In Victoria, Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccine is recommended and available for specific priority groups, including people who may be exposed to the virus where they live or work.
Wodonga Council will be offering Japanese Encephalitis (JE) vaccination at our usual council immunisation sessions (by appointment only) held in the Wodonga, Benalla, Indigo and Strathbogie Shire local government areas to people who meet the following eligibility criteria (please note: while vaccine is free-of-charge, an administration fee applies to JE vaccines administered by Wodonga Council):
Please note that the eligibility criteria for JE vaccination was recently expanded to include booster doses for certain people.
Primary course of JE vaccine - eligibility criteria
In Victoria, a primary course of JE vaccine is funded and recommended for:
High-risk local government areas
People aged two months or older who live or routinely work in any of the following local government areas of Alpine, Benalla, Buloke, Campaspe, Gannawarra, Greater Bendigo, Greater Shepparton, Hindmarsh, Horsham, Indigo, Loddon, Macedon Ranges, Mansfield, Mildura, Mitchell, Moira, Northern Grampians, Strathbogie, Swan Hill, Towong, Wangaratta, West Wimmera, Wodonga, and Yarriambiack and:
- regularly spend time engaging in outdoor activities that place them as risk of mosquito bites, or
- are experiencing homelessness, or
- are living in conditions with limited mosquito protection (e.g. tents, caravans, dwellings with no insect screens), or
- are engaging in outdoor flood recovery (clean-up) efforts, including repeated professional or volunteer deployments.*
*Vaccination can be administered before arrival in flood affected areas to those from other regions deployed for recovery efforts by arrangement.
The risk of exposure to mosquitoes is low at an elevation of greater than 500 metres. Therefore, JE vaccination is only recommended for individuals who spend significant time outdoors below this elevation in these local government areas.
- No restriction for people in local government areas who work at, reside at, or have a planned non-deferable visit to a:piggery, including but not limited to farm workers and their families (including children aged 2 months and older) living at the piggery, transport workers, veterinarians and others involved in the care of pigs
- property that has been confirmed to be infected with JE virus
- property suspected to be infected with JE virus
- pork abattoir or pork rendering plant.
- Personnel who work directly with mosquitoes through their surveillance (field or laboratory based) or control and management, and indirectly through management of vertebrate mosquito-borne disease surveillance systems (e.g., sentinel animals) such as
- environmental health officers and workers (urban and remote)
- entomologists.
- All diagnostic and research laboratory workers who may be exposed to the virus, such as persons working with JE virus cultures or mosquitoes with the potential to transmit JE virus, as per the Australian Immunisation Handbook.
Booster doses of JE vaccine– Eligibility Criteria
In Victoria, JE vaccine booster doses are recommended for people 1-2 years after completion of their primary course who remain eligible in Victoria, and their primary course was with:
- Imojev®, and the individual was <18 years at time of primary dose, OR
- JEspect®, and the individual was ≥18 years at time of primary dose.
JE booster doses are funded as part of the Victorian JE vaccination program for eligible people. Please note, while the vaccine is free-of-charge, an administration fee applies to JE vaccines administered by Wodonga Council.
To book an appointment for JE vaccination, please click the following link portal.cirv.vic.gov.au. You will need to select the relevant Immunisation Provider (Council area) from the drop down box (for example, if booking a Benalla Council session, please select Benalla Rural City Council from the drop down box).
When making an appointment booking for JE vaccination, please advise if you fall into one of the following categories, as you may need an alternative vaccine brand which is not currently offered through Wodonga Council's immunisation service, or JE vaccination may not be recommended for you
- Immunocompromised
- Aged less than nine months
- Pregnant women (*women should avoid pregnancy for 28 days after vaccination*)
- Breastfeeding women should not receive Imojev® because it is not known whether the virus is excreted in breast milk
- People who have received immunoglobulin or blood product administration in the past 3 months
- Anaphylaxis after a previous dose of any JE vaccine
- Anaphylaxis after any component of a JE vaccine
- People with an acute febrile illness
JE vaccination is also available through certain pharmacies and GP’s.
Japanese encephalitis (JE) virus is spread to humans through mosquito bites. It may cause a rare and potentially life-threatening infection of the brain.
For further information on Japanese Encephalitis and other mosquito borne diseases and mosquito bite prevention, refer to information on the Better Health Channel.
The JE vaccine is now available free of charge to those in the above priority groups. Please note, while the vaccine is free-of-charge, an administration fee applies to JE vaccines administered by Wodonga Council.