The Telangana Health Department will be carrying out a Japanese Encephalitis vaccination programme in four districts of the State from July 25 to August 15. The initiative aims to vaccinate 15.04 lakh children aged between nine months and 15 years.
The programme will cover the districts of Hyderabad and Medchal Malkajgiri, along with specific areas in Rangareddy and Vikarabad. “The vaccine is already part of routine immunisation in the remaining 29 districts of the State. Some mandals from the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district, now part of Vikarabad and Rangareddy, also administer the vaccine. Therefore, only the uncovered areas have been selected,” stated a senior health official.
The department will administer 0.5 millilitres of Bharat Biotech’s JENVAC. The vaccine will be given on the left thigh for children aged nine months to 5 years and on the upper arm for children over 5 years of age.
Japanese Encephalitis (JE), also known as ‘Brain Fever,’ is transmitted through the bite of an infected mosquito. The symptoms of the disease include headache, fever, mental confusion, and delirium, primarily affecting children. The programme will focus on children in government and government-aided schools. Children aged nine months to five years will receive the vaccine at Anganwadi centres, while out-of-school children will be administered with the vaccine at PHCs, sub-centres, AWCs, and routine immunisation session sites.
