Introduction: Surveillance of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) is important as the presence of the vector has been reported earlier from Western Rajasthan, due to which, a large population remains at risk of getting the disease. Therefore, identifying the pathogen among patients is important for managing and formulating public health policies. Hence, this study was planned to detect the presence of JE in pediatric patients attending tertiary centers in Rajasthan and the clinical-epidemiological profile in positive cases. Methodology: This prospective, cross-sectional study included suspected pediatric patients of meningoencephalitis up to the age of 18 years. A cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) sample was obtained using aseptic procedures, and JE IgM ELISA was done using the NIV IgM antibody capture ELISA or JE Detect™ IgM Antibody Capture ELISA (Inbios). Results: Seven (0.63%) samples were positive for JE out of 1097 patients. Among participants, 63.6% were males, of which 0.57% were positive, while 36.3% were females, with 0.75% positivity. Higher positivity was observed in the age group of 12-18 years (2.08%). All were having fever and seizures with altered sensorium (70%), neck rigidity (40.1%), headache (35%), vomiting (29.9%), Brudzinski sign (29.9%), and abdominal pain (16.9%). Out of seven positive cases, three (42.86%) were discharged without any neurological sequelae, two (28.5%) were discharged with neurological sequelae, two (28.5%) died. Conclusion: This study documented the emergence of JE in Rajasthan. Regular surveillance is needed to test the presence of JE in cases of meningoencephalitis, and steps should be taken to control the vector. Moreover, other pathogens should also be tested regularly.
Sarita Sharma, Neha Bhomia, Pratibha Sharma, Himanshu Sharma, Farah Deeba, Bharti Malhotra (Sun,) studied this question.