Publication:

A retrospective study on the seasonal occurrence of Japanese Encephalitis cases in Uttar Pradesh

Background Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a dreaded mosquito-borne viral disease, especially in Asian, Western Pacific, and Northern Australia region and a major public health problem in India. In India, State of Uttar Pradesh contributed a large portion of JE cases to the country. Because of its high morbidity and mortality, JE is of particular interest. With the help of specific intervention, we can prevent the morbidity and mortality of JE cases. The objective of the study was to know the seasonal occurrence of JE cases in Uttar Pradesh.

Methods This was a retrospective study based on secondary data, shared by Communicable Disease wing of Swasthya Bhawan, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh (U.P) for the analysis. We used data for the study during the past 7 years (2010–2016). Analysis has been done using Microsoft Excel.

Results In Uttar Pradesh, there were 1322 cases of JE during the year 2010-2016. Peak incidence of JE cases were seen in months of September. An overall decreasing trend with some fluctuation was seen in the occurrence of cases from 2010 to 2016. It was also observed that maximum cases were occurred in monsoon season. Majority of the cases were seen in Gorakhpur district which is located in eastern part of Uttar Pradesh.

Conclusions Majority of the cases of JE were seen in rainy months. Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh has the highest load of JE cases. IEC activities should be carried out to disseminate the information regarding JE among the people for prevention.