Chemotherapy in Japanese encephalitis: are we there yet?

Chemotherapy in Japanese encephalitis (JE) is at present entirely supportive and not targeted at the virus. There are no available drugs to effectively counter the viral infection, thereby making the fight against JE a daunting task. With approximately 50,000 reported cases per year, nearly 10,000 deaths and 3 billion people living in endemic regions, it is imperative that the hunt for an effective drug be expedited. Prophylactic measures are effective against JE, but the problem plaguing all is the underdevelopment and inefficiency of medical services in developing countries. Combined to that are difficulties to earn a living and illiteracy, that leaves significant proportions of the population in these countries uninformed about the magnitude of the threat and uninterested in the potential benefits of prophylactic strategies. Thus, for such countries coming under the JE endemic region, the need for developing therapeutic strategies that are cheap, easily available and with no or tolerable side effects, becomes significant. With rapid globalization and a gradual shift in global climate, JEV, like many other flaviviruses, may emerge in newer areas. This review is an effort to briefly outline the chemotherapeutic approaches adopted over the years in developing effective therapeutic countermeasures against this deadly disease and highlights the promising avenues that need to be treaded in order to win the war against JEV.