Tsai TF
          Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for
          Infectious Diseases, Fort Collins, CO 80522, USA. [email protected]
          Vaccine 2000 May 26;18 Suppl 2:1-25

        Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a leading cause of viral encephalitis in
        Asia that, in several countries, has been controlled effectively through
        national vaccine programs. However, in recent years, transmission has
        been recognized or has intensified in new locations where the available
        vaccines are either unaffordable or unlicensed. In addition, the
        near-eradication of poliomyelitis from Asia has elevated JE in the
        public health agenda of preventable childhood diseases, and surveillance
        of acute neurological infections to confirm polio eradication,
        simultaneously, has led to a greater awareness of the disease burden
        attributable to JE. The only internationally licensed JE vaccine, an
        inactivated mouse-brain derived vaccine, is efficacious but is
        problematic from the perspectives of reactogenicity, requirement for
        numerous doses, cost and reliance on a neurological tissue substrate. A
        live-attenuated vaccine distributed only in China also is efficacious
        and requires fewer doses; however, production and regulatory standards
        are unresolved. Several approaches toward developing novel JE vaccines
        that could fill the gap in JE vaccine need are under pursuit. The
        minutes and recommendations of a meeting of experts to discuss these
        issues, jointly sponsored by the World Health Organization and the
        Children's Vaccine Initiative in Bangkok, Thailand, 13-15 October, 1998,
        are presented.