Japanese encephalitis vaccine, India, 2005
Vial containing a Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine. JE particularly impacts south and south east Asia, and historically countries such as Sri Lanka and India relied upon a vaccine grown in mouse brains that was too expensive and slow to produce. Vaccines developed in the 1980s were introduced in these two countries in the mid-2000s that use inactivated JE viruses grown in hamster kidney cells. This method makes mass-production easier and is around 10 times cheaper. JE is an infection affecting the brain which is caused by Japanese encephalitis virus (Flavivirus sp.) which is spread by mosquitoes. JE has a mortality rate of around 30% and 30-50% of surviving patients are left with permanent neurological disorders. There are no specific treatments, but vaccines can prevent infection. Filmed during the Japanese encephalitis outbreak in India in 2005. This outbreak killed 1,344 people.