Current practice of French health professionals regarding Japanese encephalitis vaccination

Japanese encephalitis (JE) is a rare but severe disease. It is a potential threat for people traveling to endemic areas. The risk of developing JE is low (<1%), but the associated case fatality is high (30%). There is no specific treatment for JE, but a vaccine is available. We performed an observational survey to assess practices of French health professionals regarding JE vaccination.

Standardized questionnaires were sent by email to a sample of French health professionals practicing in vaccination centers. Participation was on a voluntary and anonymous basis. The questionnaires requested socio-demographic details, and included multiple choice questions.

The response rate was 38.5%. Most participating health professionals had been working for more than three years in a vaccination center and declared not to be reluctant to perform JE vaccination. Reluctance was mostly based on the vaccine cost and on the difficulty to properly assess the risk for patients. The rapid protocol was largely preferred except in the overseas regions (P<0.05, Fisher's exact test). Traveling to South Asia and backpacking were considered at-risk conditions. Participants proposed the vaccination all year round. Most participants would not have proposed the JE vaccination for the concrete case outlined in the questionnaire.

French health professionals are globally favorable to JE vaccination. However, assessing the risk of exposure is difficult in routine practice.