U. S. Food and Drug Administration has sanctioned Ixiaro, a vaccine to prevent Japanese encephalitis (JE), a mosquito-transmitted virus found mostly in Asia and which affects close to 50,000 people each year, causing as many as 15,000 deaths.

While, not often seen in the United States, JE virus that affects membranes surrounding the brain, often resulting in minor symptoms like fever and headache, with flu-like symptoms that progress to high fever, neck stiffness, brain damage, coma and death in severe cases, a few cases have been reported among people traveling to and from Asia.

However, there are side effects to the two-dose Ixiaro vaccine, including headache, muscle pain, swelling and injection-site tenderness.

Developed by UK based Intercell Biomedical, an Austrian bio-technology company, FDA giving approval to Novartis AG to sell Ixiaro in the U. S., rekindles speculation that the Swiss drug maker will acquire the Austrian company responsible for initially developing the vaccine.