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JE Vaccine is a vaccine given to prevent the infection of Japanese Encephalitis which is a rare but potentially serious infection of the brain. This virus is transmitted to humans through infected mosquitoes. Since mosquitoes are abundant in our surroundings it's better to be vaccinated with JE Vaccine. You must have been aware of the information regarding who can be vaccinated with JE Vaccine. Anyone from the age limit of 3 months to 15 years can be vaccinated with JE Vaccine.

In the first week of this month Health minister Dr. K Sudhakar said that "Over 48 lakh kids aged 1-15 will receive the JE Vaccine during a special campaign that will be held in the state of Karnataka starting from December 5th". He also mentioned that "In the first week of December, Vaccinations would primarily be given to private and government school children. More than 78,000 students have been vaccinated against Japanese Encephalitis and still many more are to receive the vaccine in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi".

On Saturday 10/12/2022 hundreds of students were vaccinated at St Aloysius Higher primary school. The school administration had taken the consent letter from the students’ parents and accordingly they were vaccinated. I was surprised to see the attitude of the students after the vaccination. They were not given any tablets after the vaccination and they didn't complain about any health issues. Only one or two have complained about stomach upset but after sometime they were perfectly alright.

The purpose of this vaccine is to prevent Japanese Encephalitis. So far no cases have been recorded but it's better to be vaccinated against Japanese Encephalitis for all those who are below 15 years of age; in fact it is said that "prevention is better than cure".

I am not writing this article to promote JE Vaccine but just to bring it to the notice of all those who are ignorant of this. Don't take it lightly if your child is suffering from headache, fever, hypertonia, disorientation etc. because they are symptoms of Japanese Encephalitis. The vaccine is given free of cost.

If this does well to your child then why don't you allow your child to be vaccinated? Decide what's best for your child at the earliest… I leave it to your choice. Finally I end by quoting "Health is like money, we never have a true idea of its value until we lose it". So take care. Thank you.

About the Author : 

Mukkelli Durga is currently pursuing BEd studies at St. Aloysius College of Education, Mangalore.