed to be more susceptible to interferon than the Japanese prototype JaGAr strain. Thus, the in vivo trial on JE disease in Thailand is strongly recommended.