title: Endemic Japanese encephalitis in the Kathmandu valley, Nepal.
abstract: Japanese encephalitis (JE) is endemic in the Terai region of Nepal. There is little information on the occurrence of JE outside the Terai and particularly in the densely populated Kathmandu valley. Acute encephalitis syndrome (AES) cases were detected using a sentinel surveillance system that has been functioning since 2004. JE was confirmed using anti-JE IgM ELISA. All laboratory-confirmed JE cases that occurred in the Kathmandu valley during 2006 were followed up for verification of residence and travel history. JE was confirmed in 40 residents of the Kathmandu valley, including 30 cases that had no history of travel outside the valley during the incubation period. Incidence was 2.1/100,000 and the case fatality was 20% (8/40). Currently, JE prevention is focused on the Terai region in Nepal; given the evidence, this should be reviewed for the possible inclusion of the Kathmandu valley in the national JE prevention and control program.
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Immunization Preventable Diseases Unit, Kathmandu, Nepal. partridgej@searo.who.int <partridgej@searo.who.int>
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Partridge
authors.forename: Prakash
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ghimire
authors.forename: Tika
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sedai
authors.forename: Mahendra Bahadur
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Bista
authors.forename: Manas
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banerjee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004664:Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004672:Encephalitis, Japanese / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology; D019353:Endemic Diseases; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D006801:Humans; D007075:Immunoglobulin M / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009390:Nepal / Q000453:epidemiology; D011159:Population Surveillance; D014195:Travel
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D007075:Immunoglobulin M