The travel vaccination against Japanese encephalitis, i.e. Japanese meningitis, is becoming more and more important, especially for professionally induced trips to Southeast Asia. Almost the entire area is a potential infection area, even though with a varying frequency at different seasons.
As within all our medical activities a high-quality medical consultation, especially in this sensitive area of travel vaccinations should be based on factual arguments as well as on the individual feelings of the patient or traveller.
In this case, a very rare infectious disease is confronted with a high mortality risk when it comes to an outbreak. The consultation should be similar to the advice, concerning rabies vaccination.
The following considerations should be communicated, in order to achieve at an optimal travel vaccination result together with the patient:
Japanese Encephalitis is extremely dangerous and cannot be treated causally.
But it occurs very rarely among travelers. The statistical probability of being fatally injured in a traffic accident is higher, but we don`t have a vaccination against traffic accidents so far.
The probability of falling ill naturally increases with the length of the stay. Rural regions are affected to an above-average extent.
The virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, so that the traveler cannot protect himself 100% against an infection.
Recently a very well tolerated vaccination against Japanese encephalitis has become available.
The vaccination is carried out by 2 injections at an interval of about 4 weeks. The preventive vaccination consists of two vaccinations which are very well tolerated. The costs for travel vaccinations are currently covered by many health insurance companies.
Each traveler will decide individually for or against the vaccination, considering the type of trip, the duration of the trip, also cumulated over several years and the needs of individual security.
In the case of professionally arranged trips abroad, the vaccination should be generously offered. Individual reports on severe and even fatal events in so-called expatriates represent a high psychological burden for this group of people. The duty of care of the company should be standing in the foreground.